Top 120 Yotam Ottolenghi Quotes

The combination of lentils with rice or bulgur is the absolute height of Levantine comfort food. I could eat it every day.

The unlikely combination of potatoes and pasta does appear in some Italian recipes.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and the by-product from one food can be perfect for making another.

For my money, celery hasn’t got a mean bit of fibre in its body, and we all need to start being much nicer to it.

Shimeji are those odd-looking clusters of small mushrooms you often find in so-called ‘exotic’ selections at the supermarket. They have an appealing firmness that is retained during light cooking.

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.

Tagliatelle comes from the word tagliare, meaning ‘to cut.’ Tagliolini are simply thinly cut tagliatelle.

I have yet to meet a carnivore who doesn’t love a sausage roll.

Good asparagus needs minimal treatment and is best eaten with few other ingredients.

Tossing doughnuts, fritters or fried dumplings in fennel sugar adds grown-up complexity without diminishing the indulgence factor.

Buttermilk’s palate-cleansing tartness is one reason it’s used a lot in southern India, where meals often end with a small bowl of the stuff served with plain rice and pickles.

Some heat, some spice and plenty of citrus are the building blocks of many North African fish dishes.

Miso makes a soup loaded with flavour that saves you the hassle of making stock.

I used to love fine dining, but I lost my appetite for it to a degree because sometimes it is too much about the effort and too little about the result.

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.

I enjoy meat, but I can do without it.

Dinner parties are still highly popular, and I believe they always will be.

It’s hard to beat the rough texture of steel-cut oats, with their slight resistance against the teeth.

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.

Even in the busiest kitchen, there’s always a point at the end of the day when you go home.

Many ingredients are called ‘earthy,’ but none comes as close to fitting the bill as buckwheat. I’m mildly obsessed with the stuff.

You can be vegetarian and eat fish. It’s your choice, just say: ‘I am what I am.’ There are no hardcore divisions anymore.

I do support people eating more vegetables. It’s a good thing to do.

The way to entice people into cooking is to cook delicious things.

Believe it or not, I’m as much a fan of a supper shortcut as the next person.

If you can’t taste an ingredient, you have to ask yourself why it is there.

Speaking as someone who didn’t go through the U.K. school system, with all the culinary baggage that entails, I am inordinately fond of custard in any shape or form.

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.

Amaranth, the world’s most nutritious grain, is available from health food stores.

If I am honest, my food is actually quite far removed from both the food of my mother and my father.

Scamorza, an Italian curd cheese often labelled ‘smoked mozzarella,’ melts fantastically well.

Fresh egg pasta is traditionally served in the north of Italy with butter, cream and rich meat sauces, whereas dried pasta is more at home with the tomato- and olive oil-based ones of the south.

The smells of slow cooking spread around the house and impart a unique warmth matched only by the flavour of the food.

There are many reasons I feel at home in the U.K., but if I were asked to pinpoint the moment I knew I’d arrived, it might well be when I realised the British shared my love of fritters.

The main distinction for fresh chillies is whether they are red or green, the difference being one of ripeness.

The Guardian’s ‘Word of Mouth’ blog bridges the gap between blogging and serious food journalism.

Greek yogurt with some olive oil stirred in can transform many dishes.

Conflict is very much a state of mind. If you’re not in that state of mind, it doesn’t bother you.

Pizza was made for television in so many ways: it is easy to heat up, easy to divide and easy to eat in a group. It is easy to enjoy, easy to digest and easy-going. It is so Italian!

The most important thing for me is to walk the little alleys of the city, to find the little alcove where someone is cooking something, and just watch them do it. That’s my idea of fun.

There is a unique freshness when eating buckwheat noodles cold with plenty of herbs and citrus acidity. I can’t think of any better use of chopsticks on a hot and sweaty evening.

Chermoula is a potent North African spice paste that is ideal for smearing on your favourite vegetables for roasting.

It’s well worth making your own harissa, but there are some very good commercial varieties.

The natural sweetness of leeks, with their soft, oniony aroma, makes them the perfect winter comfort food.

Kibbeh comes in all forms, but most feature bulgur and meat.

As for pineapple, it’s far more versatile than you might think, and certainly merits wider use than in Hawaiian pizzas and pina coladas and on cheesy cocktail sticks.

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.

Too many books are full of recipes that aren’t doable at home. They are purely aspirational. They are quite frightening, even for me.

My father always cooks more polenta than he needs for a meal. The excess he spreads on an oiled surface and chills. Next day, he cuts out chunks, fries them in olive oil and serves with salad.

There is nothing like a good old recipe. If it has lasted, then it is good.

Blanching the cloves removes the harsh and bitter bite of raw garlic.

Polenta is to northern Italy what bread is to Tuscany, what pasta is to Emilia-Romagna and what rice is to the Veneto: easy to make, hungry to absorb other flavours, and hugely versatile.

I have been cooking with preserved lemon for years, using it left, right and centre, but I am still far from reaching my limit.

The kitchen is tough. It’s one of the last bastions in civilized culture that sets out to crush the spirit.

The difference between a bland tomato and great one is immense, much like the difference between a standard, sliced white bread and a crusty, aromatic sourdough.

Marinating chicken in miso adds lots of character to the meat with little work.

Dad likes my food, but he probably thinks it’s too busy. He is a wonderful cook but only uses three ingredients. My mum rips out my articles and makes my recipes.

Food can bring people together in a way nothing else could.

Long-, medium- and short-grain rices differ in the amount and type of starch they have.

I can’t stand recipes that don’t have background.

Yogurt sauce, as you may have noticed by now, is a regular presence in my recipes – that’s because it has the ability to round up so many flavours and textures like no other component does.

I have had to come to terms with the fact that I am hooked on Twitter. Not good.

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.

Salbitxada is a sharp and lightly sweet Catalan sauce that’s traditionally served with calcots – spring or salad onions, grilled whole, make a good substitute.

Food that’s served at the table in a paper parcel always creates a remarkable culinary moment when opened, because the package is full of aromatic steam from the lightly cooked ingredients inside.

Lebanese mezze, Cantonese dim sum and Basque pinchos have all evolved over years and are designed to make sense together.

Rice and vermicelli is a common combination in Arab and Turkish cooking – it has a lighter texture than rice on its own.

I always preferred my father’s pasta the next day, when he’d put it in a hot oven with heaps of extra cheese. It would emerge slightly burned and very crisp on top.

Brunch, for me, is an extended breakfast that should be enjoyed whenever you have time properly to engage in cooking and eating.

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.

Brussels sprouts are really quite versatile.

Tel Aviv is the most exciting place to eat in Israel.