Yotam Ottolenghi is, in every sense of the words, a food revolutionary.
Since appearing on the restaurant scene in the late 90’s, he has produced countless recipes with innovative blends and unusual combinations of flavor, unique to his style. And, his latest dessert cookbook is no exception. The buzz surrounding the Ottolenghi dessert cookbook, ‘Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi’ – a complete dedication to desserts, can be heard from every corner of the culinary world.
What many people don’t know is that Ottolenghi, an Israeli born chef living in London, actually began his culinary journey as a pastry chef. However, his claim to fame came when he captured the attention of locals by partnering with Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi to express their common ‘incomprehension of traditional English food’. Together, they founded the Ottolenghi delicatessen in Notting Hill, taking people by surprise with their Middle-Eastern twists on seemingly ‘basic’ foods. Targeting the unconventional field of making vegetables exciting, Ottolenghi has succeeded in rewriting the way we look at food preparation and the astounding qualities otherwise overlooked dishes possess.
In 2008, Ottolenghi released his first self-titled cookbook. Since then, he has gone on to become a worldwide cookbook bestseller, releasing five more cookbooks, each one as intricate and spectacular as the last.
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Today, he spends most of his time creating and testing recipes in his test kitchen for upcoming cookbooks, TV programs and as a food-columnist for the Guardian. When he is not busy being a “scientist” in his food laboratory, he is overseeing the day-to-day operation of his shops and restaurants.
Seeing that he is best known for his savoury food recipes, the release of his sixth cookbook, produced together with long-time collaborator Helen Goh, may be his most exciting and anticipated one yet. That is because it is dedicated entirely to sweets, a side of Ottolenghi he had yet to expose.
Sweet
Goh, a practicing psychologist and accomplished pastry chef, started working with Ottolenghi over a decade ago. The two have found a way to complement and amplify each other’s trademark styles in their recent collaboration.
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”Sweet” promises to make you feel the commitment that both chefs have devoted to this project with every single taste. This is evident in how Ottolenghi describes working with Goh to the New York Times, exclaiming how they “can discuss the minutiae of a chocolate ice cream or a nut brittle as if the fate of the entire universe rests on the conversation, without worrying for a second that this may be, just maybe, a tiny bit over the top.”
Recipe development at it’s finest
As such, the recipe development process for “Sweet” was painstakingly detailed.
Some of the recipes were inspired by cakes and cookies that Ottolenghi and Goh had been making together for years in their shops. The rest were developed specifically for the book, starting out as ideas in their heads.
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The ideas were then brought to a certain, as he describes, “point-of-readiness”, in Helen’s home kitchen. From there, the two would get together for tasting meetings on Wednesday afternoons where they would assess and tweak each recipe until it was ready to be shelved or moved on to the test kitchen phase.
Their main goal for the dessert cookbook was to make desserts easier to tackle, showing even the most amateur of home cooks that they can achieve incredible results. Therefore, they even went as far as having “blind” testers out-of-house attempt the recipes at home to see if they could produce the same outcomes.
The results? Every single recipe was proven to be achievable.
Roma’s Doughnuts
The cookbook features over 110 recipes, each with a story of its own, making it different from what you would normally find on your kitchen shelves. One example is “Roma’s doughnuts with saffron custard cream”, inspired by Goh’s mother-in-law, Roma Kausman. She found this recipe in the Jerusalem Post in 1973 and has been using it every Hanukkah since.
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The recipe was modified for the book with hints of Ottolenghi’s distinct style. The addition of saffron custard cream is what “ottolenghi-ed” this recipe (Yes, “to ottoleng” has actually become a commonly used verb.) Although the addition of saffron may make this recipe sound complicated, it is actually very easy to make and can be served plain or with a filling of your choice.
What’s next
So, what’s to come for Yotam Ottolenghi?
He will be releasing another cookbook, one he calls an “Ottolenghi simple” book. In it, he will aim to create recipes for high quality dishes that can be made quickly with items found in your kitchen cupboard. Needless to say…we can’t wait.