The Moro Cookbook [Paperback]

Moro joins the starry ranks of beautifully presented London restaurant cookbooks such as The River Café Cookbook and Momo that have excelled in delivering the tastes of the Mediterranean to our colder climes. Both the cookbook and the restaurant are the realisation of the dreams of Samuel and Samantha Clark, chef-owners and now writers. Their passion for the intense flavours of the cuisine of Spain, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean follow the saffron-cinnamon connection; the robust style of Spanish cooking balancing the lighter, more exotic dishes of the Muslim Mediterranean.

Tapas favourites such as tortilla, pimientos del piquillo (sweet peppers), boquerones (anchovies), sardines and chorizo share the table with familiar mezzes like grilled chicken wings with tahini, baba ghanoush and tabbouleh. But the joy of Moro is that it balances such favourites with rarer fare and new inventive recipes with traditional ingredients, such as the colourful and deliciously rich carcuteria cecina with beetroot and almond sauce and grilled quail with rose petals. If you thought you knew what to expect from paella, try monkfish paella with saffron or pork, chorizo and spinach, or Chicken, artichokes and oloroso sherry. All of which might not leave much room for the bitter chocolate, coffee and cardamon coffee cake or the Malaga raisin ice-cream.

If some of the ingredients leave you a trifle bewildered, Moro ends with an appendix of suppliers from specialty ethnic shops to local supermarket fare and a terrifically handy almanac of vegetables and fruits in season. Like its other restaurant cook books, Moro also serves up a feast for your eyes and belongs on your coffee table as well as in the kitchen, splendidly extending and deepening our appreciation for these too often over-looked cuisines. --Fiona Buckland --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Bursting with sensational exotic-tasting Mediterranean recipes...this best-seller ranks as one of our favourite recipe books of all time. The dishes are a heady fusion of Arabic and Hispanic flavours which all have that 'take-you-there' quality. The photographs are appropriately gorgeous, the recipes surprisingly simple, and the results? To die for.', Health & Fitness .'exemplary', Country Life .'A magical book full of rare and special flavours', Nigel Slater, .'The Clarks have a way of making food taste wonderful', Claudia Roden, .'This is a superb collection of recipes, all of which I plan to cook', Rose Gray,

Stunning new paperback package of this seminal bestselling classic

Since it was first published in 2001, Moro: The Cookbook has been one of the most talked about, praised and cherished cookbooks of its time. Sam & Sam Clark share a passion for the food of Spain, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean and their London restaurant, Moro, was born out of a desire to cook within these wonderful traditions and to explore exotic flavours little known in the UK. Both the book and restaurant have been showered with awards, accolades and endorsements and the Clarks have built up a legion of devoted fans.

In their first book, Sam and Sam have distilled the restaurant's most accomplished and delicious recipes, those that have ensured its extraordinary success. Authenticity is key and their food remains true to the origins of the dishes - heady fusions of warm spices and fiery sauces, slow-cooked earthy stews and delicate flavourings.

This is a must-have book for every cook's shelves, written and designed with palpable passion and insight.

(20021018)

One of the most distinctive, talked-about cookbooks of recent years

Samuel and Samantha Clark not only work together but are also husband and wife, and have both cooked at leading restaurants such as The River Cafe and the Eagle gastro-pub . Sharing a passion for the Moorish regions, they joined forces to open Moro in Clerkenwell, London in 1997. Since then the restaurant has enjoyed unequalled reviews and accolades, being voted Best Restaurant in 2009's Observer Food Monthly awards. The Clarks opened their second venture, Morito, an intimate tapas bar, in August 2010. (20021018)

Paella de cerdo con chorizo y espinaca
Rice with pork, chorizo and spinach

This rice is very Spanish in taste. A complex and comforting dish.

Serves 6 as a starter, 4 as a main course

7 tablespoons olive oil
350g pork fillet, halved lengthways, then sliced across roughly into 7mm strips
120g mild cooking chorizo, cut into little pieces
2 large Spanish onions, finely chopped
1 large green pepper, halved, seeded and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
250g calasparra (paella) rice
1 teaspoon sweet smoked Spanish paprika
2 noras peppers
900ml hot Chicken Stock or water
500g spinach, washed and drained
1 lemon, in wedges
sea salt and black pepper

In a 30-40cm frying pan, heat the olive oil over a high heat, then stir-fry the pork for a few seconds so it is still a little undercooked. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put to one side. Turn down the heat to a low to medium temperature and fry the chorizo for a minute. Add the onions and green pepper and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic to the onion and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. At this point the mixture should have a caramelised and taste sweet. Stir the rice in the pan to coat in the flavoursome mixture for a minute. (Up to this point everything can be cooked in advance. The next stage requires about 20 minutes more cooking time.)

Now season with salt and a little pepper, for this is the time to season the rice perfectly. Add your paprika and noras peppers, drained of their water, followed by the hot stock, and simmer for 15 minutes or until there is just a thin layer of liquid around the rice.

Meanwhile in a large saucepan or wok, briefly wilt the spinach with a little salt, either by braising or steaming, and put to one side with the pork fillet. Evenly scatter the pork over the rice followed by the spinach. With the back of a spoon gently push the pork and spinach partially into the oily liquid that remains at the bottom of the pan. Cover the paella tightly with foil and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Serve with lemon and a tomato salad.