The “little sister” gets a cookbook

Morito, a tiny restaurant tucked in to a small space in the heart of London’s Exmouth Market, has been serving delicious and innovative tapas and mezze for over three years. Sam and Sam Clark’s “little gem of a tapas bar” has attracted critical acclaim and long lines of patrons, and now you can enjoy the tapas bar’s small plates even if you can’t visit the restaurant with Morito by Sam and Sam Clark (Ebury Press), the first cookbook from the restaurant. As the “little sister” of Moro, the Clarks’ larger restaurant, Morito is “the noisier, more rebellious sibling, eager to experiment and explore.”

In the words of the Clarks, the aim of the Morito cookbook is to inspire you to “cook and eat and wonderful tapas and mezze… The unique atmosphere this brings to the table should be a part of everyone’s life. There is something inherently joyful and social about eating in this way. Thousands of possible food combinations lie within this book, none of which is wrong as long as you are happy.”

The London neighbourhood in which the restaurant resides is a significant inspiration for the restaurant’s owners and is reflected in the restaurant’s food. The Clarks describe this inspiration in the book’s introduction:

“Through our collection of tapas and mezze recipes you will be transported to both the present day hustle and bustle of London’s Exmouth market and a Mediterranean country of our choice.

With this book we wanted to introduce you to two of our great loves: our varied and mad staff and the loyal, beating heart that is London’s Clerkenwell. It is impossible to think how Sam and I could enjoy cooking without these two factors in our lives. We acknowledge, here and now, that we would be nothing without the people we work with who breathe life into what we do, and to this great city that supports us.

People talk about the atmosphere in Moro and Morito, ‘that hits you like a wall of joy’. There must be some strange alchemy involved because it’s impossible to analyse or copy. All we know is that we are grateful every day and these pages celebrate the special environment where the creativity begins.”

The cookbook has received positive reviews, with The Guardian naming it as their Cookbook of the Week, calling it the “perfect guide for spreads both brightly coloured and vibrantly flavoured, and describing the writing as “warm and engaging.” As befits a tapas cookbook, Morito focuses on small plates and nibbles, with small bites like the gilda, a “punchy combo of a pickled chilli, green olive, anchovy fillet and silverskin onion on a cocktail stick,” as well as several salads and vegetable dishes, and even a few drink recipes.

Enter our contest for your chance to win one of three copies of Morito.