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Original poster

Ottolenghi Recipe Book - what's the big deal?

109 replies

TangBloodyFastic · 24/01/2023 19:25

Posting for traffic

I'll start by saying I am no chef!!!

I am competent in the kitchen, I enjoy cooking for me and my family and will always make something from scratch if we have visitors coming. I am probably middle of the road with regards to being adventurous with the recipes I use. I don't attempt much far east (Japanese/Thai/Chinese) cuisine but will have a good go at an Indian curry.

So, to get to the point, I have just signed up to the eat your books website, which is great, and was browsing other recipe books and came across some books by Yotam Ottolenghi - which is the 3 most popular books owned by other members of the website

I'm intrigued but I also don't like wasting money. There's clearly a reason why they are so popular????

Can anyone who has any of these books, Plenty, Jerusalem and Simple, tell me why I should buy one of these books? What's so brilliant about them? Are the recipes "wow" or are they just easy? Are people buying them because others have?

I'm not a vegetarian and tend to always have meat with a meal but am not opposed to any meal if it's really good - meat or not!

I have two under two so I don't want 5000 Ingredients for a mediocre meal but put in the effort for a recipe which is really good!!

Sorry, rather long winded Blush

OP posts:
Notjustanymum · 26/01/2023 13:05

Someone thought I would like these “because you cook so much” and bought me two of his books for Christmas…
it’s just not the sort of food I eat nor can be bothered to cook though, (too many ingredients, fussy flavours - a quick glance through and there was nothing that inspired any interest in me at all), so they’ll be going to a charity shop next time I visit a town quite far away (so as not to offend the person who gave them to me)

buckeejit · 26/01/2023 13:08

He's my fave chef. I only have simple, plenty & just ordered plenty more. He is great with veg & a few days ago for the first time I made the marinated feta & prawn orzo & it's delicious & so easy.

Other favourites - chaat masala potatoes, confit chickpeas & spicy nuts were a big hit at Christmas!

MarshaMelrose · 26/01/2023 13:11

Merlott · 25/01/2023 06:56

Haha.

They are not for me either, far too faffy and time consuming.

I'm still waiting for the bestselling family cookbook of "meatballs, carrots, pasta and a jar of sauce" .. maybe I should get on and write it myself 😅

I'll be your first customer!

Crucible · 26/01/2023 13:33

He's known as Yotam Whatalongalist in my house. And it's not for nothing.....

W0tnow · 26/01/2023 13:36

I have his cookbooks. They are not for those who really don’t like to cook. The ingredients list is often reasonably long, with one or two that are tricky to find. They are incredibly flavourful though. I mean, cauliflower is pretty blah. But his whole roasted cauliflower with tahini sauce is amazing.

buckeejit · 26/01/2023 14:23

Get Persiana everyday, it's great!

squigglypasta · 26/01/2023 21:37

NeverDropYourMooncup · 26/01/2023 12:27

Do you mean like mochi? Glutinous rice (or flour for the quickest prep time), sugar and water, cornflour to stop it sticking. That doesn't require a twenty or thirty quid book and won't feed the kids in itself. Same way it doesn't require the purchase of a book to make turkey and courgette burgers - you can make them with turkey mince, a courgette, spring onions, salt, pepper, maybe chilli flakes, maybe garam masala or cumin, depending upon what particular flavours you like and maybe some herbs, along with an egg or other binding agent like some of the juice from a tin of beans or chickpeas to hold it together. And if you don't want flat burgers, you can make them into meatballs instead. Or sausages.

They're a recipe, but they don't need a recipe book to do them.

Show quote history

😱😱😱 This is like me making a yorkshire pudding, chucking minced beef on top and calling it beef wellington 😭😭😭 Or dumping a tin of cold baked beans into a bowl and calling it gazpacho.

Firstly it's not mochi, the ingredients aren't the same. Secondly, even for natives, different CNY cakes are famously complex to make due to the level of (different kinds of) flour needed, steaming technique/time/etc. You don't just want an indiscernible chewy lump.

I agree you don't always need a recipe, the kitchen dab hand nyonyas where I grew up go by "agar agar" or (more poetically) "the art of agaration", but clearly................. Sometimes you do

Ottil · 26/01/2023 22:13

NeverDropYourMooncup · 26/01/2023 12:27

Do you mean like mochi? Glutinous rice (or flour for the quickest prep time), sugar and water, cornflour to stop it sticking. That doesn't require a twenty or thirty quid book and won't feed the kids in itself. Same way it doesn't require the purchase of a book to make turkey and courgette burgers - you can make them with turkey mince, a courgette, spring onions, salt, pepper, maybe chilli flakes, maybe garam masala or cumin, depending upon what particular flavours you like and maybe some herbs, along with an egg or other binding agent like some of the juice from a tin of beans or chickpeas to hold it together. And if you don't want flat burgers, you can make them into meatballs instead. Or sausages.

They're a recipe, but they don't need a recipe book to do them.

Show quote history

Cookbooks CAN be useful things then Grin

Sure, I can open the fridge and cupboards and feed my family decent stuff, because I've spent years doing it and I enjoy the process. I can make most things without bothering my cookbooks.

I still buy them and love them. I get inspired by reading them and even if I don't faithfully follow a recipe, I get tons of ideas.

Rosebud21 · 26/01/2023 22:44

Also try recipes from the other chef in this partnership

www.sami-tamimi.com/recipes

AffIt · 26/01/2023 22:56

I'm a very keen, competent and capable home cook and I just find all of Ottolenghi's stuff wildly overdone: way too faffy for everyday - I have a spice cupboard that's literally bursting at the seams (hey, everybody needs a hobby) and even then I find I don't have the 'thing' I need.

I like his books, but I've decided to see them as nice foody travelogues, rather than staple cookbooks.

Rukmini Iyer's Roasting Tin series is SO much better, I find.

StarryGazeyEyes · 27/01/2023 00:09

I have a few of his books and would love to love them but find there's usually just a handful of recipes that I actually cook on a regular basis, maybe a few more for the odd occasion. The black pepper tofu a pp mentioned is truly awesome, as is the garlic tart. As a rule I find them unnecessarily faffy and over ingredientised (it that's even a word) - there's a recipe for sweet potato that would harden your arteries by just looking at the salt content, never mind consuming it. It's good for trying out and adapting to your tastes if you enjoy cooking, but probably not what you're looking for to feed a family.

minipie · 27/01/2023 00:43

My kids are 10 and 7 and I’m only just getting the
time and space for Ottolenghi. Not a chance when I had under 5s.

The recipes are definitely on the faffy end but they are good, and for a long time his food was very different from most of what was around, indeed arguably he started a whole trend.

I made his yoghurt and honey cheesecake the other day and cursed him as I squeezed yoghurt through a muslin (and that was only step one of about 25). But it was absolutely delicious. Dammit.

I second the Recipe Tin Eats suggestion above for much easier, family friendly meals. No need for a book just use her website.

Stickstickstickstickstick · 27/01/2023 06:41

We relied on East by Meera Sodha, Mowgli by Nisha Katona and Dominique’s Kitchen by Dominique something or other during the really hectic tiny children stage. Lots of recipes in there that take 30ish minutes but we have quite an extensive spice shelf already so have most of the ingredients.

Husband bought an Ottolenghi book during that time and I was ready to riot when he’d been cooking for 90 mins and there was still no dinner!

Theskyoutsideisblue · 27/01/2023 06:51

I like the look of the aubergine dishes

Sleepwalkingintothewall · 27/01/2023 06:57

Merlott · 25/01/2023 06:56

Haha.

They are not for me either, far too faffy and time consuming.

I'm still waiting for the bestselling family cookbook of "meatballs, carrots, pasta and a jar of sauce" .. maybe I should get on and write it myself 😅

It's not the ingredients it's the process for me. My approach to cooking is to read the ingredients list, not measure any of it and then 'shove it in' all at once. Stir for 10 mins then serve. My dh is aghast at this as he stands patiently sauteing this folding that.

CJsGoldfish · 27/01/2023 07:42

This is amazing!

ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/hot-charred-cherry-tomatoes-with-cold-yoghurt

RampantIvy · 27/01/2023 08:19

That sounds delicious @CJsGoldfish and doesn't contain anything I don't always have or get hold of easily.

Original poster
TangBloodyFastic · 27/01/2023 22:41

minipie · 27/01/2023 00:43

My kids are 10 and 7 and I’m only just getting the
time and space for Ottolenghi. Not a chance when I had under 5s.

The recipes are definitely on the faffy end but they are good, and for a long time his food was very different from most of what was around, indeed arguably he started a whole trend.

I made his yoghurt and honey cheesecake the other day and cursed him as I squeezed yoghurt through a muslin (and that was only step one of about 25). But it was absolutely delicious. Dammit.

I second the Recipe Tin Eats suggestion above for much easier, family friendly meals. No need for a book just use her website.

I have to admit I lol'd at this, sadly I don't have time to be straining much and the only muslins I have are usually covered in posset 😂

OP posts:
longtompot · 28/01/2023 14:50

Daydre4mer · 25/01/2023 06:50

ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/stuffed-aubergine-in-curry-and-coconut-dal-flavour-pg-152

this recipe is amazing. It maybe too time consuming for you? With different cooking requirements, a bit of faffing. But the flavours are spot on.

This will be my first go at an Ottolenghi recipe. We love dhal anyway so this seemed a good thing to try for a meat free day. Thank you for posting the link :)

ChatSamosa · 28/01/2023 14:53

Do you follow him on Instagram? Lots of ideas there.

He's so clever at flavour, colour and image.

buffydavis · 28/01/2023 14:58

Worst hummus recipe I ever made was c/- Ottolenghi.

toastofthetown · 28/01/2023 15:09

buffydavis · 28/01/2023 14:58

Worst hummus recipe I ever made was c/- Ottolenghi.

The best hummus recipe I've ever made was thanks to Ottolenghi.

RampantIvy · 28/01/2023 15:24

I'm making that for this evening's meal @Daydre4mer and @longtompot. I will report back tomorrow.

I don't use a recipe for hummus, but have just had a look at his recipe on his website. Does peeling the chickpeas then boiling them make a lot of difference?

BrightYellowDaffodil · 28/01/2023 15:39

I absolutely love his books and the flavours he uses/creates, but then I’m quite happy to spend a long time cooking and I already have a lot of the sorts of ingredients he uses.

If you’re looking for something quick to chuck together that will use standard ingredients that you can buy anywhere, they’re probably not the recipes for you.

Canuckduck · 28/01/2023 15:45

I like the books to read but find the recipes too involved/ fussy. Pre-kids I would’ve seen it as a challenge, now I can’t spend an afternoon shopping and then making a recipe that that will get eaten in 10 minutes and at least one person will complain about.

For family cooking I like ‘Smitten Kitchen’ or Ina Gartner books. Or good old Jamie Oliver or Nigella.