Moro

 In recent years, Spanish food has been all the rage.  It is the other Mediterranean food. Hop a boat to North Africa and you get a whole new spin on Mediterranean.  While elBulli was the moon for molecular gastronaughts, Spaniards have been eating food for quite some time.  

So how does one find out how to cook, simple, delicious Spanish food.  Let's start with simple delicious Italian food.  The River Cafe in London is one of the world's best restaurants.  It offers up, simple, clean, seasonal Italian food.  It has also offered up a slew of fabulous cooks.   If you are a famous chef in London, there is a good chance you once worked at The River Cafe.

That was the case for Sam and Sam Clark.  One is Samantha and the other Samuel but which is which?  After working at The River Cafe and honeymooning in Morocco, the duo decided to open a cafe that would spotlight the flavors of the Mediterranean from a Spanish point of view and in the late 1990's they opened Moro.  It quickly became THE place to eat in London.  In 2001, Sam and Sam published their cookbook which was an instant hit.

Unlike Italian food which now has a stronghold in even the tiniest towns in America, Spanish cooking hasn't exactly permeated the country.  That means there are some spices and condiments that require a bit of shopping.  But once you find a supplier, you are golden.

At Moro they are very fond of harissa.  Harissa is one of those condiment used with the same ubiquitous flare that Americans use mayo.   Those this one is hot and red!   More an more, one can find harissa in larger supermarkets, but Moro makes their own.   Once you try this, store bought will never be OK.   Many harissa recipes call for dried peppers but Moro's spin it to use fresh peppers along side the canned piquillos.

Harissa

250 g long fresh red chiles
4 garlic cloves
Sea salt
3 heaped teaspoons coarsely ground caraway seeds
3 heaped teaspoons coarsely ground cumin seeds
1 level teaspoon ground black cumin seeds (optional)
100 g jarred piquillo peppers, or 1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and seeded
1 dessertspoon tomato purée or tomato paste blended with a little water
1 dessertspoon red-wine vinegar
2 level teaspoons sweet smoked Spanish paprika
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. It is advisable to wear rubber gloves when preparing the chiles. Slice the chiles in half lengthwise. Lay each chile, cut side up, on a cutting board, cut side up and gently scrape away the seeds and fleshy veins, discarding them. Roughly chop the chiles and transfer to a food processor. Add the garlic, a pinch of salt, and half of each the spices; process until smooth. Add the piquillos and process. It’s important that the paste is as smooth as possible.

2. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Now add the remaining ingredients—the rest of the spices, tomato purée, vinegar, paprika, and olive oil. Taste and season with more salt to balance out the vinegar. Harissa keeps well in the fridge, but be sure to cover it with a little olive oil to seal it from the air.

Now that you have it made, what to do with it???

At Moro, they bath a nice plump chicken in the paste and roast it.  Couldn't be better!

Greenwich Village Cookbook

When Vivian Kramer was a little girl living in Pennsylvania, she longed to be a “career girl” in New York City and live in Greenwich Village. She accomplished her dream, spending 15 years in the “Village” eating in many of the restaurants. She began collecting recipes from the leading restaurants and in 1969 published Greenwich Village Cookbook. Four hundred recipes from 75 restaurants


This recipe is from Jai-Alai at 82 Bank Street. It was a small Basque restaurant run by Valentin Aguirre, who was the founding father of the New York Basque Center. Aguirre would meet in the basement of a house on Water Street with several other Basque men to discuss their heritage and culture. Thirteen of the men formalized the group in 1913 with a charter drafted by Fiorello La Guardia, who later became Mayor of New York. After operating a boarding house on Cherry Street, Aguirre moved his base of operation to 82 Bank street where he opened Jai-Alai.

Sopa De Ajo con Huevos

4 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 rolls (hard or soft), cut in cubes and toasted
6 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons grated Muenster cheese
4 eggs

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the garlic until golden brown. Add the bread cubes, chicken broth, and Muenster cheese and simmer for 10 minutes. Break the eggs into a bowl. (Do not beat.) Carefully drop the eggs into the soup. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the eggs are poached. Serve at once.

This soup was a favorite among Basque émigré and starving artist alike. Valentin Aguirre died in 1953.

Spanish Country Kitchen

The British publisher Ryland, Peters & Small do a lovely job publishing cookbooks. They have great recipes and lovely pictures and they are very specific. Spanish Country Kitchen: Traditional Recipes For The Home Cook by Linda Tubby is another in their wonderful series. The book is an authentic look at Spanish food that might grace anyone's table. Is an insightful introduction to Spanish cuisine. There is a good mix of appetizers, meat and fish, vegetables and desserts.

My favorite recipe is a dessert for figs. I love figs and really, if you simply lay them on a play with a bit of cream, nothing could be better... unless maybe you deep fried them!

Fig Fritters

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus a little for dusting
1 egg
2 egg whites
a scant cup white wine
finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra for dusting
8 figs with stalks
safflower oil, for deep frying

Put the flour in a bowl, make a hollow in the center, and break in the egg. Add a little of the wine and gradually whisk in the flower from the edges so it doesn’t go in all at once. Mix in the rest of the wine and lemon zest, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for an hour.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking to make a shiny meringue.

If the batter has thickened beyond the thick cream stage, stir in a drop of water to loosen it a little. Fold in the meringue.

Fill a saucepan or deep-fryer one third full with oil, or to the manufacture’s recommended level. Heat the oil to 375.

Dust the figs with a little flour and dip the\m in the batter. Add the figs to the hot oil , in batches if necessary. When the batter turns crisp and golden, remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Dust with sugar and serve while hot.

There are no known pictures of this dish because no one can resist them long enough to capture an image on film. But they are real, like Sasgquach.