Ottolenghi

Articles

The theory of everything (sandwiches)

1 week ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

No offence, but I find sandwich recipes pointless. Who needs a recipe for making a sandwich? It’s like looking up a manual before taking a shower, or seeking assistance for changing a lightbulb. Anyone can make a sandwich, no? Well… not really. I order a club sandwich everywhere I travel. I scan room service menus and always land on the same thing. And yet, it never is the same thing.
Spiced ‘Chicken a la King’ & sticky morning buns

2 weeks ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

has a messy drawer somewhere. I'm convinced of it. A few years ago, she convinced millions to hold their possessions and ask, "Does this spark joy?" Everyone folded clothes into neat rectangles and thanked discarded belongings for their service. Then she had three children and admitted that perfect tidiness isn't always possible. Which made me think: she’s human after all!I suspect we all have these little contradictions. The marathon runner with a secret smoking habit.
My summer recipes for a sunshine state of mind

4 weeks ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

Here's a film to watch at the start of every summer - Little Miss Sunshine. The story follows this dysfunctional family on a cross-country journey in a yellow VW bus that barely makes it. I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, but there's this scene near the end where Olive, the young daughter, performs at a beauty pageant to Rick James' Super Freak. Her dance is totally inappropriate for the setting - uninhibited, awkward, joyful. Olive has this endless supply of optimism.
The cookbooks that made it off the shelf - EP 2

1 month ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

I've been receiving some animated memos about our colour-coded bookshelf... Apparently, it's ‘completely impractical.’ Surely we should organise alphabetically or by cuisine or some other system that makes logical sense? My colleague Gitai arranged the test kitchen shelves by colours a few years back and it stuck somehow. It's a bit precious, I know, but that rainbow of spines just makes us all very happy. Function with a side of beauty. I'm standing firmly by it.
Sri-Lankan pickle that's good on everything and a Tangy Mushroom Curry

1 month ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

So much of what I do involves gathering ideas from different sources, processing them, and then turning them into recipes for the hungry cooking public. The greatest accolade is when one of these hits the spot and then becomes a household staple somewhere. “I have to tell you”, someone might say, “your soba noodles are on quick rotation in our house, and now my grownup kids cook it for their own families”. Music to my ears.
Two Antipodean bakes for ANZAC day (or any day)

1 month ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

I am happily hopping on the Australian bandwagon this week (especially with ANZAC day this Friday) and stopping for a moment to look at two bakes that have made their way into my kitchen over the years. It started with Helen Goh, whose brilliant Australian sensibility has shaped so much of what we do.
Two recipes for either side of the equator

1 month ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

I love you all!And I love you all equally. It’s just that I often get wrapped up in my own little world and neglect to look outside.
My big, fat, Greek Easter

1 month ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

Forgive me for the cliché…"Give me any word, any word, and I show you how the root of this word is Greek."Easter? Clearly from the ancient Greek "Easteros," meaning... well, I have no idea, but you get the point. My late father had a similar tendency. He would find a Jewish connection in anything! At the end of a TV show he would watch the credits like a hawk, spotting names that sounded Jewish. “Production designer Becker - what else can it be!” They all proved his point, naturally.
Two pantry-raid recipes for your seasonal jet lag

2 months ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

The clocks changed last weekend, and suddenly dinner feels all wrong. Not wrong in a bad way—just different. After months of eating at around 6pm because the darkness outside demanded it, the evening light has thrown off my rhythm. As if my body and the sky are now operating in different time zones. This seasonal jet lag is something I notice every year when British Summer Time begins. Walking back from the test kitchen at 7pm now, the streets are still light.
Our kitchen garden (and why I don't touch it)

2 months ago | ottolenghi.substack.com | Yotam Ottolenghi

If you read my last post about bean-rich recipes to save the earth, you've seen my interest with ingredients that tread lightly on the planet. But there's something even more direct than cooking with planet-friendly produce – growing it yourself. Which, admittedly, isn't my strong suit. Watching seedlings push through soil, harvesting them at peak ripeness... But the truth? I can barely keep houseplants alive. My surviving plants persist through sheer resilience rather than any skill on my part.