Mojo Verde de Cilantro

Mojo verde de cilantro belongs to the Canary Islands: a raw, loose sauce of fresh coriander, garlic, cumin, green pepper, wine vinegar and olive oil. Coriander gives this version its bright, grassy edge. Put dried pepper or pimentón into it and you've crossed into mojo rojo, the red mojo, which is another sauce entirely.

The method that decides it is restraint. Grind the cumin, salt and garlic to a smooth majado first, then pound in the pepper and coriander only until fine green flecks remain. Long blending bruises and warms the herb, turning its clean flavour bitter and its colour tired. The finished mojo should spoon easily and show a little green-gold oil at the rim, not sit thick like a cream.

No hace falta haber pisado España. If fresh coriander is impossible to find, use the same weight of flat-leaf parsley and you have mojo verde de perejil, another Canarian green mojo, though it tastes gentler and less citrusy. A small blender works too, provided you pulse and stop early. My Margin has one useful line beside this sauce: "stop while you can still see the herb." Siempre sale, si lo sigues.