Customer Reviews
I'll Try the lot - By: Peter Black, 20 Jun 2008 
How many times have you bought a cook book & only end up using two or three recipes from it. Having opened Ottolenghi I started at the beginning & read through all the recipes & have not found one that I don't want to do. I haven't been to the restaurant but the picturesin the book certainly whetted my appetite.
Fresh & inspiring cooking - By: Sarah, 31 May 2008 Having eaten at Ottolenhi a few times & absolutely loved it, we were very excited at the prospect of Ottolenghi at home! I have already cooked 3 dishes & all have been amazing. Looking forward to eating our way through the rest of the book!
One of the best cookery books in years - By: Annie, 19 May 2008 I'm a big fan of Ottolenghi, having eaten there a few times. I was really looking forward to this book & it didn't disappoint. There's a fresh take on everything & even though some recipes (french beans, mangetoutin a hazelnut & orange dressing) are little more than assembly jobs, they're great for inspirations. I love the layout, the recipes, everything. Buy it!
My cookbook of the year - By: J. E. Michie, 14 May 2008 Flavour, flavour, flavour those are the three words I'd use to describe the food produced by Ottolenghi & Tamimiin their two London establishments, & they certainly deliver thatin this book which contains much of the food they routinely serve. The recipes, are so clear & well-written that it is easy to replicate the amazing tastes that are their hall-mark. I've only had the book for ten days but have already made four of the dishes, every one a winner. I have also had to fight off my daughter who thought she might take the book away to Cambridge with her - buy your own copy say I!
St Otto of Lenghi , we love you. - By: victoria sponge, 05 May 2008 Moro, Jamie, Diana (Henry) ... I've bought all those books this year, excitedly scanning through them & bookmarking the pages of lots of yummy looking recipes to try. But how many have I actually got round to trying? Probably one or two recipes per book. They inspire, excite & suggest other ideas, but as for slavishly following the recipe, nah - you can kind of work it out for yourself.
But St Otto is different - every meal we've eaten this week has been a revealing & faithful recreation of his great works on the streets of London. Admittedly I was already a convert. Ever since his huge, puffy piles of meringues beckoned me into the tiny Notting Hill shop about 4 years ago, I have been hooked. St Otto takes simple, everyday ingredients you use all the time at home - broccoli, chilli, garlic & olive oil, for example - & somehow transforms them into something magical that tastes so much more than everyday. You come out of their shops thinking 'How did they do that? How did they make that aubergine taste so smoky? Why don't my mushrooms taste like that when I fry themin olive oil? Why is their lemon & pistachio cake so squidgy?
Well, the cookbook generously reveals all. Garlic & lemon are likely to be involved (they start by saying that if you don't like lemon or garlic, you should skip to the end) - but there are no weird secrets underpinning the Ottolenghi magic. No intricate labours of love. This is easy to prepare food that is perfect for relaxed meals with big groups of friends.
They just have an extraordinary understanding of which flavours & ingredients work well together & how to combine themin just the right amounts (usually more generous than you are used to) to create something that piques your interest as well as your tastebuds. You can spot that they lived an interesting life as journalists & philosophers before following their love of food, as the book is a joy to read, with a style that is as warm & relaxed as the food itself. These are people you want to come & sit down at the table & share the food with you.
If you like modern, light & singingly fresh food that draws on the best of the Middle Eastern side of the Mediterranean, this is the book for you. If you think you already know how to knock up easy meals like roast turkey breast, couscous salad & french beans with hazelnuts without needing to investin a cookery book, thank you very much, then it's even more imperative that you buy this book as it will lift both your everyday meals or cooking for friends to new heights. As for me, I'm off to check the price of Kenwood Chefs so I can recreate the joy of their meringues or briochein my own home too. Praise be!
