Celebrity square meals: 'Pernil arroz y gandules' by the DJ David Morales

Serves four to si

Saturday 11 December 2004 01:00 GMT
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This is something my mother passed down to me. It's Puerto Rican, and she still cooks it when I visit - I'm in Staten Island and she's over in Brooklyn. It's pork with rice and peas, and she makes it for special occasions or the holiday season.

This is something my mother passed down to me. It's Puerto Rican, and she still cooks it when I visit - I'm in Staten Island and she's over in Brooklyn. It's pork with rice and peas, and she makes it for special occasions or the holiday season.

You may have to hunt around for some of the spices, but it's worth it, and a good spice shop should have everything you need. Adobo seasoning is a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne, ground cumin and powdered Mexican oregano. Sazon is a blend of seasonings made by a firm called Goya. If you can't find it, use some achiote marinade (available from, among other places, the Cool Chile Co, 0870 902 1145). Finally there's Spanish sofrito - for that, I just whizz up some onions, green peppers, garlic and coriander in a blender.

A pork shoulder joint (around 2kg)
Some adobo
2tbsp sofrito
300g white rice
1 can of pigeon peas (or gungo peas), or the dried equivalent, soaked overnight in cold water
75g tomato purée
A little olive oil
A little salt
1 sachet sazon

The night before you want to eat, puncture the pork all over and rub it with plenty of adobo, then leave it in the fridge. Next day, take it out and put it in a medium to low oven for 4-5 hours.

An hour later, wash the rice twice in cold water. Then get a pan of water, add the salt, oil, tomato purée, sofrito and the sazon. Add the peas and rice and simmer it slowly for 2-3 hours. Serve together - it's especially good for leftovers.

David Morales' new album, '2 Worlds Collide', is out now on DMI Records

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