Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi

Ottolenghi: The Cookbook Reviews

• 
  Yaaresse

  Source: Library book
  
  This is a hard cookbook to rate with fairness because of the delta between what can be learned as theory and what can be used in practice.
  
  It is a gorgeous cookbook. In the forward, the buzz phrase "curating" is brought up -- recipe curating. I didn't cringe too much because the recipes in this book are, indeed, curated. They are carefully selected, brilliantly showcased, intelligently presented. It's clear why Ottolenghi (the establishment in England) has garnered huge respect in the food world. The recipes are well-formatted and the instructions clear. The authors' "curating" is a five-star effort. For someone like me who reads a cookbook to learn something new, to understand a culture via its cuisine, and to use as a springboard for ideas in my kitchen, it's simply a freaking brilliant cookbook.
  
  As a cookbook to be used in a practical way, it's a three-star cookbook. While I would happily tuck into a meal featuring any (all) of these recipes, the truth is that I probably would prepare very few of them because they are not doable for the average person. It's not the skill level required: most of the recipes are approachable, if fiddly, and I'm a competent cook. It's not he time: I have plenty of time. It's the ingredients. Almost every recipe has an integral ingredient -- usually an obscure vegetable or herb, but sometimes a cheese or meat -- that simply cannot be found in my medium-sized town. While I've heard of most of them (I did have to look up a couple), I'm fairly certain if I walked into any grocery in the area and asked for fresh fava beans, speck, manouri, samphire, gooseberries or pork belly, the manager would look at me like I was speaking a foreign language or asking for a phoenix feather. Even if I could have them special ordered or get them on-line, they would cost a king's ransom. Granted, I don't live in a culinary Mecca, but it's not exactly a backwater, either.
  
  To read, enjoy, learn from, dream about, swoon over = 5 stars
  To add to a collection of books you might cook a few recipes from for very special occasions = 4 stars
  To actually cook from -- unless you live in a major food-centric city, are quite wealthy or have a specialty produce importer at your beck and call = 2.5 stars.
  
  
• 
  Kim

  This is one of those cookbooks which makes me want to get into the kitchen and start cooking. Wonderful flavours, uncomplicated recipes, beautiful dishes. A treasure!
• 
  Amy Paget

  Ottolenghi: the Cookbook has a cover that upsets librarians! When this New York Times top title is returned, we gasp! Why? Because Jonathon Lovekin’s clever food photograph extends beyond its borders to create the illusion of a book smeared with food. And what delicious food it is! Ottolenghi features 140 recipes culled from the popular Ottolenghi restaurants and inspired by the diverse culinary traditions of the Mediterranean. The recipes reflect the authors’ upbringings in Jerusalem yet also incorporate culinary traditions from California, Italy, and North Africa.. Featuring abundant produce and fish and meat dishes, as well as Ottolenghi’s famed cakes and breads, Ottolenghi invites you into a world of inventive flavors and fresh, vibrant cooking.
  Yotam Ottolenghi arrived in the UK from his native Israel in 1997 and set out on a new career in food, after having completed an MA in Comparative Literature whilst working as a journalist in Tel Aviv. In London he attended The Cordon Bleu after which he worked as a pastry chef in various establishments. In 2002, Yotam and his partners set up Ottolenghi, a unique food shop offering a wide range of freshly made savory dishes, baked products and patisserie items. There are now four Ottolenghi's, as well as NOPI, a brasserie style restaurant in Soho, London.
  
  Since 2006 Ottolenghi has written a column in The Guardian's Weekend Saturday magazine. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling books Plenty, Jerusalem, and Ottolenghi. Sami Tamimi is a partner and head chef at Ottolenghi. Their 2012 Cookbook, Jerusalem, was a New York Times bestseller and was awarded Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
  
• 
  Lyn Elliott

  Although this is the first of Ottolenghi's cookbooks, I have come to it just now, after knowing and using his others, especially
  Jerusalem: A Cookbook,
  Plenty and
  Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London's Ottolenghi. Perhaps if I'd discovered it first I would give it five stars, but I think there are more interesting recipes in the later books, as he experimented and explored more in using vegetables creatively.
  
  I love his use of ingredients and style of cooking, which suits our climate so well (not the adaptations for England, so much), and because of our very diverse population it is easy to get all the middle eastern ingredients he uses and fuses so well.
  
  There are many recipes I know I will use for inspiration.
• 
  Penny McGill

  I think a good cookbook can be read like great Fiction. I learned this from my daughter, who loved having recipes read to her at bedtime, and the endless times we would read out the ingredients for croissants or puff pastry. There is something special in a cookbook that is written with real care by an author/chef. They put their soul into the pages with details about ingredients, tools and regions of the world that they work and live in. It's a visual feast to read and enjoy those books and the second Ottolenghi cookbook is that kind of wonderful book.
  
  Many of the recipes are simple and beautiful because Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi choose the most beautiful things to mix together (like cucumbers, chili and poppy seeds) and they become something even more incredible. The photography is just delightful and the stories that accompany the recipes are so interesting that they take you out of your everyday life. That's what great reading is all about. If you need a cookbook to inspire you, this is the one. If you need a cookbook to give as a gift, you need look no further. As soon as I return this one to the biblio it will go back out on the HOLDS list as it's dance card is full. It's worth the wait.
• 
  Tuck

  garlic and lemon. lots of doable veggie and salad ideas, fresh herbs and greens. i am attempting to purchase, how much im intrigued by recipes. very similart to adria's family meal cook book. in some ways. but these people are waaaay more adventurous and veggie oriented
• 
  Ann

  Christmas present. The authors are Jewish Israeli and Muslim and I get it for a Christian festival,
• 
  Sarah Beaudette

  Favorite. cookbook. ever. Every recipe comes out exactly as expected, which is delicious, and healthy to boot. It's so tempting to say I threw the recipe together myself when guests rave, but they wouldn't believe me. And I could never miss an opportunity to turn someone onto the genius that is Ottolenghi.
• 
  Philippa

  Bought it for my mother-in-law for her birthday, and drooled over it all Easter weekend. I walked past the restaurant in Islington a few days ago and have been dreaming of the tower of meringues ever since!
• 
  Aja Marsh

  beautiful photos, great recipes (and most not too complicated), and awesome, refreshing flavor combinations. and really good little stories/intros to each recipe that are actually fun to read. excited to go back to ottolenghi in a few weeks when i'm in london!
• 
  Rebecca

  Pre-review: It just arrived and I've already tagged three dozen things I want to make immediately (I tried to limit myself in the dessert section as EVERYTHING looks amazing).
  
  
  Review:
  
  For overall quality of the recipes herein: 4 stars
  For approachability and accessibility: 3 stars
  For images and formatting: 3 stars
  
  
  
  This isn't a cookbook for the beginning chef. Many of the recipes are advanced, most of them require extra preparation time, and a great deal of them use ingredients that aren't easily accessible.
  
  That said (and probably because of some of those reasons), I really enjoyed working my way through Ottolenghi.
  
  I started with Roast potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes with lemon and sage, and having no luck finding Jerusalem artichokes (though my grocery store has put them on order now and will be swimming in Jerusalem artichokes with no one else who will buy them!), I left them out of the recipe... which translated to a standard, but still delicious, roast potato recipe. I pressed on.
  
  The cookbook requires several ingredients which I don't usually buy, but, because there is a great deal of repetition between recipes, I didn't feel like I was left with a product that I wouldn't ever use again: Sunflower oil, hazelnuts, Muscavado sugar are a few examples. (Additional advise: If you decide to work through these recipes, buy a big bag of sweet potatoes as they are used several times!) :)
  
  
  Most of the recipes are ideal as delicious vegetarian meals. In truth, I wasn't blown away by anything in the meat section.
  
  I'm not yet finished with the recipes I initially marked, and there are many more that I intend to add in very soon. There are a few that I've already made twice and will probably become staples.
  
  
  
  ***
  Quick summary:
  
  Cucumber and poppyseed salad - a quick green addition for a meal. Sweet and vinegary. Made this twice.
  
  Haricots vert and snow peas with hazelnut and orange - loved this! Made it twice.
  
  Grilled broccoli with chile and garlic - Husband really liked it, I thought it was fine.
  
  Roasted butternut squash with burnt eggplant and pomegranate molasses - I adored the squash (especially with all the toasted seeds and nuts), but the eggplant spread was not to my (or anyone else's) liking.
  
  Roast potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes with lemon and sage - missing the artichokes, so otherwise a standard potato dish.
  
  Roasted sweet potato with pecan and maple - I used this as one of our Thanksgiving sides and thought it was lovely. A wonderful dish for autumn.
  
  Danielle's sweet potato gratin - Despite the instructions not to use a pale sweet potato, I did (because I didn't read ahead before I went shopping!) and used the pale ones anyway. It was fantastic! I made it a second time with a mixture of red and pale sweet potatoes and loved it as well. A super easy dish, that looks beautiful at the table.
  
  Roast chicken with saffron, hazelnuts and honey - meh.
  
  Turkey and corn meatballs with roasted pepper sauce - I thought this was adequate, but (surprisingly) my kids loved it. The roasted pepper sauce was the star... and would probably work well for other dishes... or possibly on its own as a soup.
  
  Organic salmon with red pepper and hazelnut salsa - We are somewhat picky about our salmon, but this simple dish was fantastic. I made it twice.
  
  Seared tuna with pistachio crust and papaya salsa - I was especially anticipating great results with this one, and was left disappointed. 1. I had a vague recollection of trying papaya once when I was traveling through Central America, and recalled it not being as sweet as I had thought it would be. It's a beautiful fruit. You cut into the flesh, and the variegated pink set off by the black, caviar-looking, seeds is gorgeous. It tastes like smelly feet, though. Now with the previous memory recalled, I googled it: "What should papaya taste like?" and immediately saw comments about smelly feet (and worse!). According to some people, it should be sweet, but so far, I'm two for two with papaya tasting like feet. 2. I skipped the papaya and made a mostly mango salsa. 3. The method in this book requires the tuna to be way more cooked than I like in my sushi-grade tuna. Tuna should be seared and pink. This process took too long and overcooked it. I may try again and do it my own way (sans papaya and much cooking).
  
  "Pizza" with feta, tomato, and olives - nothing special.
  
  Sweet potato galettes - I adored these! They are amazingly beautiful and so delicious... especially as they come to room temperature. The chile and the goat cheese and the sweet potato play so well together. I intend to use these to impress guests who come for dinner in autumn.
  
  Cheddar and caraway cheese straws - made these as an after-school-snack when some of the kids had friends over. They ate them up and raved. (I thought the caraway might set them off, but they didn't notice.)
  
  Ruth's mayonnaise - Wonderful! I love unique aiolis and this was so easy, I think I may never buy store mayo again. This one has quite a lot of garlic, and we left out the cilantro for our purposes. It makes a lot... It might be worth sharing with a neighbor, even though it lasts for two weeks in the fridge.
  
  Apple and olive oil cake with maple icing - This wasn't well received the night I made it (I wasn't overly excited about it either). The next day, after school, I encouraged my kids just to have another slice. My daughter happily ate it. When I tossed the rest that evening, she was furious. "I LOVED that cake!" Huh.
  
  Caramel and macadamia cheesecake - This was fantastic. And even better the next day. (I loved that the caramel looked like it was solid and then you cut it... and maybe it's the reaction of body heat or something... but it just melts in your mouth. This, contrasted with the crunchy caramelized macadamia nuts! The base cheesecake itself is an easy recipe and would work well even by itself.
  
  Pistachio and rose water meringues - I was very excited about these. I've used lavender in cookies and cakes before, so why not roses!? I had to special order the rose water. No one liked them... especially after my husband said it was like eating his grandmother's soap. (I thought they were unique and might work for a women's tea or something. Advise: Halve the batch (at least!), and make them as small bites. And only use one teaspoon (or less) of the rose water.
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Jack Cheng

  Odd to say that I "read" this cookbook. I did read the introduction with the history and philosophy of Ottolenghi the food emporium, and I looked at all the pages (beautiful photography, design and book production) and picked out recipes I wanted to try...
  
  So: the philosophy is basically fresh food, not overly cooked but usually dressed with some combination of olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and/or cilantro, mostly served at room temperature. The authors are originally from Israel and Palestine, now in London, and it's basically a Mediterranean diet with a Middle Eastern fondness for spices. What this means for me is: tasty summer food that you can prepare in the morning while the kitchen is bearable and you can leave it to serve for dinner later. What this means for you: invite me to your BBQ, pool or Cape house.
  
  All the recipes I tried turned out great: cauliflower fritters with lime yogurt, sweet potatoes with raisins and maple citrus dressing, eggplant with fresh oregano, a salad of french beans and mangetout. Mangetout? Snow peas. This is a British cookbook so there is some celsius conversion to do, and measurement in grams but easily overcome with a kitchen scale.
  
  Ottolenghi is known mostly for vegetable dishes and that's what I concentrated on. I did tag a recipe for turkey meatballs and a couple desserts to try later (olive oil apple cake?!).
• 
  Ingrid Hardy

  I read this book over the past two weeks like crazy, and so far have tried two recipes. Fantastic. It didn't surprise me too much though, as I tend to pick books and recipes if the ingredients loosely fit into what we eat. There are a few we won't be eating - squid just isn't my thing - and a couple are either too time-consuming, or are too exotic for my "house cat" palette (there really are not many of these, though).
  
  These recipes draw mostly from all over the Mediterranean, with some Asian tossed in (and maybe others too, I think it's mentioned in the intro), and even one or two Mexican-based recipes. One of them was for Quesadillas, and they were absolutely delicious. There are AT LEAST twenty other recipes bookmarked for taste-testing. :-)
  
  The recipes in this book are vegetarian, but the author is not vegetarian, and that suits me/my family perfectly as we are not vegetarians either, but have cut our meat consumption by almost half over the past several years. These dishes can easily be served with meat, when the occasion/mood suits it. This is a book that will definitely be used very regularly.
• 
  Kinneret Friedman Rubin Oberndorfer

  Great book. Great recipes.
  The products get lots of respect.
  Mediterranean cook with an Asian twist.
• 
  Stef

  After all the cookbooks on my shelves I didn't think I'd want room for one more. But yes, definitely this one. Ottolenghi delivers once again. Some of the dishes here will be multiplied x2 or x3 especially for large families like mine. My favorites, as usual, are the salad ideas.
• 
  Karen

  Brilliant as ever.
• 
  Catherine Woodman

  Great cookbook!
  I have been searching for great ways to eat garlic that don't involve cream and cheddar cheese--healthy ways to eat this vegetable that is widely available year round. I have had a very good summer of eating what is available in the Farmer's Market, keeping to a more vegetarian, sometimes even vegan meal plan, and the key to long term success, for me, is to have a lot of choices about how to cook the raw ingredients, especially once winter comes and the options do not include flavorful tomatoes and corn on the cob any more.
  
  This one is a real winner, coming from Yotam Ottolenghi's latest cookbook, concisely entitled 'Ottolenghi: The Cookbook'. It is a simple recipe, and it gives precise instructions, so you have the feeling that you are able to follow it more or less exactly
  
  Broccoli with Chilies and Garlic
  
  1 lb. of broccoli
  
  4 Tbs. olive oil
  
  4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  
  2 mild red chili/jalapenos, thinly sliced
  
  To garnish:
  
  toasted almond slices or thinly sliced lemon
  
  Separate the broccoli into florets and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes and not longer! Immediately refresh under cold running water to stop further cooking, then drain and leave to dry completely.
  
  Once the broccoli is dry, toss with 3 Tbsp of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place a griddle pan on high heat and leave for 4 to 5 minutes until smoking hot. Grill the broccoli in batches on the hot pan, turning to get grill marks on all sides. When ready, transfer into a bowl.
  
  While the broccoli is cooking, place the remaining Tbsp of oil in a small saucepan together with sliced garlic and chilies and cook on a medium heat until the garlic begins to turn golden brown. Be careful not to let them burn – they will continue cooking in the hot oil even when off heat. Pour the garlic and chilies over the hot broccoli florets, toss well and serve.
• 
  Valerie

  This book is less useful to the home cook than Jerusalem or Plenty. And not much healthy here.
  
  The book begins with a few trademark Ottolenghi vegetable dishes -- unusual but brilliant combinations of flavor and texture -- but there's not many of them here. Many of the recipes call for expensive (in my world) nuts (hazelnuts, macadamias, Brazil nuts) and this book features a love affair with butter that's making me shudder: they actually suggest dressing a beautiful herb salad with warm butter—this dish is recommended as a "light" dish to serve after a heavy meat dish. (Accompanied presumably by a Malbec and a call to your cardiologist.)
  
  Nearly 1/2 of the book is devoted to breads and pastries and other carb-heavy items. This is the problem of writing a cookbook based on a restaurant--restaurants sell all sorts of foods that shouldn't be eaten on a regular basis. Not much healthful here. I will probably make 3 recipes from this book on a regular basis. Also, I tried his "guaranteed best method" for roasting eggplant--not so fast with the superlatives, Chef!
  
  Finally, irritatingly, It is FULL of soft-focus photos of much of nothing -- a woman's hair braid. A bowl. The decoratively empty shelving in the restaurant. These are all intended I assume to evoke something warm and important about these people and their work, but I find the photos distracting and would rather have more photos of the finished food.
• 
  Melissa Shmish

  A fairly good book. The photographic style became distracting with photographs arranged with the point of interest of the photo placed in the crease of the book, surrounded by blurred shadows in the periphery--call me a philistine but I failed to grasp the merit of the approach, I just found myself tempting to break the binding (book blasphemy!) to see the entire picture. I refrained. I will say that the flavor/ingredient combinations were unusual and innovative (at least to the cooking styles I'm used to). The first chapter of vegetable dishes promises to be epecially helpful for planning interesting meals while attempting to go meat-free without feeling like you're doing culinary penance. One caveat is many of the ingredients are too exotic for my local supermarkets, ethic food shops and farmers' markets. All in all the recipes offered did not disappoint--the ultimate purpose of a cookbook, I suppose--but I admit I have come to expect cookbook to be satisfying in an entertainemt sense, as well as informative.
• 
  Deb

  A recent purchase but I have been reading it the past few weeks and have managed to make 3 recipes so far: the Asparagus & Samphire (Sea Asparagus) and the Fennel and Feta with Pomegranate Seeds and Sumac
  (
  http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...) and the Panfried Fish with Green Tahini Sauce & Pomegranate Seeds
  http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...) which were all fabulous.
  
  I ranked this one four stars (4.5 if I could) instead of five stars--my rankings of Ottolenghi's previous two books mainly because of formatting. For some reason this book doesn't feel as "rich" as the other two--the recipes seemed more jammed together on the page. The photos are lovely but seem less vibrant than the previous books. Call me picky! ;-) Still, it's a beautiful book and I look forward to cooking more from it.
• 
  Vicki

  I had never heard of Ottolenghi before and when I saw this cookbook, the title was the first thing that grabbed my attention, and then the blurb sealed the deal.
  
  The first thing I want to say about it is that it is the most interesting cookbook I’ve ever read. The recipes are very different than what I’m used to making, and they all sound easy enough to prepare. The photos were amazing, and the stories shared about his family made me feel as if I knew them. They were very close and I liked that.
  
  The contents are:
  Introduction
  Vegetables, legumes, and grains
  Meat and fish
  Baking and patisserie
  Larder
  Index
  The Ottolenghi people
  Thank-yous
  
  My favorite recipes were the salads. I love a good salad and there was such a variety. Some of them had ingredients that I would have never thought to put together. Even days after finishing the book I catch myself thinking “oh, I could make a salad with …
  
  If you’re a cookbook lover, check this out. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
• 
  Suse

  Die drei Kochbücher von Ottolenghi und Samimi sind einfach ein Traum für alle, die der mediterranen und orientalischen Küche verfallen sind. In "Ottolenghi - Das Kochbuch" gibt es außerdem eine ganze Menge an Gerichten, die in den Restaurants und Delis der beiden Köche besonders beliebt sind, und darunter auch jede Menge fantastische Backwaren. Manche Kreation muten auf den ersten Blick etwas gewagt an, aber ich habe schnell gelernt, dass ich den Köchen vertrauen kann und sie ein fantastisches Gespür für die Komposition von Aromen und Konsistenzen haben und konnte somit meinen Kochhorizont erstaunlich erweitern. Für weniger bekannte Zutaten haben die Autoren meist auch eine gute Alternative parat, aber es lohnt sich, danach zu suchen. Ich koche seit 1 Jahr eigentlich nur noch aus den drei Kochbüchern der beiden Köche, und das soll was heißen.
• 
  Julie H.

  The photos are gorgeous, and I found a number of recipes to make, with an esp. strong selection of salads and vegetables I was keen to try. On the down side, the introductory material includes the word "ironical" and lists of ingredients in recipes throughout the book are inconsistent--that is, sometimes listing the foodstuff and then describing its manner of preparation (e.g., diced, chopped, cubed, whatever) and at other times specifying the preparation first followed by the name of the food item. While neither of these is a deal-breaker, for folks who regularly read cookbooks and assemble and share recipes, it's curious. I did not, however, find enough recipes that I'd cook often enough to justify the $35 pricetag for the hardback.
• 
  D

  beautiful book -- firm binding, that soft-hard cover he uses on all his books that has souch a great feel, many and vibrant up-close photographs of food. this is the book that, along with ottolenghi's Guardian column, helped launch the phenomenon. a great mix of sweet and savory. in interview, ottolenghi said he and his business partner, sami tamimi, just sort of threw this book together on the side, and ottolenghi indicated that he hadn't developed his rigorous recipe-testing method yet. FYI. still, even if the home cook may have to tweak the edges a bit to get it to turn out, the creative mixes of flavors is still here, making this a worthwhile cookbook to have in the library.
• 
  Jessica - How Jessica Reads

  Ottolenghi and Tamimi, authors of Jerusalem: A Cookbook, have created Ottolenghi: The Cookbook to share the most popular recipes from their four Ottolenghi restaurants (which are each a sort of combination restaurant/patisserie/deli).
  
  Both Ottolenghi and Tamimi were born in Jerusalem but now live in London. Their respective Jewish and Palestinian backgrounds clearly form the backbone of their cooking and baking, but their style has been infused with British elements that make for irresistible dishes.
  
  Full review will appear in Shelf Awareness.
• 
  Imillar

  When you read cookbooks for pleasure as I do, this one rates as one of the best. It's exquisitely designed, entertainingly written, and the food is delicious. It does take a couple of runs at some of the recipes to get them right, (which is why I gave it 4 out of 5) but it's worth the perseverance. I've lost count of the number of times I've made the apple spice cake with maple frosting, and yet dinner guests have alway been soooo happy to eat it again.