Books : The Moro Cookbook

Rating: - Fabulous, earthy, inspirational...
This is a marvelous book, of a kind very rare amongst the glut of cookbooks. It is a book that has a feel all of its own, and that feel is earthy and flavoursome. You can almost smell the paprikan, garlic and cumin coming off the pages.

The slightly loose style of the recipes is excellent - this is a book that is really meant to be cooked from, rather than simply to be looked at - and the range of dishes is great.
The vintage photos between sections are a nice touch too.

Over all there is a very genuine feel of passion from the book's authors - they do care about this food; they have genuinely been inspired by things eaten in wayside eateries in Spain and Morocco...

My first reaction on seeing this book is one that still stands several years later: I was instantly reminded of the original River Cafe Cookbook, a seminal pulication in the cookery writing world...
Moro is for authentic, unpretentious Spanish and Moroccan fare what the River Cafe Cookbook was for the Italian equivalent...
Excellent!

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Rating: - souvenir chef-book
This must be for people who have already eaten at Moro or in Andalusia - despite being a good cook I cannot make these recipes taste good. There are far better (but less trendy) Spanish/Moroccan books by any of the following food writers (as opposed to chefs-of-the-moment): Elizabeth Luard, Penelope Casas, Paula Wolfert; all keepers, unlike this one! In its favour, the reference section is reasonably helpful & the pics are intermittently charming. The paper stock stains & dissolves very easily - not great for a bone fide cook book, eh?

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Rating: - Yes but
I've eaten at the restaurant a couple of times, and loved it. I love Spanish food, and Moro's take on it is a real winner. And there are some recipes in here we come back to time and again (the carrot, cumin and coriander salad is just sensational and I never tire of it).

So why three stars? Well, just because we only ever cook three or four things. We've tried a couple of recipes that just didn't really work - they didn't go wrong, they were just, well, fine. But a lot of trouble for just fine. And a load of others I've just thought "oh, I can't be bothered". Which isn't to say it's complicated, just a bit off putting.

The mezze/tapas dishes are great though, the yoghurt cake not to my tastes but everyone we've made it for has raved about it, the liver with cumin wonderful, and the patatas pobres lovely). Have a look through it before buying, and see how many you're really likely to cook though.

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Rating: - Not authentic Moroccan dishes
I was very disappointed when I received this book. The national dish of Morocco is tagine with couscous. This book only sport ONE tagine recipe and included a lot of recipes with ham and sherry which is not part of the main Moroccan diet as they are majority Muslim. I bought a tagine pot in the hope to use it but will have to put it off until I get a better book. With all the good reviews I was hoping that the dishes would be more authentic but I am afraid not. I have not tried any of the recipes. I am pretty sure it will taste good but probably no different to any other book or recipes. The book seemed to have a Spanish feel to it. If you are after authenticity then I recommend you look elsewhere.

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Rating: - Original, fresh, simple, fabulous cooking!
I love this cookbook! Though presently suffering under a self imposed ban on cookbook buying - I could NOT resist this... I picked it up in a friends house and read page after page of delicious and different recipes for things like carrots with coriander, beetroot and garlicky yoghurt, patatas bravas, chicken baked in harissa, pork cooked in milk etc.
There is also guidance on where to buy sherry and what types work best with different food (a drink I have ALWAYS hated but am happily being won over.) There is a slight over dependence on London suppliers and speciality shops in the references given but... I have not bought a book in years that I have loved as much or produced food that has elicited so many compliments from friends. Plus the pictures are pretty!