Yotam Ottolenghi Quotes
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One of the troubles with food is that people take themselves too seriously. This is why I'm very happy for people to change my recipes, alter them, replace one ingredient for another.
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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.
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It's hard to beat the rough texture of steel-cut oats, with their slight resistance against the teeth.
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Small okra pods have a much more attractive texture than large ones, which, when cooked, can be gloopy, stringy and totally spoil a dish.
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A lemon, boiled whole and blitzed, makes a useful base for all sorts of dressings.
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You can be vegetarian and eat fish. It's your choice, just say: 'I am what I am.' There are no hardcore divisions anymore.
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If the first bite is with the eye and the second with the nose, some people will never take that third, actual bite if the food in question smells too fishy, fermented or cheesy.
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Sea spaghetti looks like dark fettuccine and has a similar texture - you can get it in health food stores or online.
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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.
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A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.
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When it comes to cooking pasta, the first essential is to make sure you have a big enough pot: it needs room to roll in the water while cooking.
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Apart from its famous healing properties, manuka has a strong, woody flavour.
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Having grown up in the Middle East, eating beans for breakfast always seemed like a bizarre British eccentricity.
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Seasonality in winter doesn't have to mean sleep-inducing, stew-like, starchy casseroles.
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Too many books are full of recipes that aren't doable at home. They are purely aspirational. They are quite frightening, even for me.
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I have been cooking with preserved lemon for years, using it left, right and centre, but I am still far from reaching my limit.
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Plums are a good substitute for gooseberries.
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Sweet potatoes are ideal for lazy days: just bake, then mash and mix with yogurt, butter or olive oil.
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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.
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A great fig should look like it's just about to burst its skin. When squeezed lightly it should give a little and not spring back. It must be almost unctuously sweet, soft and wet.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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It's well worth making your own harissa, but there are some very good commercial varieties.