Salmorreta Alicantina

Salmorreta is Alicante's concentrated ñora sofrito, the slow-fried base beneath arroz a banda and many of the province's coastal arroces. Dried ñora, garlic and parsley are pounded, then worked into ripe tomato until the mixture becomes dark, thick and strong enough to carry a whole pan of rice. The ñora is its surname. Leave it out and you have a useful tomato sofrito, but you don't have salmorreta.

The ñora decides whether it works. Fry each piece for only a few seconds, just until its deep red colour darkens and the oil releases its sweet pepper smell. Let it turn black and the bitterness follows the paste all the way to the table. After that, give the tomato time. It must lose its water slowly until a spoon drawn through the pan leaves a clear path and green-gold oil appears around the edges.

If ñoras are hard to find, carne de pimiento choricero, jarred choricero pepper pulp, is the substitute a Spanish larder would reach for. It gives a deeper, less sweet result, but the base still does its work. Don't replace the ñora with smoked pimentón; the smoke belongs elsewhere. My Margin carries one warning beside this recipe: count seconds for the pepper, minutes for the tomato. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.