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The most helpful critical review
307 of 316 people found the following review helpful:
St Otto of Lenghi , we love you.
Moro, Jamie, Diana (Henry) ... I've bought all those books this year, excitedly scanning through them and 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 and suggest other ideas, but as for slavishly following the recipe, nah - you can kind of work...
Published 18 months ago by victoria sponge
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12 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Not what I'd hoped!
The enthusiastic reviews persuaded me to buy this cook book. I had not heard of Ottolenghi but I love cooking and was keen to give it a try. A quick flick through revealed unfamiliar ingredients (pomegranate molasses, broccolini, sumac). I had a go at some of the vegetarian recipes for my veggie daughters and omnivore husband. I quite enjoyed the different flavours...
Published 4 months ago by Helsbels
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307 of 316 people found the following review helpful:
St Otto of Lenghi , we love you., 5 May 2008
Moro, Jamie, Diana (Henry) ... I've bought all those books this year, excitedly scanning through them and 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 and 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 and 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 and olive oil, for example - and 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 them in olive oil? Why is their lemon and pistachio cake so squidgy?
Well, the cookbook generously reveals all. Garlic and 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 and ingredients work well together and how to combine them in 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 and philosophers before following their love of food, as the book is a joy to read, with a style that is as warm and relaxed as the food itself. These are people you want to come and sit down at the table and share the food with you.
If you like modern, light and 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 and french beans with hazelnuts without needing to invest in 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 brioche in my own home too. Praise be!
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Best cookery book for 2009, 26 Feb 2009
As an avid buyer of cookery books, most of them are read without any food being cooked as a result, I want to recommend this book to anyone who wants to actually cook dishes.
The authors describe the recipes as inventive yet simple and that is exactly the case. Their dishes taste great, look appealing and with lowish effort from the cook. The instructions are absolutely clear and hints for ways of serving are given.
I am vegetarian and found loads of recipes I have and will try.
A great present for any cook, but read it yourself before you give it away.
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57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
If you only buy one cookbook this year...., 18 Jul 2008
buy this one! I have to admit, I don't live in London so I had no idea that Ottolenghi was even a shop - I thought it was a restaurant :-) I bought it purely on the strength of the other reviews.
It wasn't a bad decision! The book is visually stunning, with enough recipes to keep you going all year - I am always envious of people who can take something completely mundane (like broccoli) and turn it into a showstopper just by adding some garlic and chilli. Genius.
If you like cooking with ingredients such as bulghur wheat, sultanas, pomegranate, this is probably the book for you. But is also full of recipes for cakes, muffins and meringues. Buy, cook and enjoy!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
A sensation!, 24 Feb 2009
I am already on my third copy of this excellent book. This is not by choice, but because friends and relations have vied with each other to beg, borrow or steal it.
Other reviewers have noted that Ottolenghi and Tamini are very skilled at producing unusual flavour combinations from relatively everyday ingredients. Their signature griddling and marinating techniques have much to teach both the home cook and the professional.
However what I find particularly impressive about this book is how well balanced the recipes are as a group. While the vegetable dishes are probably the star turns - cauliflower and cumin fritters, green beans with hazelnuts and orange zest - the puddings and the meat dishes are equally good. Try the meringues, or the pork with plum and rhubarb relish, to see what I mean.
My advice is to buy this book. Then write your name in it in large letters.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
My most often used cookbook by far, 19 Oct 2008
This is a truly fantastic book. Beautifully presented and a joy to read. If I were to work out a cost per use, it would equate to about 0.12p!
The Otto guys just cook the sort of food I love - they describe some 'star' ingredients such as garlic, lemon, fresh herbs, yoghurt, sumac and pomegranate as their basic building blocks - and their style of fresh, delicious, Med/Middle Eastern food is brilliant, accessible and inspiring.
If you have visited one of their London shops, you will know about their impressive window displays; towers of meringues, piles of gooey brownies and bountiful platters of cupcakes and muffins. Their savoury offerings - (including lots of enormous, beautiful salads) are just as awe-inspiring. This book will not only show you how to mimic these amazing dishes, but more usefully will teach you how to understand and use some more unusual ingredients like za'atar and pomegranate molasses. I have found that the techniques I have learnt from the book have infiltrated so much of my cooking, that the value of the book goes well beyond the recipes printed in it.
You'll soon be shopping for ingredients you previously didn't know about but are now staples in your cupboard!
By far my most often used cookbook.
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59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
One of the best cookery books in years, 19 May 2008
I'm a big fan of Ottolenghi, having eaten there a few times. I was really looking forward to this book and it didn't disappoint. There's a fresh take on everything and even though some recipes (french beans, mangetout in a hazelnut and orange dressing) are little more than assembly jobs, they're great for inspirations. I love the layout, the recipes, everything. Buy it!
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44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
My cookbook of the year, 14 May 2008
Flavour, flavour, flavour those are the three words I'd use to describe the food produced by Ottolenghi and Tamimi in their two London establishments, and they certainly deliver that in this book which contains much of the food they routinely serve. The recipes, are so clear and 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!
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
By The Gods - The Humble Cauliflower Transformed, 4 Sep 2008
as i write this i have a freshly cooked bowl of the cauliflower and cumin fritters (to be found on page 50) gently steaming at my side. i can tell you it is delightful.
when i saw this recipe i knew i wanted to try it. so looking in the depleted fridge i came across most of the ingredients and set to. i had no fresh parsley so used dried and no shallots so used a small cooking onion. the results were sublime and can't wait to try it with the proper ingredients.
and the rest of the book? well that will be tomorrows handy work. thankyou ottolenghi for returning my enthusiasm for cooking back to me. a cherished book already.
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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Absolutely the best, 26 Jul 2008
Great recipes that work! not only excellent bed-time reading but a full on working cook book that no kitchen should be without.Clear, exciting recipes, great flavour combinations, easy to read and the photography is simply fantastic. Buy for your family and friends, they will love you forever.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderful, 4 Sep 2008
I love the simplicity of the recipes. I buy many cookery books, some I just end up leafing through or reading for pleasure, this one I actually use and cook from!! A real classic.
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