The way to entice people into cooking is to cook delicious things.
— Yotam Ottolenghi
I like to talk about food, ingredients, and how to adapt recipes. It's a dialogue.
Too many books are full of recipes that aren't doable at home. They are purely aspirational. They are quite frightening, even for me.
The kitchen is tough. It's one of the last bastions in civilized culture that sets out to crush the spirit.
I enjoy meat, but I can do without it.
Middle Eastern cuisine has the same depth of ingredients and processes as other cuisines. They just haven't had as much exposure.
Tel Aviv is the most exciting place to eat in Israel.
My dad makes food with very few delicate flavours.
Fish cakes are perceived as being quite British, and they're always a bit brown and a little dull.
Every era has its own list of ingredients that are considered exotic and then, 15 years later, they're not.
Eating ready-made meals is about being very passive, and actively cooking is something that nothing compares to.
I do support people eating more vegetables. It's a good thing to do.
I have an intense dislike of doctrines, because you will always end up eating your words.
Vegetarians in general don't like me.
If I am honest, my food is actually quite far removed from both the food of my mother and my father.
I can't stand recipes that don't have background.
Food can bring people together in a way nothing else could.
You can be vegetarian and eat fish. It's your choice, just say: 'I am what I am.' There are no hardcore divisions anymore.
I like to add something unusual to a dish.
Healthy is in the eye of the beholder.
Most of my recipes start life in the domestic kitchen, and even those that start out in the restaurant kitchen have to go through the domestic kitchen.
In certain European cuisines, vegetables are cooked a long time. I take the term 'al dente' and use it for vegetables.
Even in the busiest kitchen, there's always a point at the end of the day when you go home.
My maternal grandmother made fantastic ox tongue with velvety roasted potatoes. She cooked sweet red cabbage and lovely cauliflower with butter and bread crumbs.
There is nothing like a good old recipe. If it has lasted, then it is good.
Dad likes my food, but he probably thinks it's too busy. He is a wonderful cook but only uses three ingredients. My mum rips out my articles and makes my recipes.
I just don't tend to cook eggplant at home.
I used to have a very unmediated experience of food but, because of the recipe testing, I've lost that now. I can't switch it off even when I'm on holiday.
