Everyone must dream at some point of headlining a festival: belting out a virtuoso guitar/ drum/ vocal solo to a mass of ecstatic fans. It’s a dream that must necessarily be abandoned upon becoming a chef – waving a spatula at the audience just wouldn’t feel the same. Yet, when the Wilderness team approached Moro late in 2010, that’s exactly how they sold it to us. The chance to cook our dream menu as ‘culinary headliners’ of the inaugural festival’s Saturday line up. It was hard to say no. Being at Wilderness was undoubtedly one of our highlights of 2011 and when we were invited back for 2012, we leapt at the chance.
This year, in a glorious technicolour berber marquée, we will host our very own venue at the heart of the festival. The Souk Tent will be an immersive Moro experience. Festival-goers will be able to start the day with breakfasts of hearty, spicy huevos rotos or Moorish granola, while tapas will be served throughout the day. If you’re running off to catch a debate, you can grab a take away meal – charcoal grilled chicken with fried potatoes and harissa or delicious spiced lamb with humous, chopped salad and flatbread. We’ll also be hosting six lavish feasts – a chance to stuff yourself silly on some of our absolutely favourite foods in a unique and truly special setting at the modest price of £35 per head.
Months of preparation are going into this, to create not just a meal but a complete dining experience. We have spent weeks deciding on a menu that will tantalise and excite, while remaining true to the cuisine for which Moro is famous. We want to give visitors a chance to experience every facet and style of the food we love.
Our aim, as with 2011’s event, is for guests to mingle and enjoy the meal as a group, so we will serve the food on generous sharing platters. On last year’s menu, salted Padrón peppers gave way to boquerones, fresh prawn ceviche and rich, crispy pork chicharrones. We served our signature juicy marinated lamb and finished it all off with dollops lemony of yoghurt cake – a Moro favourite. On this year’s menu, creamy labneh with crunchy crudités will open the way for stacks of smoky, succulent charcoal grilled meat and fish. Pudding will be simple: sweet, ripe English strawberries in Moscatel wine.
Almost the entire staff of Moro and Morito came to Wilderness last year, with the restaurants closed, making it more a family holiday than a work outing and a memorable event that’s still talked about fondly; we’re hoping to bring as many as possible again this August.
Tickets to Moro’s 2011 banquet sold out unbelievably quickly, so if you’re planning to join us for this year’s feasts (and we hope you are) it’s advisable to book your seat as soon as possible. You can do this on the Wilderness website in the shop section www.wildernessfestival.com/shop . Obviously, you’ll need a ticket to the festival too to enter the site.
We’re so excited! Can’t wait to see you there!
