Top 234 Quotes & Sayings by Yotam Ottolenghi - Page 4

Like parents, cooks shouldn't have favourites, but some recipes inevitably shine more than others.

Polenta is one of those ingredients that in many homes spends its days at the back of the kitchen cupboard, on the 'no one knows quite what to do with it' shelf.

A quick shallow fry is a great way to transform leftovers, and no more so than in the case of risotto.

Like brown rice, black rice is unmilled, and it is the dark outer husk that makes it so nutty and chewy. It's also why it takes longer to cook than many other rices.

My all-time favourite classic use of ricotta is in gnudi: fluffy, cheesy dumplings of almost ethereal, feathery lightness.

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.

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

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.

Most pumpkin dishes involve scooping out the seeds, cutting off the skin, and chopping up the flesh before cooking.

Infants have around 30,000 tastebuds, only about a third of which survive into adulthood, so a child's sensitivity towards extremes of sweet, sour and bitter flavours is heightened.

Good-quality nuts, toasted in a little butter and salt, make a magical addition to many salads.

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.

Souffles don't deserve their reputation as potential disasters.

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.

Chickpeas are one of my favourite things to serve with chorizo or lamb meatballs; they also work brilliantly as the quiet partner in a vibrant alphonso mango salad.

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

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

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

If I must choose between healthy and tasty, I go for the second: having only one life to waste, it might as well be a pleasurable one.

Hardly any of my most memorable meals have been eaten in a restaurant, and definitely none in one of those fancy marble-floored, polished-silver establishments.

Black glutinous rice works in both savoury and sweet dishes. It's a popular pudding rice in south-east Asia, where you'll often come across it cooked with water, coconut milk and a pandan leaf.

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.

Taleggio is the perfect cheese to melt over a warm dish.

Plums are a good substitute for gooseberries.

Seasonality in winter doesn't have to mean sleep-inducing, stew-like, starchy casseroles.

Recipes can be incredibly vague where chillies are concerned.

Yoghurt cuts sweetness and richness, tempers spice, and makes a dish sing.

Halva works brilliantly in ice-cream.

Brussels sprouts are really quite versatile.

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

Popping broad beans out of their skins can be therapeutic, but it isn't everybody's favourite waste of time.

When it comes to cooking pasta, the first essential is to make sure you have a big enough pot: it needs room to roll in the water while cooking.

I tend to mean what I say: in life, generally; in recipes, certainly.

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

The taste of any simple tomato-based salad is dependent on the quality of the tomatoes.

Nearly all edible seaweeds - or 'sea vegetables,' as they ought technically to be called - belong to one of three broad groups: green, red and brown algae.

For people who think of chicken as the meat choice of those-who-don't-really-like-meat, brining a bird will be a revelation.

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 only way reliably to gauge the heat of any particular chilli is to cut it in half, so exposing the core and membranes, and to dab the cut surface on your tongue.

For those, like me, who can't rely on being given a home smoker this Christmas, you can build your own approximation with just a roll of tin foil and a big wok or pan for which you have a lid.

How can something that's 95% water be so divisive? Alone among vegetables, the poor, innocent stick of celery elicits the most vicious attacks.

One Indian-inspired favourite of mine is mashed potato mixed with lemon juice, breadcrumbs, coriander and chilli, shaped into patties, fried and served with chutney and yoghurt.

If the British Isles had an official vegetable, it would have to be the potato.

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.

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

Raw fish suppers admittedly require a little planning, not least in the acquisition of the main ingredient.

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

Sweet potatoes are ideal for lazy days: just bake, then mash and mix with yogurt, butter or olive oil.

You dont need a machine to make pasta: a rolling pin and a fast hand can create a smooth, if thick, sheet.

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

Mothers and grandmothers: these are the people that I admire most, not so much chefs.

Just-poached vegetables show off their natural attributes, and taste fresh and light in a way you never get with roasting or frying.

For me, the end of childhood came when the number of candles on my birthday cake no longer reflected my age, around 19 or 20. From then on, each candle came to represent an entire decade.

It is more than twenty years since we left the city. This is a serious chunk of time, longer than the years we spent living there. Yet we still think of Jerusalem as our home. Not home in the sense of the place that you conduct your daily life or constantly return to. In fact, Jerusalem is our home almost against our wills. It is our home because it defines us, whether we like it or not.