Yotam Ottolenghi Quotes
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The only way reliably to gauge the heat of any particular chilli is to cut it in half, so exposing the core and membranes, and to dab the cut surface on your tongue.
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I enjoy meat, but I can do without it.
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I like to talk about food, ingredients, and how to adapt recipes. It's a dialogue.
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When I was a kid, there was always food to be had on the street in Jerusalem, but anything above a falafel stand was mediocre or worse.
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Celery leaves are an underused ingredient, most likely because supermarkets sell mostly leafless stalks.
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Stereotypical vegetarian food looks gray and brown.
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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.
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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.
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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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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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How can something that's 95% water be so divisive? Alone among vegetables, the poor, innocent stick of celery elicits the most vicious attacks.
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Buckwheat, like Marmite and durian, is a seriously divisive foodstuff, so it needs a seriously capable defence team if it's ever going to make it on to most people's dinner tables.
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The main distinction for fresh chillies is whether they are red or green, the difference being one of ripeness.
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Fish cakes are perceived as being quite British, and they're always a bit brown and a little dull.
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Every era has its own list of ingredients that are considered exotic and then, 15 years later, they're not.
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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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New-season lamb shoulder, cooked pink, is the perfect platform for a mixture of fresh and cooked herbs.
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Chinese sausage, which is widely available from Asian grocers and online, is sweet, rich, and enticingly smoky. I add it to steamed rice with strips of omelette and a few baby veg stir-fried with soy.
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I have a terrible tendency to lick my fingers when I cook. So much so that I got a telling off from my pastry teacher years ago, who said it would hinder my prospects.
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Tahini is fantastically versatile, its deep, nutty flavour a harmonious match with roasted vegetables, grilled oily fish or barbecued meat.
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After all these years of cooking and writing recipes, I am still amazed every time I notice how even the minutest of variation in technique can make a spectacular difference.
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The differences between a tart, a pie and a quiche are a blur.
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Mackerel is sustainable and healthy.
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Kirmizi biber has a sweet aroma and can vary in spiciness.