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Take your average couscous salad, and it's almost always a sloppy mush, no matter how much attention has gone into getting flavours in there.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Barberries, or zereshk, are tiny dried red fruit with a tremendously sharp flavour. They come from Iran, where they're used to add freshness to rice and chicken dishes.
Yotam Ottolenghi
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The smells of slow cooking spread around the house and impart a unique warmth matched only by the flavour of the food.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
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.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Apart from its famous healing properties, manuka has a strong, woody flavour.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Most of my recipes start life in the domestic kitchen, and even those that start out in the restaurant kitchen have to go through the domestic kitchen.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
I'm a firm believer that the world should be your oyster when you're cooking. People should open themselves to other cuisines - there are a lot of hidden secrets all over the world.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
These days, meals are more open to personal preferences. People like to serve themselves.
Yotam Ottolenghi
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Stuffed vine leaves tend to burn and/or stick when you cook them. To avoid this, use a heavy based pan lined with a few layers of second-rate leaves.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
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.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Rice and vermicelli is a common combination in Arab and Turkish cooking - it has a lighter texture than rice on its own.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
I like to talk about food, ingredients, and how to adapt recipes. It's a dialogue.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
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.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Taleggio is the perfect cheese to melt over a warm dish.
Yotam Ottolenghi
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A great ratatouille is one in which the vegetables interact with each other but are still discernible from each other. The trick is to cook them just right: not over, not under.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
On many occasions, an informal buffet and casual seating offer a little more intimacy than a loud gathering around a big table.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Almost every culture has its own variation on chicken soup, and rightly so - it's one of the most gratifying dishes on the face of the Earth.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Celery leaves are an underused ingredient, most likely because supermarkets sell mostly leafless stalks.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Many people struggle to make hummus that lives up to their expectations at home, and recreating a favourite brand or the stuff from your local deli is almost impossible.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
If the British Isles had an official vegetable, it would have to be the potato.
Yotam Ottolenghi
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Fish cakes are perceived as being quite British, and they're always a bit brown and a little dull.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
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.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
Turkish cuisine is, to my mind, one of the most exciting and accomplished in the world.
Yotam Ottolenghi -
For me, the end of childhood came when the number of candles on my birthday cake no longer reflected my age, around 19 or 20. From then on, each candle came to represent an entire decade.
Yotam Ottolenghi