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Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook
by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage
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We probably should have talked about this one and The Flavor Equation back-to-back because not only are they similarly named, but they are somewhat similar in concept. Yotam Ottolenghi is known for flavors and he wrote this book with a co-author from his test kitchen named Ixta Belfrage. Like The Flavor Equation, it talks about the different types of tastes. Characteristically of Ottolenghi, they pull out a lot of specific ingredients that they use throughout the book. They have a 20-ingredient pantry. They don’t say you have to go out and buy everything, but that these are some of the things they think are worth having in your pantry. Some overlap with things that have been in his previous books; some are new. Ixta, his co-author, is a significant influence here and she has a really global background, with a lot of roots in Mexico . So, there’s a lot of Mexican influence in here. Chilis pop up a lot. Ottolenghi has always been global, but with a Middle Eastern bias. In this book you get a lot more Mexican and Indian food. And there’s Thai stuff. I found that personally really exciting, too, because Indian is my favorite cuisine. They are unabashed about fusion, which has become a dirty word in food and food media, as if it’s just diluting or just throwing stuff together. They point out that there are lots of cross-cultural hybrids and that this is what happens when food travels around the world. If you’re combining things while having respect for different cuisines, it’s totally OK. Don’t feel bad about it. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . And it tastes great! There’s a recipe that I would really like to make which they call ‘fusion caponata with silken tofu’. It’s a combination of Sicilian caponata, which is a sweet and sour eggplant dish, and mapo tofu, which is a classic Sichuan dish. It looks great. There are a lot of fun-sounding recipes. There’s eggplant parmigiana meatballs, which I think is so great. One of the things people loathe about eggplant parm is the slicing and the breading and the frying before you do everything. Here you turn everything into meatballs, which you brown a little bit and then cook with the sauce. “They are unabashed about fusion… it’s totally OK. Don’t feel bad about it” This one definitely also has a range of recipes from beginner to more advanced. One of the things that’s thrown at Ottolenghi sometimes—and he’s poked fun at himself about this—is the length of some of his recipes and the amount of ingredients. His book before this was Simple , which was full of 10-ingredient recipes. Here you get a range. You have ones that are really straightforward and then you have ones with three or four sub-recipes. Those are probably the weekend ones, although some of them have components you can make in advance. But if you’re looking for some project cooking while you’re stuck at home during holidays, or in quarantine—go for it! There’s a lot playful stuff in here. There are corn ribs, which were inspired by Momofuku Ssam in New York, which is one of the David Chang restaurants. You basically quarter corn cobs and fry them and they curl up into these little things that you can eat. They’re kind of like ribs. And they group things. They have aged ingredients, acidic ingredients, heat (which is spice). It helps you to start thinking about ingredients and categories. Part of our best books of 2020 series.
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"We probably should have talked about this one and The Flavor Equation back-to-back because not only are they similarly named, but they are somewhat similar in concept. Yotam Ottolenghi is known for flavors and he wrote this book with a co-author from his test kitchen named Ixta Belfrage. Like The Flavor Equation, it talks about the different types of tastes. Characteristically of Ottolenghi, they pull out a lot of specific ingredients that they use throughout the book. They have a 20-ingredient pantry. They don’t say you have to go out and buy everything, but that these are some of the things they think are worth having in your pantry. Some overlap with things that have been in his previous books; some are new. Ixta, his co-author, is a significant influence here and she has a really global background, with a lot of roots in Mexico . So, there’s a lot of Mexican influence in here. Chilis pop up a lot. Ottolenghi has always been global, but with a Middle Eastern bias. In this book you get a lot more Mexican and Indian food. And there’s Thai stuff. I found that personally really exciting, too, because Indian is my favorite cuisine. They are unabashed about fusion, which has become a dirty word in food and food media, as if it’s just diluting or just throwing stuff together. They point out that there are lots of cross-cultural hybrids and that this is what happens when food travels around the world. If you’re combining things while having respect for different cuisines, it’s totally OK. Don’t feel bad about it. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . And it tastes great! There’s a recipe that I would really like to make which they call ‘fusion caponata with silken tofu’. It’s a combination of Sicilian caponata, which is a sweet and sour eggplant dish, and mapo tofu, which is a classic Sichuan dish. It looks great. There are a lot of fun-sounding recipes. There’s eggplant parmigiana meatballs, which I think is so great. One of the things people loathe about eggplant parm is the slicing and the breading and the frying before you do everything. Here you turn everything into meatballs, which you brown a little bit and then cook with the sauce. “They are unabashed about fusion… it’s totally OK. Don’t feel bad about it” This one definitely also has a range of recipes from beginner to more advanced. One of the things that’s thrown at Ottolenghi sometimes—and he’s poked fun at himself about this—is the length of some of his recipes and the amount of ingredients. His book before this was Simple , which was full of 10-ingredient recipes. Here you get a range. You have ones that are really straightforward and then you have ones with three or four sub-recipes. Those are probably the weekend ones, although some of them have components you can make in advance. But if you’re looking for some project cooking while you’re stuck at home during holidays, or in quarantine—go for it! There’s a lot playful stuff in here. There are corn ribs, which were inspired by Momofuku Ssam in New York, which is one of the David Chang restaurants. You basically quarter corn cobs and fry them and they curl up into these little things that you can eat. They’re kind of like ribs. And they group things. They have aged ingredients, acidic ingredients, heat (which is spice). It helps you to start thinking about ingredients and categories. Part of our best books of 2020 series."
"Yotam Ottolenghi, the prolific cookbook author and restaurateur, has a thing for vegetables. In Flavor, the third in the series of vegetable-forward books that began with Plenty and Plenty More, he and test kitchen chef Ixta Belfrage prove that the Ottolenghi alchemical workshop has many more secrets to share – like one-pan orecchiette puttanesca, eggplant with herbs and crispy garlic, spicy roast potatoes with tahini and soy. Through slow-roasting, infusing, charring, and about a million different routes to umami, the authors coax unexpectedly glamorous notes out of the most humble and familiar roots, fruits and leaves."