I rarely cook traditional risotto, but I love other grains cooked similarly – barley, spelt or split wheat. I find they have more character than rice and absorb other flavours more wholeheartedly. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Some breakfast cereals only come into their own as children’s party treats: what are cornflakes and Coco Pops for, if not to clump together with melted chocolate and spoon into a cupcake holder? – Yotam Ottolenghi
Vegetarian and frugal it may be, but the chickpea is one of the most versatile ingredients you could keep in your cupboards. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Call me tacky, but I love the union of sweet and sour, even in some now-unloved Oriental dishes incorporating pineapple and ketchup. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Fusion food as a concept is kind of trying to quite consciously fuse things that are sometimes quite contradictory, sometimes quite far apart, to see if they’d work. – Yotam Ottolenghi
I always preferred my father’s pasta the next day, when he’d put it in a hot oven with heaps of extra cheese. It would emerge slightly burned and very crisp on top. – Yotam Ottolenghi
People don’t know how good cauliflower is, because they always have this image of cauliflower cheese – awful, sticky, creamy and rich. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Custard is controversial: what makes it a custard, how best to cook it and, crucially, is it to be eaten or put in a pie and thrown? – Yotam Ottolenghi
Though not a true cereal but a fruit, buckwheat seeds resemble cereal grains and are often used in a similar way to rice, barley, bulgar or quinoa, usually as a side dish. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Urfa chillies are a Turkish variety that are mild on heat but big on aroma. They’re sweet, smoky, a lovely dark red, and go with just about anything. – Yotam Ottolenghi
As for pineapple, it’s far more versatile than you might think, and certainly merits wider use than in Hawaiian pizzas and pina coladas and on cheesy cocktail sticks. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Verjuice may not be the easiest thing in the world to find, but you should be able to track some down in good delis and online. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Having grown up in the Middle East, eating beans for breakfast always seemed like a bizarre British eccentricity. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Fresh egg pasta is traditionally served in the north of Italy with butter, cream and rich meat sauces, whereas dried pasta is more at home with the tomato- and olive oil-based ones of the south. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Steaming maintains some of the aubergine flesh’s texture, which doesn’t happen if you cook it in any other way. – Yotam Ottolenghi
After all these years of cooking and writing recipes, I am still amazed every time I notice how even the minutest of variation in technique can make a spectacular difference. – Yotam Ottolenghi
These days, meals are more open to personal preferences. People like to serve themselves. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Good-quality nuts, toasted in a little butter and salt, make a magical addition to many salads. – Yotam Ottolenghi
A food processor, or even one of those small bowls that fit on a stick blender, is a real treasure. No, that’s not an overstatement. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Beetroot is a great salad ingredient, especially when still warm; the colour ain’t bad, either. – Yotam Ottolenghi
Preparing and cooking squid is easier than most fish. The only thing to remember is not to cook it for too long. – Yotam Ottolenghi
As with lemon juice, the more sorrel you use, the more it has to be balanced with something sweet, starchy or creamy – it’s a yin-yang approach to cooking that I find rather calming. – Yotam Ottolenghi
