Ottolenghi: The Cookbook - Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi
Yotam Ottolenghi has done it again. Or more precisely he already did it, again. Written six years before his blockbuster, Jerusalem, but only now released in the U.S., Ottolenghi (Ten Speed, $35) presents a collection of well-tested and well-loved recipes from the chef’s eponymous London restaurants. This is a very different cookbook from Jerusalem; where that one was a document of social history and exploration, Ottolenghi offers approachable, weeknight cooking. It’s less complex but also a lot less daunting. The ingredients are more familiar, but it offers the same focus on freshness and unexpected flavor connections that thrilled home cooks in Jerusalem. And while there’s an illuminating section on the baked goods that his restaurants are famous for, the stars in Ottolenghi’s repertoire will always be the vegetables. His combinations are the best in the business, and he usually adheres to a happy trinity, with a main ingredient and two surprising counterpoints: baked okra with tomatoes and ginger, cucumber and poppy seed salad, crushed new potatoes with horseradish and sorrel.