Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

' Ottolenghi changed the way we cook in this country just as surely and enduringly as Elizabeth David's A Book of Mediterranean Food had in 1950. It brought into our kitchens bold flavours, a vivid simplicity, a spirited but never tricksy inventiveness and, above all, light.' Nigella Lawson

Inspired by their childhoods in West and East Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolenghi's and Sami Tamimi's original cookbook Ottolenghi: The Cookbook showcases fresh, honest, bold cooking and has become a culinary classic.

Yotam and Sami's inventive yet simple dishes rest on numerous culinary traditions, ranging from North Africa to Lebanon, Italy and California. First published in 2008, this new updated edition revisits the 140 original recipes covering everything from accomplished meat and fish main courses, through to healthy and quick salads and suppers, plus Ottolenghi's famously delectable cakes and breads.

A new introduction sheds fresh light on a book that has become a national favourite.

Ottolenghi is an award-winning chef, being awarded with the James Beard Award 'Cooking from a Professional Point of View' for Nopi in 2016, and 'International Cookbook' for Jerusalem in 2013. In 2013 he also won four other awards for Jerusalem.

Praise for Ottolenghi:

' A book that has barely left my kitchen...the fact that Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi have been generous to put their recipes in a book is something I had long dreamed of' Nigel Slater, The Observer Magazine

'Possibly the best cookery book I have ever owned. The recipes...are well-tested and produce results that will astound your tastebuds. Try the aubergine-wrapped ricotta gnocchi with sage butter, the chicken with three-rice salad or their famous meringues and you'll know just what I mean.' Caroline Jowett, Daily Express

'A wonderful book for vegetarians and cake lovers alike' Bee Wilson, Sunday Times

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Our food impulse We wanted to start this book with the quip, "If you don't like lemon or garlic ... skip to the last page." This might not be the funniest of jokes, but, considering lemon and garlic's prevalence in our recipes, it is as good a place as any to start looking for a portrait of our food. Regional descriptions just don't seem to work; there are too many influences and our food histories are long and diverse. True, we both come from a very particular part of the world--Israel/Palestine--with a unique culinary tradition. We adore the foods of our childhood: oranges from Jericho, used only to make the sweetest fresh juice; crunchy little cucumbers, full of the soil's flavors; heavy pomegranates tumbling from trees that can no longer support their weight; figs, walnuts, wild herbs.... The list is endless. We both ate a lot of street food--literally, what the name suggests. Vendors selling their produce on pavements were not restricted to "farmers' markets." There was nothing embarrassing or uncouth about eating on the way to somewhere. Sami remembers frequently sitting bored in front of his dinner plate, having downed a few grilled ears of corn and a couple of busbusa (coconut and semolina) cakes bought at street stalls while out with friends. However, what makes lemon and garlic such a great metaphor for our cooking is the boldness, the zest, the strong, sometimes controversial flavors of our childhood. The flavors and colors that shout at you, that grip you, that make everything else taste bland, pale, ordinary, and insipid. Cakes drenched with rose-water-scented sugar syrup; piles of raw green almonds on ice in the market; punchy tea in a small glass with handfuls of mint and sugar; the intense smell of charred mutton cooked on an open fire; a little shop selling twenty types of crumbly sheep and goat's milk cheeses, kept fresh in water; apricot season, when there is enough of the fruit lying around each tree to gorge yourself, the jam pot, and the neighborhood birds. These are the sources of our impulse. It is this profusion of overwhelming sensations that inspires our desire to stun with our food, to make you say "wow!" even if you're not the expressive type. The colors, the textures, and finally the flavors that are unapologetically striking. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweet potato galettes \ makes 4 Spicy, sweet, and punchy, baked fresh and served warm, this is the sort of starter that can precede almost anything. The generous sour cream base and the lightness of the puff pastry carry the sweet potato easily without the risk of a carb overdose. Serve with a plain green salad. 3 sweet potatoes, about 12 oz / 350 g each 9 oz / 250 g puff pastry or ½ recipe Rough puff pastry page 280 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten 6½ tbsp / 100 ml sour cream 3½ tbsp / 100 g aged goat cheese 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds 1 medium-hot chile, finely chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 tsp chopped flat-leaf parsley coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Bake the sweet potatoes in their skins for 35 to 45 minutes, until they soften up but are still slightly raw in the center (check by inserting a small knife). Leave until cool enough to handle, then peel and cut into slices 1⁄8 inch / 3 mm thick. 2 While the sweet potatoes are in the oven, roll out the puff pastry to about 1⁄16 inch / 2 mm thick on a lightly floured work surface. Cut out four 2¾ by 5½-inch / 7 by 14-cm rectangles and prick them all over with a fork. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper, place the pastry rectangles on it, well spaced apart, and leave to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour. 3 Remove the pastry from the fridge and brush lightly with the beaten egg. Using an icing spatula, spread a thin layer of sour cream on the pastries, leaving a ¼-inch / 5-mm border all round. Arrange the potato slices on the pastry, slightly overlapping, keeping the border clear. Season with salt and pepper, crumble the goat cheese on top, and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and chile. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through. Check underneath; it should be golden brown. 4 While the galettes are cooking, stir together the olive oil, garlic, parsley, and a pinch of salt. As soon as the pastries come out of the oven, brush them with this mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature. Excerpted from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Available for the first time in a U.S. edition, this book includes 140 recipes from Ottlenghi's four popular Mediterranean-inspired London restaurants. (The authors also co-wrote Jerusalem; Tamimi is a partner and head chef at Ottolenghi.) Both from Jerusalem, the authors share the philosophy that "unfussiness and simplicity in food preparation are... the only way to maintain the freshness of a dish. Each individual ingredient has a clear voice." A detailed list of the book's core ingredients includes garlic, lemon, mint, tahini, orange blossom water, rose water, and feta cheese. An extensive chapter on vegetables, legumes and grains covers fresh fruit and vegetables (figs with young pecorino and honey), and has a section devoted to the "mighty eggplant." Highlights include Ottolenghi's famous grilled broccoli with chile and garlic, along with couscous with oven-dried tomatoes, and dried apricots and butternut squash. Meat and fish are separated into sections: lamb, beef, and pork dishes with recipes like lamb chops with walnut, fig, and goat cheese salad;, beef and lamb meatballs baked in tahini; and roast pork belly with two relishes. Standout dishes like harissa-marinated chicken with red grapefruit salad and seared duck breasts with blood orange and star anise are found in the poultry section. And fish and shellfish are showcased in recipes for panfried sea bass on pita with labneh, tomato, and preserved lemon, and for buttered prawns with tomato, olives, and arak. Also appearing are Ottolenghi's beloved baked goods: breads, cakes, cookies, and tarts. This vibrant and bold collection lives up to the authors promise that "cooking can be enjoyable, simple, and fulfilling, yet look and taste amazing." (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Yotam Ottolenghi was born on December 14, 1968 in Jerusalem. He is a British-based chef, cookery writer and restaurant owner. He started out as a writer working on the news desk of Haaretz, one of Israel¿s largest papers. In 1997 he moved to the UK planning to start a PhD, but before he enrolled he signed up to train at Le Cordon Bleu cookery school in London for six months. He got a job as head pastry chef at the London boutique bakery Baker & Spice and this is where he met Sami Tamimi and Dan Lepard.

Ottolenghi's cooking style is rooted in, but not confined to, his Middle Eastern upbringing: a distinctive mix of Middle Eastern flavours Syrian, Turkish, Lebanese, Iranian, and Israeli. His particular skill is in marrying the food of his native Israel with a wider range of textures and flavours from the Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia. Before turning to food and cooking, Ottolenghi was in both academia and journalism. He was a sub-editor on the news desk of Haaretz, Israel's oldest daily newspaper, and a student in Tel Aviv University.

Following a six-month course at the London-based French cookery school, Le Cordon Bleu, in 1997, Ottolenghi worked as a pastry chef at The Capital, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Knightsbridge. From there he moved to work in the pastry section of the Kensington Place restaurant and that of the sister restaurant, Launceston Place, for a year, under the chef Rowley Leigh. He eventually became head pastry chef at Baker and Spice in Chelsea, London, where he met Sami Tamimi co-founder of their delicatessens and restaurants and co-author of the Ottolenghi and Jerusalem cookery books in 1999. In 2015 his book Nopi: The Cookbook Ramael made The New Zealand Best Seller List. Ottolenghi Simple was published in September 2018.

(Bowker Author Biography)