Moro: The Cookbook [Paperback]

Samuel Clark (Author), Samantha Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 22, 2003

The Moro menu encompasses dishes that originated in Spain and dishes from the Muslim Mediterranean, two areas linked in history by the Moors' 700-year occupation of Spain. The book is much more than a simple catalogue of recipes—the chefs also communicate the romance and tradition inherent in each dish and their writing is informed by an intimate knowledge of long-established culinary and cultural traditions. In a market saturated with impersonal restaurant cookbooks, this book has a refreshingly different feel. It oozes character and is written and designed with palpable passion and insight.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is the book I’ve been waiting for.” -- Nigella Lawson

“This is a superb collection of recipes, all of which I plan to cook.” -- Rose Gray

“I could happily cook my way through this book from start to finish.” -- Evening Standard

“The recipes are mouth-wateringly delicious, the photography suitably gorgeous; it’s a winner of a book.” -- Time Out

“A magical book full of rare and special flavours.” -- The Observer

“The Clarks have a way of making food taste wonderful.” -- Claudia Roden

From the Publisher

The word “Moro,” meaning “Moor” in Spanish, encapsulates a certain style of cooking that draws on the intense flavors of Spanish, North African, and eastern Mediterranean cuisines. A heady blend of warm spices and fiery sauces, slow–cooked earthy stews and delicate flavorings, these are simple dishes—it is the resulting flavors that are wonderfully complex. In Moro: The Cookbook, chef–owners Sam and Sam Clark have distilled their restaurant’s most accomplished recipes, beginning with a dazzling array of savory breads, soups, mezze, and tapas. Among the main dishes is lamb simmered with artichokes, while desserts include a Seville orange tart. This stylishly designed volume features 200 recipes and 120 color photos.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ebury Press (July 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 009188084X
• ISBN-13: 978-0091880842
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 0.9 x 9.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > African
  • #45 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Spanish
  • #71 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Mediterranean

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mouth-wateringly delicious!, October 20, 2001

By 

A. J. Watson "Bones" (Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Moro Cookbook (Hardcover)

This book is an absolute joy - obviously Sam & Sam really love their food; using all natural ingredients, (but not to the extremes of Crank's) they re-create the recipes they found during a 3-month trip round Spain, Morocco and Algeria, prior to setting up their 'Moro' restaurant in the UK.

They bake their own sourdough bread every day, using their own sourdough yeast, make their own yogurt and somehow find ingredients that most of us have never heard of (but they give a comprehensive list of suppliers at the back).

The recipes are simply described, with lots of practical advice and little anecdotes about their discovery of the recipes in tiny restaurants - for example, queuing up outside a hole in the wall that only sold lentil soup! But what a soup!

Think Spain - think paella (usually a hotch-potch of rice and everything thrown in to produce a gluey mass) - but this book resets that impression with a series of recipes that are light, tasty, unusual and definitely NOT stodgy!

Beautifully illustrated and lovingly written, you really feel the atmosphere of the Spanish/Muslim cookery surrounding you as you get drawn, drooling, into this gorgeous book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cookbook for those who aspire to go beyond bland tapas, April 3, 2008

By 

T. Mylan "Grocery Guy" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Moro: The Cookbook (Paperback)

I'm not sure if it's just me but it seems like the authors from the UK are writing books that are much more than vehicles for there current pet project restaurant (unlike most name droppy American/New York chefs).

To me Moro has a depth in its approach that is more akin to Bertolli's Cooking by Hand than Battalis Babbo. If you are hungering for a comprehensive exploration of the multi-facets of Spanish cooking at its simplest and least clichéd Moro is the book for you.

Honestly its worth it just for the mackerel recipe midway through the book. A butterflied fish cooked hot and quick and then dressed with olive oil, garlic and paprika. A revelation and a brilliant recipe for any struggling bistro chef to boot.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous but not for first-timers, January 28, 2004

By 

J. Holland (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Moro: The Cookbook (Paperback)

This is a fabulous book, with such depth and breadth each time you go back to flip it open something new catches your eye. That said, authenticity is prized over simplicity, and many of the dishes I enjoyed in Spain and wanted to recreate at home are surprisingly time-consuming if not complex to make - potatas bravas and potatas tortilla are 2 examples. However the rice dishes are outstanding and it's a wonderful education in using spices such as saffron and smoked paprika.

This isn't a book for mid-week suppers or beginning cooks looking for everything condensed into a 5 easy steps. But the food it helps you produce is outstanding and its a great couch read.