Yotam Ottolenghi Quotes
-
If I must choose between healthy and tasty, I go for the second: having only one life to waste, it might as well be a pleasurable one.
-
Brunch, for me, is an extended breakfast that should be enjoyed whenever you have time properly to engage in cooking and eating.
-
The taste of any simple tomato-based salad is dependent on the quality of the tomatoes.
-
I have yet to meet a carnivore who doesn't love a sausage roll.
-
Food was always important in my family, but I didn't think of it as a vocation until a later point in life.
-
The smells of slow cooking spread around the house and impart a unique warmth matched only by the flavour of the food.
-
Jerusalem artichokes have a great affinity with nuts. I love them with chopped walnuts or almonds, lemon juice, garlic, herbs and plenty of olive oil.
-
Chermoula is a potent North African spice paste that is ideal for smearing on your favourite vegetables for roasting.
-
I like to add something unusual to a dish.
-
You don't need a machine to make pasta: a rolling pin and a fast hand can create a smooth, if thick, sheet.
-
Fresh egg pasta is traditionally served in the north of Italy with butter, cream and rich meat sauces, whereas dried pasta is more at home with the tomato- and olive oil-based ones of the south.
-
As with lemon juice, the more sorrel you use, the more it has to be balanced with something sweet, starchy or creamy - it's a yin-yang approach to cooking that I find rather calming.
-
Going out for a meal, especially for young urbanites, is less about socialising over enjoyable food than about enjoying food as a way to socialise.
-
How can something that's 95% water be so divisive? Alone among vegetables, the poor, innocent stick of celery elicits the most vicious attacks.
-
Small okra pods have a much more attractive texture than large ones, which, when cooked, can be gloopy, stringy and totally spoil a dish.
-
New-season lamb shoulder, cooked pink, is the perfect platform for a mixture of fresh and cooked herbs.
-
Way back when I was a junior pastry chef, I'd bake loads of muffins every morning, as many as 120 or so, while operating on autopilot.
-
I used to have a very unmediated experience of food but, because of the recipe testing, I've lost that now. I can't switch it off even when I'm on holiday.
-
Some days, just occasionally, when I've had just one too many chickpeas, drizzles of olive oil or chunks of feta, I crave a return to the sushi-filled joints of Tokyo.
-
Amaranth, the world's most nutritious grain, is available from health food stores.
-
It's well worth making your own harissa, but there are some very good commercial varieties.
-
I love my garlic press; in fact, it is probably my one true desert island gadget. But I'm happy to put it aside whenever the smell and sweet taste of slow-cooked garlic is called for.
-
When I cook a meal, I like to serve things one by one and keep them separate. I get that from my father - he's such a purist. Some people even put their desserts on the main plate. It's just wrong.
-
What makes maftoul worth celebrating is that it's so easy and forgiving to cook.