Ottolenghi FLAVOUR Read online

  CONTENTS

  INTRODUCTION

  FLAVOUR’S 20 INGREDIENTS

  PROCESS Charring

  Browning

  Infusing

  Ageing

  PAIRING Sweetness

  Fat

  Acidity

  Chilli heat

  PRODUCE Mushrooms

  Alliums

  Nuts and seeds

  Sugar: fruit and booze

  FLAVOUR BOMBS

  MEAL SUGGESTIONS AND FEASTS

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  INDEX

  About the Authors

  Yotam Ottolenghi is the restaurateur and chef-patron of the four London-based Ottolenghi delis, as well as the NOPI and ROVI restaurants. He is the author of seven best-selling cookery books. Amongst several prizes, Ottolenghi SIMPLE won the National Book Award and was selected as best book of the year by the New York Times. Yotam has been a weekly columnist for the Saturday Guardian for over thirteen years and is a regular contributor to the New York Times. His commitment to the championing of vegetables, as well as ingredients once seen as ‘exotic’, has led to what some call ‘The Ottolenghi effect’. This is shorthand for the creation of a meal which is full of colour, flavour, bounty and sunshine. Yotam lives in London with his family.

  www.ottolenghi.co.uk

  @Ottolenghi

  Ixta Belfrage spent her youth dipping her fingers into mixing bowls in places as far-flung as Italy, Mexico and Brazil and so became an expert without a title. She began her culinary career proper at Ottolenghi's NOPI restaurant, before moving to the Test Kitchen, where she has worked for Yotam Ottolenghi for four years, contributing to his columns in The Guardian and The New York Times. She lives in London, where she makes regular guest chef appearances in some of the city’s top restaurants. Flavour is her first book.

  INTRODUCTION

  I have never been shy about my love of vegetables. I have been singing the praises of cauliflowers, tomatoes, lemons and my old friend the mighty aubergine for over a decade. I have done this on my own – in cookery demos, on book tours and in the pages of books and magazines; and I have done this in a group, in lively discussions with colleagues in the restaurants and in the test kitchen. It’s become my mission to present vegetables in new and exciting ways and I have embraced it with nothing but enthusiasm.

  Still, in the spirit of openness, I must confess to a small niggling doubt that creeps in now and then: how many more ways are there to roast a cauliflower, to slice a tomato, to squeeze a lemon or to fry an aubergine? How many more secrets are there to be discovered in a handful of lentils or a bowl of polenta?

  The answer, I am delighted to report, is many. My journey of discovery into the world of vegetables – by which I mean anything, really, which originates from a plant – has taken me in all sorts of directions that I simply hadn’t imagined. If my first vegetable book, PLENTY, was the honeymoon period, a great big party where certain vegetables – peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, mushrooms – got a whole chapter to themselves, PLENTY MORE was all about process; recipes were divided into the ways in which the vegetables were treated: mashed or tossed or grilled and so forth. FLAVOUR is the third book in the series: it’s about understanding what makes vegetables distinct and, accordingly, devising ways in which their flavours can be ramped up and tasted afresh; it’s about creating flavour bombs, especially designed for veg. This is done in three ways.

  PROCESS, PAIRING, PRODUCE

  The first is to do with some basic processes that happen to vegetables when they are cooked, or to some key ingredients that they are cooked with. The second is about pairing: what you match a vegetable with to draw out one of its distinct qualities. The third is to do with the produce itself: the sheer depth of flavour that certain ingredients naturally possess that allows them to play a starring role in a dish, more or less by themselves, or to prop up and brightly illuminate other vegetables.

  So, after PLENTY and PLENTY MORE, FLAVOUR is ‘PLENTY 3’, if you like, or P3, with the three ‘p’s (process, pairing and produce) being the key concepts for explaining what makes certain vegetable dishes taste so good. Let me give you some examples to illustrate this, using some of my favourite ingredients: celeriac (to demonstrate process), tamarind and lime (to think about pairing) and mushrooms (to show how it can be just the produce itself doing the work).

  First, process. Three recipes in this book involve cooking celeriac whole for more than two hours, then dressing and serving it in different ways. During the initial cooking of the celeriac, and before any other ingredient is added, something truly magical happens. Much of the water in the celeriac evaporates, its flesh turns from white to golden-brown and it becomes sweeter and richer. This browning and caramelising, which happens to many veg (and non-veg) when they are cooked in a certain way, is a key process that teases out flavour from them. Whatever you choose to do to the celeriac after this is less important. Indeed, you don’t need to do anything more to it at all, if you don’t want to; the browning process is such a flavour bomb that it’s heavenly eaten at this stage, cut into wedges and served with a squeeze of lemon or a dollop of crème fraîche. Other processes which have a similarly terrific effect are charring, ageing (which is mostly done to ingredients well before they reach your kitchen) and infusing, all of which transform and elevate vegetables to great heights.

  HOW MANY MORE WAYS ARE THERE TO FRY AN AUBERGINE? THE ANSWER, I AM DELIGHTED TO REPORT, IS MANY

  Illustrating my concept of pairing is a little less straightforward because every time you cook you obviously pair ingredients together. What I have done, though, is identify four basic pairings – acidity, heat (as in spicy heat), fat and sweetness – which are fundamental. Introducing one or more of these key pairings to a dish has the effect of showing the vegetables (or fruit) they are partnered with in a completely new light. The ASPARAGUS SALAD WITH TAMARIND AND LIME (P. 171) is a great example. Many argue that asparagus is so magnificent – with a subtle, yet refined flavour – that it doesn’t need to be paired with anything really, except some oil or butter and possibly a poached egg. I have made this same point myself in the not so distant past. What I have learned more recently, though, is that asparagus can actually stand its ground also when paired with robust and purportedly dominant ingredients. It does this particularly well when the paired element is complex and multi-layered. In the salad I mentioned, raw asparagus is paired with three sources of acidity, each with its own particular characteristics: lime juice, vinegar and tamarind. All these layers and iterations of sour come together in a single harmony which heightens and alters the taste of raw asparagus in a way that really opens your eyes to the vegetables.

  The third concept is to do with produce. Vegetables, famously, are not as good at imparting flavour as meat and fish are, because of their high water content and the low levels of fat and protein they contain. Some, though, are absolutely brilliant at it. Our SPICY MUSHROOM LASAGNE (P. 228) is living proof of the power of this particular veg to carry the weight of a whole complex dish on its own little shoulders, giving any meat a good run for its money. Not many vegetables can do this, delicious as they may be, but since mushrooms are bursting with umami – that satisfying savoury flavour which makes tomatoes, soy sauce, cheese and many other ingredients so impactful – they are perfectly capable of providing ample flavour and some serious texture to give vegetarian dishes a very solid core. Other plant-based ingredients that show similarly impressive skills are alliums (onions and garlic), nuts and seeds, and fruit. All four are the types of produce that you can rely on to do some seriously hard work for you in your kitchen.

  While making a delicious recipe can be simple, great cooking is never the result of
one element in isolation – it is the interplay of different types of processes, pairings and produce in one dish that elevates and makes it exquisite. Using the lasagne example again, this dish clearly heavily relies on mushroom umami (produce), but it also benefits greatly from an interplay of different fats (pairing) and the complex art of ageing cheese (process). The structure of the book, in which each chapter highlights one particular kind of process, pairing or produce, is, therefore, not there to undermine or deny the existence of many other elements in a recipe; its purpose is to highlight the USP of a dish, a particular element at the core that makes it particularly delicious or special.

  FLEXITARIANISM

  With the challenge to ramp up flavour in vegetables and take it to new heights, I’ve used every possible tool available in the kitchen. For me, and the way I cook and eat, this includes ingredients such as anchovies, fish sauce and Parmesan which are not, of course, often used in recipe books in which vegetables play the starring role. Though I totally understand why that is the case, with many people following an exact vegetarian or vegan diet, I have decided to appeal to the widest group of vegetable lovers possible.

  I find that more and more people are looking to brand their own individual kind of vegetable eating. Yes, many define themselves as vegetarian or vegan, but there is also a certain fluidity which characterises the current approach to how we feed ourselves. You find vegans in all but eggs, those who eat seafood but won’t touch milk because of the predicament of dairy cows, some who exclude only proteins which are particularly harmful to the environment; there are pescatarians, beegans (vegans that eat honey) and lacto-vegetarians (abstaining from meat and eggs). There are also ‘lapsed’ vegans or vegetarians: those who have given up a strict regime but have taken away with them the joys and skills of cooking a great meat-free meal.

  IF YOU WANT TO WIN MORE PEOPLE OVER TO THE VEG CAMP, THERE IS NO WORSE WAY TO GO ABOUT IT THAN DEMAND THAT THEY GO COLD TURKEY

  My own approach to vegetables has always been pragmatic and inclusive. If you want to win more people over to the veg camp, there is no worse way to go about it than demand that they go cold turkey (excuse the pun). If an animal-based aromatic ingredient (we are not talking prime cuts of meat here, or a bluefin tuna steak) does an outstanding job at ‘helping’ a vegetable taste particularly delicious, I will definitely use it for the benefit of those who are happy to eat it. At the same time, I will also offer various alternatives to animal products (and dairy products, whenever I can) so that everyone can join in.

  This flexitarian approach to cooking and eating acknowledges the diversity of the people we are and the variety of choices we make. From the 100 recipes in the book, 45 are strictly vegan and another 17 are easily ‘veganised’. Whatever your own preference might be, I feel confident that you will find good reasons to join in my celebration of all the flavours vegetables have to offer.

  My confidence here is based on my knowledge of vegetables after years of cooking and writing about them, during which I have never ceased to be surprised. It is grounded in my love of vegetables and my understanding of how versatile they are, how receptive they are to different cooking practices, how chameleon-like is their ability to take on flavour and metamorphose themselves from one dish to the next.

  And thus, a simple cauliflower, to use a favourite example, can reinvent itself in every book and in many chapters, showing up once as a seductive Levantine fritter, then grilled and engaged with saffron and raisins, only to return disguised as bulgur in a modern take on tabbouleh, followed by an incarnation as a glamorous savoury cake, a meaty steak, dressed as (coronation) chicken, or simply served whole, grilled yet totally unadorned, with only its natural splendour to call its virtues. This is how wide the range and how wondrous the potential of every single vegetable. Simply ‘magical’, to borrow a term favoured by my five-year-old son.

  SIMPLY ‘MAGICAL’, TO BORROW A TERM FAVOURED BY MY FIVE-YEAR-OLD SON

  IXTA

  Much as vegetables have this supernatural ability to be turned into an endless smörgåsbord of delicious food, it takes a focused creative effort to unravel this potential. In other words, the umpteenth way to cook the beloved cauliflower didn’t just present itself out of thin air. It was a result of trial and (many an) error, mixing and matching cauliflower with other components on the plate, of constantly looking for exciting new ingredients for it to be paired with, and generally, being super sensitive to the processes that happen in the pan, or the roasting tray or the serving platter.

  The people leading this creative process are, naturally, crucial to the particular route it will take. So, if you have already managed to spot a lime or two in places where lemons would appear in previous Ottolenghi books, or noticed a range of Mexican and other chillies peppered all over these pages, or if you came across quick pickles and infused oils used to give dishes a finishing touch – you have identified the fingerprints of Ixta Belfrage, who’s had those same fingers on the vegetable pulse for the last couple of years and helped shape the recipes in this book in a particular way.

  THE UMPTEENTH WAY TO COOK THE BELOVED CAULIFLOWER DIDN’T JUST PRESENT ITSELF OUT OF THIN AIR

  Ixta is one of the most detail-obsessed chefs I know (and I have met a few of those over the years), with an unusual talent both for making the most spectacular versions of familiar dishes (see that LASAGNE again, P. 228) and for putting together an unusual set of components and effortlessly creating a totally new masterpiece (see, or, rather, go make, the SWEET AND SOUR SPROUTS WITH CHESTNUTS AND GRAPES, P. 93).

  Ixta’s journey into the world of food, which is evident in so many of the dishes here, was, a bit like mine, anything but straightforward. Despite growing up mostly in London, she spent much of her early years in different corners of the globe, eating, observing and just soaking up some wonderful food traditions and flavours.

  If you talked to Ixta, she’d be happy to tell you about her friend’s grandfather, Ferruccio – who, in a corner of Tuscany, makes the best lasagne in the world, and passed a few secrets on to her. She would talk about her grandfather’s home, near Mexico City, where she keenly watched chiles rellenos (stuffed peppers) being prepared. She’d mention Brazil, where her mother is from and where she fell for pirão (cassava flour porridge), mocequa (fish stew) and fried cassava chips, and she’d definitely tell you about Christmas holidays in France and that most glorious of apple pies, pastis Gascon.

  SHE TEACHES ME SOMETHING NEW EVERY SINGLE DAY. AND FOR THIS, I AM UTTERLY GRATEFUL

  After all that, you’d be right to assume that cooking would be Ixta’s first port of call in her professional life. Yet on her way there, she managed, among other things, to start a foundation course in art, go to university in Rio, move to Australia for three years and work as a door-to-door power and gas sales person, become a travel agent and come back to London and study design.

  It took Ixta’s sister finally asking the obvious question one day – ‘Why the f*** aren’t you a chef?’ – for the penny to finally drop, which it did with a loud bang. After that, this self-taught, highly observant person, who spent her childhood, adolescence and young adulthood absorbing techniques and flavours like a sponge, set out on an accelerated route which included running her own small catering operation, setting up a market stall in London, where she sold tacos (of course), and, finally, applying for a job at NOPI.

  When, less than a year later, she arrived in my test kitchen – with no formal training and a modest amount of experience, but with a mountain of knowledge, creativity and talent – I soon understood that I could more or less leave Ixta to her own devices. Cooking her own food, which is deeply rooted in the cultures she has soaked up over the years, while also brilliantly incorporating the language of contemporary cooking, she teaches me something new every single day. And for this, I am utterly grateful.

  TARA

  The power of a good recipe to expose the hidden potential in an ingredient and show it in a new and wonderful light is t
he greatest joy of my profession. It’s what keeps Ixta and me going, trying to explore further, to look at every possible iteration, to wrack our brains until we finally hit on something which is both delicious and truly special.

  Good cookbooks do the same thing with a set of dishes. They take them, just like raw ingredients, and piece together a narrative; they give a compelling account that makes sense and touches the spot, like a perfectly balanced stew or a trifle with just the right proportions of creamy to fruity to boozy.

  Telling a story in such a way is a difficult task which takes a particular and rare talent. Tara Wigley, who has worked on all but two of the eight cookbooks that have come out of the Ottolenghi family, has this talent in ladlefuls. With her deep insight into both the human palate and the Ottolenghi flavour palette, she’d always managed to turn our recipes into much more than a set of instructions for recreating dishes at home. She gave them a context and put ideas behind them; she assembled them in particular ways that made them make sense and made people want to prepare them.

  In this book, Tara took one short look at the recipes and instantly isolated and identified what Ixta and I hopelessly struggled to figure out. She gave our vague ideas names, helped us structure the book, and then she put together the introductions to the three main sections which provide the book with its theoretical basis. To that effect, the story which is unearthed here, through recipes, has been brought to light thanks to Tara.

  YOTAM OTTOLENGHI

  FLAVOUR’S 20 INGREDIENTS

  We conclude this introductory section with a list of FLAVOUR’s essential ingredients. By ‘essential’, we don’t suggest that you necessarily need to go out and buy them all before you start cooking, or that you just can’t do without them. In fact, you will be able to reproduce many of the dishes here without a single one of these ingredients. What we mean is that the twenty ingredients we highlight, as well as popping up regularly on the pages alongside our beloved vegetables, also capture the essence of this book, its particular spirit. If you open a jar or a bag of any of these ingredients, edge your nose close and have a little sniff, you should be able to smell FLAVOUR.