The author Yotam Ottolenghi has published a new cookbook called “Shelf Love”. This time he and his team developed recipes from the pantry. What is the book good for?
Many a spice rack slowly overflows because of it. The author Yotam Ottolenghi has also changed everyday life in a number of German kitchens.
Ottolenghi, it is sometimes said, made cauliflower “sexy”. Or the kale. Or the vegetables in general. Maybe you didn’t even know until now that this is possible. Now he and his team are publishing a new cookbook and that brings several innovations with it.
Sumac and miso paste
The name “Ottolenghi” may not mean anything to some. Some grumble about the many ingredients that are needed. Where else can you find condiments like za’atar and Japanese miso paste in the supermarket? What is sumac? And how does black lime taste? Others, quite modestly, call him the “great love of their kitchen life”.
Ottolenghi became known with columns in the British Guardian. The 52-year-old has now published several cookbooks. In “Jerusalem”, for example, he deals with his origins – he was born in the city in 1968 as the son of a German and an Italian. Today he lives in London and also runs restaurants there.
The new book “Shelf Love” was developed by the team in his test kitchen. During the pandemic, they started to use up supplies, it says in the foreword. And this is also the subject of the book. For example, tips are presented on what you can make out of limes if you still have some left over. Or it is explained how hummus becomes particularly creamy.
The whole thing looks more pragmatic than usual. The book is orange-pink and narrower, some photos show step-by-step instructions. There are still recipes that contain eleven cloves of garlic. The instructions tend to be a bit simpler and down to earth. There is pickled feta, white beans with chili oil or Mac’n’Cheese – but with za’atar pesto. Occasionally there is also fish and meat.
Ottolenghi works in a team
Do people still buy so many Ottolenghi books? “Yes, madness,” says Martina Olufs. She is the owner of the Hamburg “Koch Kontor”, a shop for cookbooks. Ottolenghi became known in Germany primarily for his recipes. And they are just good. In your opinion, it has arrived in the German kitchen. “The other day someone opened” Jerusalem “in the supermarket, in the shopping basket.”
Olufs also knows the counter-arguments – “Owww, so many ingredients, everything is so complex”. In her opinion, however, many people can find something in the books. She also likes the fact that Ottolenghi always writes his books with colleagues. And then include them in marketing, for example. In the new book, the focus is primarily on the team. It is to be the first in a series of the “Ottolenghi Test Kitchen” (OTK).
Ottolenghi is also known for several vegetarian books. In the opinion of Dieter Kosslick, this is what defines him. Kosslick directed the International Film Festival in Berlin for many years, and Ottolenghi was also invited there in 2019. Ottolenghi has changed the kitchen like only Eckart Witzigmann, says Kosslick. “That even convinced meat eaters are happy after Ottolenghi’s vegetarian recipes – that is his real achievement for me.”
Yotam Ottolenghi, Noor Murad, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen – Shelf Love, New recipes from the pantry.
24,95 Euro, 256 S., ISBN 978-3-8310-4294-4
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