The year 2020 will undoubtedly be an unforgettable year, the COVID pandemic marked our existence and placed this year as a sad moment in our history. But we couldn't just stop, our lives needed to move on and face this reality and I believe that many of us reinvented themselves and ended up discovering small pleasures. We learned to live better with our likes and pains, we had time to review plans, listen more to those who we are close to, being even closer despite the social distance, we learned new ways of communicating and especially new ways of working. The required distance was by no means an isolation in a technological world like ours. All we needed to do was to connect and that is exactly what we did.

We at Studio Apis & Co always prefer to work online, but it was in this 2020 pandemic that we were able to prove that we can provide a quality service even though we were not physically present, and after these 10 months we will conclude this year successfully with a project that aims to further shorten this distance in the future. For those who do not know, we are a culinary advertising photography and branding for gastronomy studio, and one of the main services is to photograph the dishes of restaurants and chefs. With the pandemic, this was not possible, and we were unable to experience this magic this year, so we decided to ask some of the dear chefs that I met over the 10 years of work as a cookery photographer for some of their recipes for me to photograph and to write about the dish and chef’s history. And it is with immense joy that we kick started with a super special dish from a great friend, chef Alexsandra Pires.

Chef Ale, as I usually call her, has been a cook for almost 20 years, has been on a path of study and dedication in this beautiful and tasty profession. We met in 2013 in Armação dos Búzios, a beautiful Brazilian peninsula in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and in this magical place, rich in cuisine, we started to work together. I designed her new brand and she then launched Le Chef Gastronomia, specialized in catering and consulting for kitchens and restaurants. I had the opportunity to photograph and taste several of her dishes during these almost 8 years of friendship.

Chef Ale was the first to send me a recipe: a quibebe, a dish of African origin, typical of Brazilian cuisine, and in its reinterpretation it has special touches that guarantee this dish a unique aroma and flavor.

The chef's influence comes from the Quilombolas from Búzios, an Afro-Brazilian community first established by escaped slaves in Brazil, where she was able to learn typical recipes of the former African slaves. Quibebe, or kibebe, as it is called in Kimbundu, the language of the place where it was born, is an original dish from Angola and is among the recipes that the chef learned.

As I mentioned, the chef added her personal touches, such as baking the pumpkin wrapped in aluminum foil with peel and spices for 30 minutes before finishing the mousse in the pan with ghee butter and double cream. The chef explains that most chefs do not bake, they cook the pumpkin directly in the pan, which, according to her, causes much of the pumpkin flavor to evaporate together with water. While baked in foil in the oven, or as it used to be in banana leafs, it keeps its liquid and flavors concentrated and becomes more tasty, sweetened and with a firmer texture.

It was with great honor that I reproduced and photographed this recipe and I hope you all enjoy it. To pair, we chose a biodynamic wine, Semplicemente Vino Bellotti Bianco, which we will be talking about more on our blog.

Follow the recipe below. Good appetite to everyone!

Shrimp Kibebe

Pumpkins for serving:

Ingredients
- 2 small Jack pumpkins
- 1 garlic head

Preparation
Place together the 2 Jack pumpkins with the cut and clean garlic head in a baking tray. These should be wrapped in aluminum foil and baked for 15 to 20 minutes in medium-high temperature (200°C) so as not to lose texture and color.

Pumpkin Mousse:

Ingredients
- 1kg of sliced pumpkin (with peel)
- 1 medium red onion in petals
- 2 tablespoons of fresh oregano
- 2 rosemary branches
- 3 whole garlic cloves in shell
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 pinch of black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander or parsley
- 100ml of double cream
- 30g of ghee butter

Preparation
In a baking dish, place the sliced pumpkin mixing the onion, oregano, rosemary, garlic, olive oil and black pepper very well, cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven in medium-high temperature (200°C) for 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender. Remove from the oven and place in a pan without the peels, smashing everything. Add the chopped coriander or parsley, the double cream and the ghee butter, stirring and incorporating well until it becomes a cream with a mousseline texture.

Shrimps:

Ingredients
- 6 shrimps
- 1 tablespoons of olive oil
- Pinch of salt
- 10ml of aged cachaça or grappa
- 10g of chopped garlic
- 20g of chopped parsley

Preparation
Heat the oil in a frying pan and place the peeled shrimps with the tail with a pinch of salt. Add the cachaça or grappa and flambé for three minutes. Put the garlic careful not to burn because it gets dark too fast, and continue cooking for another three minutes. Add the parsley and serve.

Assembly:

Open the lid of the Jack pumpkins and remove the seeds and part of the pulp from the walls (it is not necessary to remove everything). Fill the pumpkins with the mousse and place 3 shrimps in each, without letting them enter the mousse. Decorate with an edible flower of your choice (we use hibiscus) and chives and serve on a small wooden board, with the pumpkin lid on the side.