Yotam Ottolenghi opines that food has been glamorised to an extreme level. The supposed plan of our recent Zoom discussion, which was comfort food, took an unexpected turn, reflecting Ottolenghi’s unique viewpoint, unvarying originality in responses, and refusal to yield to the monotony often associated with repeated interviews and questions about his complex ingredient lists.
According to Ottolenghi, the food world nowadays is bifurcated with two almost entirely separate spheres: home cooking and its display on social media platforms, with the intersection between the two being virtually non-existent. There are those who imagine cooking and those who experience it firsthand. Ottolenghi doesn’t perceive this as a complete negative since social media might inspire some to take to the kitchen. However, he is sceptical that the hyper-visual portrayal of food will translate into actual cooking.
Helen Goh, who collaborated with Ottolenghi, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley on Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook ‘Ottolenghi Comfort’, agreed enthusiastically with his viewpoint. Ottolenghi perceives ‘Comfort’, unlike his previous collaborations with chefs, as an intimate, personal project, focusing on real home-cooked food rather than restaurant-style dishes, and devoid of any elements meant merely for social media approval.
‘Comfort’ is about more than just the food it features. It weaves together personal stories, cultural heritage and the experience of moving to a new country. The various authors come from diverse backgrounds to the table, Ottolenghi with his familiarity of Levant flavours, Lockmuller with her rich mix of German, Scottish and American influences, and Goh’s distinctively noticeable Malaysian influence being the stand out. Born in Malaysia and moving to Australia with her family at the age of 10, Goh has lived in London for quite a while where she has been creating recipes for Ottolenghi for a decade.
Ottolenghi shares that their latest book is significantly populated by Asian recipes, supplied mainly by Helen. These recipes form a noticeable segment of this book, which he recognises as a considerable shift from his previous publications where Asian recipes were relatively sparse. Helen has introduced new flavours and culinary styles that neither Ottolenghi nor Verena were previously familiar with. Through a mutual process of experimenting and taste-testing, these have become intrinsically enjoyable to them.
The challenge they faced, given that the book’s central theme is comfort food, was harmonising what embodies comfort food for Goh with what their mostly western reader base might find comforting. They strived to strike a balance during the innovative culinary development process, often deliberating over whether a recipe was too unconventional or how an unexpected ingredient could potentially steer the recipe towards a thrilling new trajectory.
Ottolenghi observes that they frequently speculate on readers’ responses to recipes, using their professional expertise as a guide. Yet, he would occasionally question Helen if a recipe might seem too demanding or inordinate. He admits to the sheer joy of translating the essence of a recipe, encouraging readers to occasionally step outside their culinary comfort zones. This, he believes, lures them out into exploring new gustatory territories.
Otlolenghi’s impressive new cookbook brings a new spin on a broad range of dishes, living up to the high standards expected from the brand. The first section shares a myriad of breakfast foods like egg sambal shakshuka, aubergine omelette and the beloved “Dutch baby” – a baked egg dish that is the perfect combination of a pancake and a crêpe.
The book also includes a section dedicated to “fritters and fried things”. Ottolenghi surprisingly provides two different approaches to hummus in the “Soups, dips, spreads” section – with a big shout-out to the southern French version with fennel, courtesy of Goh. The “Roast chicken and other traybakes” chapter introduces you to dishes like white poached chicken with Chinese cabbage and peanut rayu, shawarma meat loaf, and roasted hispi cabbage with miso butter. There is also a section devoted to “dals, stews and curries”, offering recipes such as soy-braised pork belly and chicken and lime leaf curry with noodles. Contrary to Irish comfort food, these exotic dishes are the highlight of the cookbook; there are, however, classic culinary authors like Darina and Delia for more traditional favourites.
In the “Pasta, polenta, potatoes” chapter, you’ll find familiar recipes, but even Ottolenghi has been introduced to new dishes. A fascinating revelation was the southern German variation of the potato salad taught by Verena. This version uses the thick sauce derived from potato starch and stock as the dressing, transforming it into a self-saucing salad. These moments of cooking novelty take even a seasoned chef like Otlolenghi by surprise.
Whenever I step foot in a UK supermarket at this juncture of the year, and even during the fall season, I can’t help but spot apples that have travelled all the way from New Zealand – says Ottolenghi, commenting on the carbon footprint attached to our food.
This is his tenth recipe book, and it is notable for having less extensive ingredient lists than his publication ‘Jerusalem’, where together with Sami Tamimi, they motivated cooks around the globe to become culinary explorers, seeking out rare ingredients like Aleppo peppers, pomegranate molasses, Iranian dried limes, and za’atar from niche food stores. A captivating element of Ottolenghi’s recipes is their ability to bring a small piece of the world onto one’s plate. However, in the current climate of escalating environmental concerns, does he take sustainability into account when creating new recipes?
“We often discuss it in the restaurant context. We raise questions like, ‘Where should we source our ingredients from?’, ‘How can we ensure minimum waste?’, ‘How can we provide dishes that are both enjoyable, exciting, and diverse, while keeping in mind environmental impacts?’”, he says.
“When we work on a new book, I would say that I have improved over the years in ensuring that every ingredient has a purpose. Lengthy discussions take place, where we grapple with tricky decisions, such as deliberating over the need for three varieties of cheese when one or two may suffice”, he adds.
“Obviously, it’s a constant struggle when composing recipes and creating dishes. You want it to be unique and novel. You want to give people a feeling of ‘Wow, this is something I’ve never tasted before.’ However, you don’t want to annoy them by asking them to use a fraction of a packet each of feta, cream cheese, and cheddar, leaving them with leftovers. So, we always aim to find the right balance – to inspire people to not only buy the book and come away with newfound culinary knowledge, but also to not feel financially burdened each time they choose to cook a recipe from the book.”
The challenge of unconventional ingredients is also present. However, although some additional southeast Asian items may be needed in your pantry, many ingredients will already be familiar. Additionally, none of these recipes come with a long list of ingredients. Goh remarks that, surprisingly, Ottolenghi is the one who encourages simplicity, frequently questioning if every ingredient is really necessary.
Ottolenghi highlights that food miles are not the biggest concern when it comes to spices like cumin and cardamom, as they’ve been traded for centuries. He suggests the focus should be on items that truly don’t need to be transported, such as bottled water. He believes that some ingredients are simply unnecessary, and following the seasonal availability within a European context justifies many of their choices.
Ottolenghi explains how they utilise beans in the summer and berries during spring and summer, which significantly reduces their dependence on transporting other ingredients. He believes it is acceptable to transport light ingredients like spices and coffee, which have minimum impact compared to other items unnecessarily transported worldwide. He expresses dissatisfaction with supermarkets in the UK importing apples from New Zealand when there is a local abundance.
Both Ottolenghi and Goh have two sons of similar ages, possessing diverse tastes. Their sons are shaping fascinating food careers of their own, serving as taste-testers for several recipes. They delight in meals like mushroom and kimchi mapo tofu. Congee, a Chinese rice porridge, is a favourite of Max and Flynn, Ottolenghi’s two boys, who usually order it ahead of even dim sum in a Chinese restaurant.
The Ottolenghi-Allen children have been enjoying traditional Irish cuisine, due to their father, Karl Allen’s, Irish roots from Co Down. Every festive season, they lend a helping hand to their father as he prepares the Christmas roast gammon, embedding cloves into the meat after it has been smothered with brown sugar. A roast dinner is a favourite amongst them and predictably, they also have a keen fondness for puddings and sweets, which does warrant its own section in their recipe book.
Ottolenghi remarks, “We spend a fair amount of time in Northern Ireland, Karl’s homeland.” During their stay there, they often prepare traditional Northern Irish soda bread cooked on the skillet.
Despite what might be expected by outsiders, living in a country known for shepherd’s pie and lasagne, these children do not indiscriminately eat whatever is placed before them. Ottolenghi opines that the willingness to try new foods is largely influenced by the involvement they have in the meal preparation process.
He illuminates, “Present them with a completely foreign dish and they become hesitant. But let them witness the meal’s preparation, they are much more open to trying itout.”
Ottolenghi also recounts a lovely memory from a recent trip they took to an orchard and farm in Enfield, Middlesex, where the children spent half the day picking their own produce, resulting in bountiful baskets of fresh courgettes, beans, berries, and sunflowers.
This experience spurned a newfound appreciation for a French beans dish that he prepared using a similar method to the one in his cookbook, consisting of slow-cooking the beans with onions, garlic, and olive oil for a self-steaming effect. Normally, the children aren’t particularly enthusiastic about French beans, but this time was an exception.
“There are always surprises in these moments,” Ottolenghi shares, underlining the value of involving children in the food preparation and cooking process.
The current trend appears to be hosting visitors in a laid-back manner. While it may appear like an articulate phrase, it’s a sincere sentiment reflecting why a book of this nature is highly beneficial. — Goh.
Goh shares his boys’ culinary tendencies, revealing they take little part in the kitchen duties, limiting their prowess to whipping up breakfast, primarily eggs in different styles – from scrambles to omelettes. Their enthusiasm for cooking, while notable, tends to be fleeting, leaving him to tend to the food preparation responsibilities a majority of the time.
The Comfort cookbook presents an assortment of dishes suited for any weekday meal, reminiscent of other works from Ottolenghi. It suggests several recipes perfect for leisurely weekend feasts, ideally savoured amongst good company. Curiosity is piqued as to how Londoners entertain at home. Has formal hosting been put to rest? Are social dining habits shifting from homes to restaurants? Or have the pandemic upended these practices scaling back the extravagance?
Casual hosting seems to be trending now, Goh opines. The reasons are straightforward – the dishes are ones you’d delight in consuming. They are not intricately designed to impress or to feature the latest food trends but are simply gratifying. The prospect of putting on a full dinner party can be utterly draining, often seeming like a showy affair to impress. However, an invite to simple yet satisfying fare such as meatballs in a friend’s kitchen… who could resist that?
Ottolenghi reflects on the fact that, despite being on the receiving end of more dinner party invitations, overall, there appears to be a decline in the number of such events. This, he surmises, correlates to people’s desire for food to bring comfort and relaxation, instead of it being a formal and potentially stiff affair. Going by the conversations around his book, he notes that the reasons why people approach cooking have undergone significant metamorphosis. Ottolenghi posits that while people entered the kitchen in the past with the aim of acquiring new culinary skills, today’s kitchen-goers seek solace and comfort in the act of cooking. This shift, he believes, is not without basis, encouraging further studies to ascertain the motivations behind why people cook. Ottolenghi attributes these changes in the cooking atmosphere to national and international events, like Brexit and Covid, the financial crash, and ongoing global conflicts, which have, according to him, transformed cooking into a grounding process rather than an exercise in personal challenge.
The book, ‘Ottolenghi Comfort’, co-authored by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley, has been released by Ebury Press and priced at €33.99.