Noor: La Reinterpretacion De Al-Andalus; the Reinterpretation of Al-andalus

This imaginative and inspired book showcases chef Paco Morales’ drive to celebrate his native city of Cordoba’s Moorish past, and with it the other Mediterranean cultures that also left their imprint on the city’s cuisine.

Morales is not the first chef to pay attention to the effects of the long presence of Islamic rulers in Spain. (Sam and Sam Clark at Moro in London, for instance). But while others have sought to tease out and highlight connections in traditional dishes, Morales takes them as a launching point for modern interpretations that employ new techniques and frequently incorporate ingredients that have generally fallen out of use in Spain during the 500+ years since the end of Moorish rule.

The dishes he creates evoke a very different Spain, one in which the country’s recent culinary renaissance was much more firmly anchored in the tenth to fifteenth centuries. For example: sautéed chard with egg yolks and an emulsion of smoked goat’s butter; hake and its roe in a fresh turmeric broth with charred cauliflower; a medley of vegetables with a cod sauce and a dusting of coffee powder; oysters with Kalamata olive sauce, suckling lamb jelly, and kefir.

A striking display of creativity.

Hardcover. Color throughout. In Spanish and in English.