For the foodies amongst us, Sicily is a food haven. Thanks to its warm, Mediterranean climate some of the world's best tomatoes, artichokes, olives, citrus fruits, apricots and aubergines are grown here. The island's surrounding coastlines are abundant and famous for their local tuna, sea bream, sea bass, cuttlefish, swordfish and sardines. Being Italy's third largest wine producer, Sicilian wines are also some of world's favourites. For most local farmers, however, these fertile lands carry a dark history. During the many decades of the Cosa Nostra rule, the Mafia bosses took control over a lot of Sicily's best and most fertile plots of lands. For many years, locals have been reluctant to to put their feet on what was considered ‘sacred territory’.

With the decline of the Sicilian Mafia in the early 90's, some of the estates of now imprisoned mafia bosses have been seized. But it was not until 1996 that state legislation allowed these confiscated lands and properties, said to be worth many millions of euros, to be used for the benefit of the people. Centopassi winery is a merger of three local co-operatives fighting together to resurrect the land's dignity.

Located on a plateau at the Upper Belice Corleonese, Centopassi cultivates vineyards originally confiscated from ‘boss of bosses’, Salvatore ‘Toto’ Riina, who is serving multiple life sentences for crimes including ordering the asassination of judge Giovanni Falcone. Benefiting from a high altitude and the cooling effect from the nearby Mediterranean sea, this special terroir proved to be particularly suited to the production of quality wines. All the grapes are organically grown, as Centopassi believes that organic viticulture can, literally, cleanse the soil of its sinister past.

Now recognised by Italy's leading wine guides, L'Espresso and Gambero Rosso, the wines of Centopassi are original, full of character and aim to express their land of origin. We are proud to sell them and support their efforts and worthy cause.

These wines and many more are available on our Webstore.

There were enough exciting food shops, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, pop-ups, street kitchens, trucks and diners to make us wonder quite why we’d bought return tickets home. Experimental, exciting, foodie heaven! Every day presented us with another marvel-in-the-mouthful: pastries to get up early and queue for, tempura lemon skin with salt cod croquettes to remember forever, scotch eggs to defy all sense of just-how-good-can-a-scotch-really-be (answer: VERY), magical kale salad with poached egg and garlic crumbs. A few highlights, below, from an incredibly happy, snowy, blessed, fun and fruitful American adventure. . .

Sofra, One Belmont Street, Cambridge MA, 021338 t. 617.661.3161
Ana Sortun is a gem, her cookery book, SPICE, is a treasure and her bakery, Sofra, is the biggest box of delights of them all. Trusting that flavour can come primarily from the artful use of spices and herbs (rather than the fat others often rely on through cream and butter), Ana’s Middle Eastern-inspired cakes and pastries are delicate, delicious and very special. A breakfast here of olive oil granola with orange labne and local honey, semolina pancakes with seasonal jam and a cheeky tahini donut to round off the belly. An inspiration to all of us who think we know how to shake things up at the breakfast table.

Flour bakery and cafe, 190 Mass. Avenue, Cambridge MA, 02139 t. 617.225.2525
‘Make life sweeter. . . eat dessert first!’ is the bakery’s motto and so said both of us as we walked into what felt like the inner santum of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory. Move along Mister Wonka as we crown Joanne Chang, chef and owner of FLOUR, the queen of all sweet treats. Homemade oreos and pop-tarts, donuts sparkling with sugar, cookies the size of your hand, chocolate-stuffed croissants, sticky buns, lemon cake, chocolate chip and coconut macaroons, this place was a seriously dangerous discovery.

The Butcher Shop, 552 Tremont Street, Boston Mass. 02118 t. 617.423.4800
A tribute to the old world European boucheries, inspired by chef Barbara Lynch’s travels around France and Italy, far too many hours can be whittled away in this this neighbourhood wine bar and full service butchers shop. With homemade sausages on display, along with slabs of foie gras and exquisite marbled cuts of local beef, this is not one for the strictly vegetarian. I lost a fair few brownie points tweeting out my foie gras-induced delight but, between you, me and the fattened duck, I’d order it all over again and struggle hard not to proclaim. I don’t spread it on my morning toast but, honestly, once in a while?!: divine. . . For a more politically correct menu choice, my beet salad with blue cheese, almonds and citrus vinaigrette was also worth quacking loudly about.

The Gallows, 1395 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118 t. 617.425.0200
This is a restaurant which knows how to have fun, be confident, surprise, entertain, delight and wow. Gin cured salmon, Guiness fish and chips, scrambled eggs with fries, gravy, cheese curds and bacon, the menu is as loud and decadent as the restaurant’s atmosphere is vibrant. Karl’s absolute-dish-of-the-trip was his gallows’ scotch egg: soft cooked egg wrapped in crispy pork sausage.

Belly Bar, One Kendall Square, Cambridge MA 02139 t. 617.494.0968
Good wine, strong cheese and cured meats: apparently simple ingredients executed to perfection in a very chilled environment. Following the rules of the classic wine bar – small sharing plates of food to accompany your tipple of choice – the comforting formula is shaken up with some real surprises and delights from the homemade charcuterie which arrives on a weathered wooden chopping board. I can’t remember eating better Jamon Iberico and the veal terrine with hints of anise was also very special.

Toro, 1704 Washington Street Boston MA t. 617.536.4300
I adore tapas and I’m addicted to croquettes so thought I’d arrived in heaven here with Toro’s tempura meyer lemon skin with salt cod croquettes. We could have sat there all day, ordering plate after plate. . .

Neptune, 63 Salem Street, Boston MA 02113 t. 617.742.3474
For the freshest local seafood and an impeccable raw bar, Neptune is where it’s at. It’s a tiny joint so the atmosphere is always lively. First class oysters, lobster sandwiches or our favourite dish – the buttermilk ‘johnny cake’ with honey butter, smoked trout tartare and Californian sturgeon caviar all find their perfect companion in an equally focussed and impeccable wine list. These guys know what they are doing and are doing it very well.

Mei Mei
If I could have brought one Boston kitchen back to London it would be this on-the-move food truck. Run by the Li siblings – Andy, Margaret and Irene – they serve up a constantly-changing menu of what they describe as ‘locally sourced Chinese-American food made with love’. With confident riffs on Chinese staples and in-your-face flavour combinations – pork liver paté cone topped with mustard whipped cream, pickle brine sprinkles and a pickled cranberry – this is some of the most creatively delicious food being served in Boston at the moment. My ‘magical kale salad’ with poached egg, feta and garlic did indeed have something magical about it. Street food shouldn’t taste quite this good. . .

The Ottolenghi croissant is something rather rare:
how can so much flour and butter taste like fresh spring air?
Leaf-light layers with a crust light and crisper
“what is the secret?” we often hear our lovely customers whisper
the butter, the kneading, the hand which bakes,
what is the magic ingredient which makes
our puff-pastry parcels the best in town?
(though we say so ourselves, they’ve become quite renowned).
The list of ingredients is no mystery in the least:
flour, butter, milk, sugar, salt and egg and yeast,
the process of their making follows traditions known and old:
knead the dough, let it rise and deflate before it’s rolled;
more rising, chilling, butter and rolling and, as one soon learns,
the all-important layer-producing repeated folds and turns,
repeat again, add more butter, fold and say your prayers
and hope that the resulting croissant has the requisite 36 layers!
The magic’s worked, they’re left to freeze in the bakery overnight
before fresh cooking in our shops, to our customer’s delight.
Served with coffee, spread with jam,
taken home to fill with ham. . .
But the real secret, the one that lies behind this finest treat
is the person who our customers don’t often get to meet
the one whose kneading, the dough’s friend and clock:
our very own and very special Mister Irek Krok:
here from Poland for the past six years,
he’s 36 layers above his baking peers;
for all that one can know the croissant-making drill
it’s years of practise that results in the skill
to make and bake and know the dough,
when it’s rising too quickly and needs to slow
to mix and measure, roll and fold
to feel when the butter’s too hot or cold
to make batch after batch and get it so right
that heaven is thought of in every bite
batons and patterns on tray after tray
we’d like to take a moment to proudly say
that it’s Irek and all those behind the scenes
who make the Ottolenghi food the stuff of dreams. . .

Gonzalo Gonzalo's love story with wine started like so many others have done so before. Born in Logroño, Spain, he grew up among his parents vineyards' in Fuenmayor, Rioja Alta. Following the family tradition, he studied oenology at the university of Rioja before completing his oenologist training in a big industrial winery. The first turning point for Gonzalo came, however, when he went off travelling through France and Italy where he met small vine-growers and winemakers whose natural winemaking practices were about to change his life. Returning from his travels he left a commercial winemaking career behind to set up his own estate. Respect to the land and natural winemaking were at the heart of the estate's philosophy from day one.

The second major turning point in Gonzalo’s journey towards sustainable viticulture and winemaking was the illness of his father, caused by years of daily exposure to chemical fertilizers and herbicides while tending their vineyards in the 1970s. This influenced him profoundly and spurred him on to fight the battle his father had lost. His first objective was to restore the biodiversity in the vineyard lost due to chemical treatment. Rejecting modern chemical treatment, Gonzalo has instead sought out his own methods with respect for the land, his vineyards, and the traditions of his forefathers.

In the weeks prior to the bottling of Gran Cerdo's first vintage, young Gonzalo naively approached the local bank for some financial help to launch the new wine. To his surprise the application was declined on the basis that “wine is not a seizable asset”. Gonzalo eventually managed to launch the wine without the bank's support but did not forget. Ironicallynamed Gran Cerdo (‘big pig’ in Spanish) the wine's back label tells his amusing take on the matter (see below).

And the wine? Made from younger Tempranillo vines, this declassified Rioja is packed with crushed cherries, strawberries and a pleasant softness. This vibrant and juicy little natural wine is phenomenal value and turned out to be an international success. But Gonzallo just can't sit still. Seen by many as Rioja's "Bad Boy", Gonzalo keeps on pushing winemaking limits and is nowadays busy forging relationships with other artistic forms such as painting, music, fashion or architecture, in order to stimulate joint creative talent.

For this wine plus many more, visit our Webstore

Just some of the team who made it another wonderful Christmas at Ottolenghi

Kensington is closing on Saturday, December 22nd at 18:00 and will open again on Monday, January 7th, 2013 at 08:00.

Notting Hill & Motcomb

Christmas
Monday 24th 08.00 – 16.00
Tuesday 25th closed
Wednesday 26th closed
Thursday 27th 09.00 – 20:00
Friday 28th 08:00 – 20:00
Saturday 29th as usual
Sunday 30th as usual
New Year
Monday December 31st 08.00 – 16.00
Tuesday January 1st 2013 closed
Wednesday January 2nd 09:00 – 20:00
Thursday January 3rd 08:00 – 20:00

Islington

Christmas
Monday 24th 08.00 – 16.00
Tuesday 25th closed
Wednesday 26th closed
Thursday 27th 09.00 – 22.30
Friday 28th 08:00 – 22.30
Saturday 29th as usual
Sunday 30th as usual
New Year
Monday December 31st 08.00 – 16.00
Tuesday January 1st 2013 closed
Wednesday January 2nd 09.00 – 22:30
Thursday January 3rd 08:00 – 22:30

NOPI

Christmas
Monday 24th 08:00 – 16:00
Tuesday 25th closed
Wednesday 26th closed
Thursday 27th 10:00 – 22:30
Friday 28th 08:00 – 22:30
Saturday 29th as usual
Sunday 30th as usual
New Year
Monday December 31st 08:00 – 02:00
Tuesday January 1st 2013 closed
Wednesday January 2nd dinner only 5.30pm
Thursday January 3rd 08:00 – 22:30

Christmas time is fine wine time and there's nothing quite as festive
as a row of elegant long glasses filled with bubbles. It’s time,
however, to move on from the often-acidic and underwhelming Champagne
offered by many supermarkets and expand our horizons to find something
new. Not sure how to distinguish one sparkling wine from another? Let
me help you select the right bubbles to see in – and see you through –
2013:

Sparkling English wine: only a few years ago, most of our local fizz
was quietly patronised by those ‘in the know’.. How fast things have
changed! Nowadays, oozing with confidence, accolades pilling up and
comparisons to Champagne being made, English sparkling wines are going
from strength to strength. Set aside your preconceptions and see out
this Jubilee year by filling your glasses with some local pride,
bubbles and joy. . .

Prosecco: the lighter, softer and less formal option, this is the
perfect way to kick off the evening. Light and casual, however, can
also mean delicate and delicious. Try to look for the small,
independent producers found in specialized wine shops or in our online
shop. Coste Piane Prosecco is one of our favourites. Made in the
traditional methode Champenoise, this offers a richness and complexity
usually associated with Champagne but for a Prosecco price.

Cava: not all Cavas are born equal and a lot of the cava we know
gives the drink an unfairly bad name. There are, however, a few
artisanal producers who still make the real thing: rich and elegant
sparkling wines which age gracefully. A far cry from your supermarket
Cava, Josep and Antoni Mata Casanovas from Cava Recaredo produce one
of our absolute favourites, Brut Nature Gran Reserva. Using organic and natural fertilisers
only, with no use of irrigation, their Cava is a real gem: gentle and
very sophisticated. More than five years old it is rich and complex in
style and will surprise all the Cava sceptics out there.

Everywhere I went for my Mediterranean Feast journey I came across green peppers. And when I say green peppers I mean a wide range of capsicums in various shades, shapes and sizes, also varying dramatically in heat, from totally innocuous and mild to on-fire-burning-hot.
The milder varieties are used everywhere. They are thrown into salads, get grilled or pickled and often are also stuffed with rice and lamb.
Unlike the bell peppers familiar in the west, the pointy mild varieties – Charleston is one of them – have a thinner skin and quicker to cook and take on a sweet aroma. Grilled pointy green pepper, drizzle with oil and sprinkled with flaky salt is one of the most delicious things you can cook.

Yotam tries his hand at making couscous while actually making a puzzled Berber woman laugh out loud at her very first sight of a MAN touching her semolina jewels. Or a Sudanese man, looking after the hammam fire, bursts out in traditional song after cooking the most delectable cumin and saffron scented meat stew, tangia, in his glowing embers.

These are a couple of scenes from the first part of Yotam Ottolenghi’s Mediterranean Feast, a four part weekly series for More4, starting Monday, 12 November, at 9pm.

Followed by a crew from Keo productions Yotam travels to Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia and Israel to unravel some of the Mediterranean’s lesser-known cuisines. Along the way he meets cooks, restaurant chefs, farmers and fishermen and cooks with local ingredients giving them the Ottolenghi “treatment”.

In the first episode expect to see Marrakech’s palace walls, firmly governed by local bossy storks, a group of stoic fishermen allowing Yotam on their rickety boat, some lamb, some couscous, some olives and lots and lots of cumin and preserved lemon.

All classes for 2012 are now full. At the moment no classes have been planned for 2013.
We will update you on any future classes if and when they are planned.

Yotam and Sami will start their North American book tour on the 21st October. Here is a list of events where you can see them in Canada and the USA. They hope to see you there.

CANADA:

TORONTO

2pm, Sunday October 21
The Cookbook Store presents Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
doors open at 1:30pm general seating
On stage interview followed by Q & A and book signing
Location: George Ignatieff Theatre (Trinity College, Uof T) 15 Devonshire Place, Toronto.
Ticket: $50 includes the new book Jerusalem
Ticket only no book: $25.
Available from The Cookbook Store 416-920-2665, cooking@ican.net

5pm, Sunday October 21
The Bonnie Stern Book Club celebrates JERUSALEM: A COOKBOOK
Tabule restaurant, 2009 Yonge Street, Toronto.
Tickets: $150 includes a talk, Q & A, dinner, beverages, gratuity and a copy of JERUSALEM
For tickets and information: The Bonnie Stern book Club 416-484-4810

USA:

NEW YORK

Tuesday October 23
Center for Jewish History, 6:30pm – 8pm
15 West 16th Street (b/t 5th & 6th)
In-conversation with Gabriella Gershenson, followed by dinner
Tickets: $350 per person / $500 per couple, includes a copy of the book
Contact: Lauren Karp, lkarp@cjh.org

Wednesday October 24
Community Bookstore event @ Congregation Beth Elohim (Park Slope), 7:30pm
274 Garfield Place, Brooklyn (@8th Ave, b/t 1st St & Montgomery)
Contact: Stephanie Valdez, Co-Owner Community Bookstore, 718-783-3075,
In-conversation with Rozanne Gold, open to public

Thursday October 25
The Strand, 7-8pm
Contact: 212.473.1452
828 Broadway (b/t E 12th & E 13th)
“In-conversation” with Jonathan Safran Foer

Friday October 26
Kitchen Arts & Letters, 2pm
Contact: 212-876-5550
1435 Lexington (b/t E 93rd & E 94th)
Book signing

Williams-Sonoma
59th & Lexington, 5pm
121 E 59th Street, 917-369-1131
Book signing

Williams-Sonoma
Columbus Circle, 7pm
212-581-1146
Book signing

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

Sunday October 28
Williams-Sonoma Union Square, 2pm
340 Post Street
415-362-9450
Book signing and demonstration

Monday October 29
Bar Tartine, 5:30pm
561 Valencia, SF
Contact: 415-487-1600
Ticketed book dinner ($125 per person) with menu from Jerusalem

Tuesday October 30
Omnivore Books
3885 Cesar Chavez, SF
Contact: 415-621-7180
6-7pm Book Signing

Thursday November 1
Commonwealth Club of California
Club Office, 595 Market Street, 2nd Fl
Contact: Kara Iwahashi, Assoc. Program Director, 408-280-5145
Tickets: $20
6 – 7pm Program: talk, Q&A
7pm: Book Signing

Saturday November 3
Book Passage, Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista
Contact: 415-927-0960
7:00 pm: Brief talk, Q&A, book signing

LOS ANGELES

Sunday November 4
Joan’s on Third, 12 – 3pm
Contact:, 323-655-2285
8350 West Third Street (between La Cienega Blvd. and Fairfax Ave.) Parking is available in the back.

Mozza Scuola
Contact: 323.297.1133
6610 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
5:30pm: demonstration/prosecco reception
6pm: Ticketed dinner begins

Very difficult to contain the excitement about our upcoming Jerusalem Cookbook, out in the UK on September 6th and in the US on October 16th.

This has been 2 years in the making, with endless hours of recipe testing, story collecting, location shooting, historical researching and, finally, cooking and photographing all those incredible dishes.

And here is the British face, followed by the American:

Happy reading!

The Jerusalem Cookbook, out in September, has been keeping Sami and me busy for well over a year now. And when I say busy I mean months of recipe testing, researching, writing down stories and anecdotes, checking and double-checking.

It all culminated over the last three weeks when we were heavily involved in the shoot of all the recipes. Sarah Stephens was in charge of the kitchen, busily preparing dishes for the camera at a pace of a Speedy Gonzales, only much faster. Jonathan Lovekin, extra-talented, super-stoic photographer of Plenty, was doing his usual wonders. Sami and I just had to arrange dishes on plates, though most of them actually looked better in the pans (rustic and authentic).

Not much left now. Well, just getting all the clarifications back to the editor, layouts with the designer, proofing and probably another thing or two. Stay tuned.

Some of the people who made this another gorgeous Ottolenghi Christmas.

So many positive feedbacks after the Jerusalem documentary on BBC4! I can’t tell you the number of warm emails and tweets I received. Working on this project with James Nutt, the director, was fun and challenging at the same time but meeting all the beautiful people of Jerusalem was only uplifting and touching and delicious.

If you live in the UK, you can catch the show on the BBC iPlayer here. At the moment it is only available with a sign language interpreter. BBC4HD will air it on the 31st December and after that you will be able to watch the original on iPlayer.

People have been particularly interested knowing about the restaurants featured in the programmes.

So here they are, and here’s to falafel, za’atar and harmony!

Machneyuda – that’s the last restaurant featured in the show, with the service and all the madness.
Arcadia – where I was shown a deconstructed baba ganush and stuffed potato cakes (Ezra “my-first-name-is-salad” Kedem).
Majda – read all the way down to get the details. This is the restaurant belonging to Michal and Yaakov, a mixed couple, but more importantly – stunning food.
Azura – the incredible kubbeh place where I go to “work” at 5am.
Jaffar – the Knafeh place with the pistachios and all that orange colour. Sweet and meaty.
Zalatimo – the place where Jesus visited regularly and the old man rolls pastry paper-thin. The most delicious sweet in the world, a Zalatimo.
Hummus – so many good hummus places (any of the ones listed is top!). Though I couldn’t find a link to the one featured in the show (“They took our land, now you ask me about the dish?”). It’s called Al-Akarmawi and if you leave Damascus gate from inside the walls, cross the busy road and start going up the street coming off it, it is on the right hand side.
Kadosh – the café and bakery making those mouthwatering krantz cakes that I made so badly.

And a few other great places that I wouldn’t miss but didn’t make it to the final cut:
Rachmo, Barood, Ramas Kitchen and Shaheen.

To my surprise there has been a lot of discussion about the music, so here's a list of the artists and songs.
Balkan beet box with; Gross, Joro Boro, Smatron, Gypsy queens, Balcumbia, Baharim.
Shantel with Fige ki ase.
It also featured music from Tristin Norwell.

Slightly complicated, but here are this year's holiday season opening hours:

Kensington will be closed 24th December to 5th January.

Notting Hill, Belgravia and Islington

December 24th 08.00 – 16.00
December 25th closed
December 26th closed
December 27th 09.00 - 18.00
December 28th normal
December 29th normal
December 30th normal
December 31st 08.00 – 16.00
January 1st closed
January 2nd closed (Islington will be open 09.00 - 18.00)
January 3rd normal

A very short weekend in the Basque cities of Bilbao and San Sebastian was a living proof of the extreme abilities of the human stomach to expand endlessly and the incredible power of mother nature to inflict all its might – gale force winds and quantities of rain not seen since Noah – on a bunch of people that just wanted to... eat.

There was the minimum dose of the obligatory culture at the Guggie in Bilbao, but that wouldn't have sustained us for very long. So off we went to San Sebastian, the culinary capital.

On the way, in the mountains between the two cities, was the absolute highlight of the trip: a meal at Etexbarri. This is where we had the best chorizo, the best jamon and the absolutely best charred beef we have ever tasted: fatty and moist and very very beefy. This is worth the biggest detour.

We skipped Arzak and all the other big names in San Sebastian in favour of long hours in the hotel – rain, rain, rain – and hopping from one pintxos bar to the next. The pintxos (Basque tapas) are so varied and complex that you need to go and sample the specialties of each bar to really get the full experience.

A few pointers: Paco Bueno in the old town does beautiful gambas. Have it with Vermouth. Borda-Berri, also in the old town, is for the octopus.

In the new town Meson Bidea Berri does sensational piquillo peppers. And the most fantastic coquettes in the world are at Gaztelu-txiki. Never had anything like them, particularly the mushroom variety.

And then it rained so badly, that we had to run away, which is good, since our bodies would just not tolerate one more gram of fat.

Feeling totally smug and completely happy to congratulate ourselves on winning Best Cookbook for Plenty in the Observer Food Monthly 2011 Awards.

Our next available set of cookery classes at Leiths are starting in January 2012.

As before, there will be a short window of opportunities to sign in to the classes, due to their great popularity. Leiths' booking line (020 87496400) will be open on 17th of October 2011 only, from 9am onwards, until places run out. We advice you to be persistent and keep on trying even if the line is busy. Once connected, you'll be able to book a class for up to 2 people.

We hope you all have success in booking and looking forward to teaching you soon!

14 January, with Sami Tamimi
Purple sprouting broccoli with chilli, garlic and feta
Root mash with wine braised shallots
Spicy lamb and kebabs
Kohlrabi and white cabbage slaw with lemon zest, tarragon, dill and sesame seeds
Plum, grappa and hazelnut trifle

18 February, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Bulgur and cauliflower tabouleh with red onion, pomegranate and sweet spices
Smoked aubergine salad with red onion, yellow pepper, tomato and cumin
Swiss chard cakes with Greek yoghurt
Purple sprouting broccoli with chilli, garlic and lemon
Busbusa: semolina, orange and coconut cake

24 March, with Sami Tamimi
Courgette fritters with Greek yoghurt and mint sauce
Char-grilled chicken, orange and herb salad
Roasted red and golden beetroot salad
French beans with tarragon, sesame and garlic
Baked rhubarb with meringue and yoghurt cream

21 April, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Padron pepper fritters
Chicken and courgette burgers with spring onion and yoghurt-dill sauce
Saffron couscous with chervil
Caramelised fennel with goat’s curd and fennel seeds
Baked pears in white wine and cardamom

12 May, with Sami Tamimi
Baked artichokes and broad beans
Pork belly and fresh fennel salad with sumac, lemon and mint
Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio and mixed herbs
Okra with tomato, preserved lemon and coriander
Limoncello and mascarpone trifle

16 June, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Roasted aubergine with preserved lemon and chilli yoghurt
Salmon steaks with chreime (North African sauce)
French bean salad with fennel, roast cherry tomato and basil oil
Bulgar and herb pilaf
Baked cherries with meringue and yoghurt cream

21 July, with Sami Tamimi
Padron pepper fritters
Butterbean mash with lemon juice, garlic, spring onion and sumac
Yoghurt flatbread
Roasted aubergine with a sharp salsa of walnut, pomegranate and coriander
Caramelised fennel with goat’s curd and fennel seeds
Fresh strawberries with orange blossom syrup and cream

A weekend at two harvest festivals, Alex James in Oxfordshire and Jimmys in Suffolk, was full of small exhilarating moments, some slightly nerve wrecking, others of great joy.

I travelled with Mark Hannell, ex-Ottolenghi currently-NOPI chef, with the unclear position of companion / assistant / sous / big spoon.

Our drive from London to Oxforshire on a serene Saturday morning was going so smoothly that we just had to manufacture some drama. Waiting for two and half minutes for the coveted blue wristbands (VIP!), allowing you to roam freely in the grounds, threw Mark into a fit of rage.

Here is Mark, livid at having to wait at the gates:

And then, finally, the desired bands:

Then, some real drama. We are sat sipping wine minutes before our demo on the big stage, with screens and other paraphernalia all around, when earlier demonstrator, Nuno Mendes of Viajnte, (pictured below with Gee, the back stage manager) blurts something about having to bring all his ingredients with him from London. A shiver down the spine, a violent bout of cold sweat, a tight knot in the stomach... Ingredients? What ingredients? And Mark and I are marching/running/sprinting towards the back stage, arriving breathless with pleading grins: Gee, Gee, Ingredients? Maybe?

“Oh, it’s all been sorted out hours ago, of course”, says the annoyingly chilled Gee. Pheeeww.....

The rest went smoothly and delightfully. I cooked couscous, a seafood stew and fennel with soft goat’s cheese (recipes below), the audience seemed happy, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall featured prominently, Richard Corrigan tried kicking me off the stage and Mark even got an autograph request (he’ll never hear the end of it from fellow NOPI-chefs)

Fat Freddys Drop were brilliant on stage and dinner at The Chefs Table with the festival team, Jay Rayner and Ravinder Bhogal was delicious, even if I was (arguably) responsible for some of the dishes.

The next morning we were at Jimmy’s where there was no drama, real or made-up, just a perfect peaceful festival atmosphere, mostly blue skies and a loving crowd. Couldn’t ask for more!

Green couscous (adapted from my book Plenty)

Serves six

100g fregola (giant couscous)
150g couscous
170ml boiling water or vegetable stock
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
50g shelled unsalted pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely sliced
1 fresh green chilli, finely sliced
80g rocket leaves
Salt
Herb paste
Grated zest of 2 lemons
30g parsley
20g coriander
3 tbsp chopped mint
2 tbsp chopped tarragon
2 tbsp chopped dill
120ml olive oil
½ teaspoon salt

Place the fregola in a pan of boiling salted water (1 tablespoon of salt per litre) and simmer for 18 minutes or until aldente (this may vary according to brand). Drain into a colander and run under plenty of cold water. Leave to dry completely.
Place the couscous in a large bowl, cover with the boiling water or stock and drizzle with half the olive oil. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 5–10 minutes. Use a fork to fluff up and then stir in the cooked fregola.
Meanwhile, fry the onion in the remaining olive oil on medium heat until golden and completely soft, 10-15 minutes. Add ½ a teaspoon of salt and the cumin and mix well. Leave to cool slightly.
Next, make the herb paste by placing all the ingredients in a food processor and blitzing until smooth. Add this to the couscous and fregola and mix everything together. Add the cooked onion, the pistachios, spring onions, green chilli and rocket and gently mix. Taste, add salt if needed and serve at room temperature.

Tiger prawns, scallops and clams with tomato and feta

Serves four

250ml white wine
1kg clams
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
600g peeled and chopped Italian plum tomatoes (fresh or tinned)
1 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1 lemon
200g tiger prawns, peeled and de-vained
200g large scallops, cleaned
120g feta, broken into chunks
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper

Place the wine in a medium saucepan and reduce to 1 quarter. Add the clams, cover immediately with a lid, and cook for about 2 minutes, shaking occasionally, until the clams open. Transfer to a fine sieve to drain, keeping the cooking juices. Remove the clams out of their shells, keeping just a few in the shells to finish the dish.
Set the oven to 220ºC.
Cook the garlic in the oil for about a minute, until golden. Carefully add the tomatoes, clam liquids, sugar, oregano and some salt and pepper. Shave off 3 lemon skin strips, add them and simmer gently until the sauce thickens well, about 20-25 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper accordingly.
Add the prawns and scallops, stir gently and cook for just a minute or two. Fold in the shelled clams and transfer everything to a small ovenproof dish. Sink feta pieces inside the sauce and sprinkle with spring onion. Top with some clams in their shells and place in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the top colours a little and prawns and scallops are just cooked.
Remove the dish from the oven, squeeze a little lemon juice on top and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Caramelised fennel with goat’s curd and fennel seeds (from my book Plenty)

Serves four

4 small fennel heads
40g unsalted butter
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 garlic clove, crushed
50g dill, roughly chopped
140g goat’s curd or a young and creamy goat’s cheese such as rosary
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Coarse sea salt and black pepper

Start by preparing the fennel bulbs. First take off the leafy fronds and keep them for garnish. Then slice off some of the root part and remove any tough or brown outer layers, making sure the base still holds everything together. Cut each bulb lengthways into 1-1½cm thick slices.
Melt half the butter and half the oil in a large frying pan placed over high heat. When they start to foam add one layer of sliced fennel. Do not overcrowd the pan and don’t turn the fennel over or stir it around in the pan until one side has become light golden, about 2 minutes. Turn the slices over, using kitchen tongs, and cook for a further minute or two. Remove from the pan. Continue with the rest of the fennel using up the remaining butter and oil. Once the entire fennel has been seared, add sugar, fennel seeds and plenty of salt and pepper to the pan. Fry for 30 seconds and then stir the fennel slices back into the pan, caramelising them gently for 1-2 minutes (they need to remain hard inside so just allow them to coat in the melting sugar and seeds). Remove the fennel from the pan and leave to cool down on a plate.
To serve, toss the fennel in a bowl along with the garlic and dill. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Arrange on a serving plate, dotting with spoonfuls of goat’s curd. Finish with a drizzle of oil, scatter with lemon zest and garnish with the fennel fronds. Serve at room temperature.

After seven years of hectic operation, we are about to give the Islington restaurant a serious and well-needed facelift.
For this we will need to close the restaurant for nine days – from Tuesday, 30th of August, to Wednesday, 7th of September. We will re-open, all white and gleaming, on Thursday, 8th of September.
We hope that you will bear with us and come back to enjoy all the usual Ottolenghi delights soon after.
Thanks for your understanding!

Now it’s LA and what a change from modest San Francisco! It’s sunny, it’s flat and it’s massive. Joans on Third is the first stop and Joan gives me a reception of a lifetime, with enough food, actually, to last at least a lifetime or two. And if that isn’t enough, she brings some more goodie bags to dinner later on, just in case I am still hungry. Joan’s popular cafe/deli is a bit of a stars’ Mecca. But it is also pretty good! Joan’s pickles and short rib sandwich are heartachingly good.

Here’s Joan, on the right, with Lucy Lean, author, blogger, expert of all LA and food related topics and the worthy organiser of most of my LA engagements.

Dinner is at Animal, where chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo do the honourable thing and turn their meaty joint (think St John’s, but grungier) into a righteous vegetarian temple. They do it with style and grace and with no complaints. The dishes – perfectly executed – are all from Plenty and I have to pay the price and individually personalise 150 copies. Ouch!

On the last day in LA I get to meet Jeff Cerciello at his Farmshop in Santa Monica and sample some of his delectable breakfast dishes. How can you feel so full at 11am, I ask myself.

Dinner is another Plenty event, this time at Soho House. With the help of Nikki and Max (actually, those two lovely people do everything, I just window dress), we serve 60 diners butternut, fennel and other veggies. But what I get most excited about is the design and layout of this member’s club, occupying the 2 top floors of 14 storey building on Sunset Blvd. Surreptitiously (photography isn’t allowed), I manage to take some pictures of the space and views. As Americans say, it’s awesome.

My last day in San Francisco I spend with Heidi Swanson, a venerated cookbook author and one of the first and most popular food bloggers. She’s also generous, kind, knowledgeable and a total pleasure to be with.

Together we visit Big Daddys Antiques and then Rainbow Foods, a quirky food co-op that couldn’t possibly exist anywhere but in California, with 6 types of organic peanut butter sold from barrels, hundreds of grains in jars and about a hectare worth of weird vitamins.

Lastly, Heidi and her partner Wayne treat me to a delicious goodbye from America at NOPA, the chefs’ hangout and centre of pure comfort. I think I’ll be back.

Breakfast on day two was a morning bun at the legendary Tartine bakery in San Francisco’s Mission. It is out of my scope to describe the deliciousness of the morning pastries at Tartine. The infamous queue – always there, all times of the day – speaks for itself. It’s worth it though. Everything, absolutely everything, is wonderfully buttery and sweet and soothing.

I also happened to stumble across so some wonderful graffiti on Clarion, a few blocks away from Tartine.

Having used the term legendary once here, how can I describe the next stop at Berkley’s Chez Panisse? I guess that in the case of Alice Waters, whom I have had the honour to meet briefly, no fancy adjectives are really needed. The visit was inspiring on all fronts, including a brief meeting with another hero, David Tanis.

My lunch at the cafe with the team from Chronicle was just fantastic. As expected, the ingredients did most of the talking. We had, among other things, pizza with figs, pancetta and rocket, a Tunisian spicy chickpea soup, a superb fattoush and chicken with plum sauce and fried whole spring onions. The best thing, though, was bowl of Santa Rosa plums. I have never tasted such plums before.

Later I was taken to Chez Panisse’s Edible Schoolyard, an organic garden and kitchen where young students from the local school learn how to grow fruit and veg, how to cook and how to engage with the world and with each other with food at the centre.

The whole day seemed so be about abundance and generosity. After Chez Panisse David from Cronichle took me to Berkeley Bowl West supermarket, probably the place with largest variety of carrots and radishes on the planet. I was beet-red with envy for the quantity and choice. Yes, I know, we are fortunate enough in England to have great local and European produce all year round but this is something else.

To top it all the day ended with the warmest and most welcoming dinner at Camino in Oakland, where Russ and Allison hosted a Plenty inspired dinner for 120 guests that were spoilt rotten by their hearty food and hospitality. The place looked stunning, the food astounding and I believe I was slightly intoxicated by all the love.

I am in the west coast of the US promoting Plenty, with a very (!) full schedule kindly provided by the adorable people at Chronicle, my American publisher. Cramming in one short day enough eating to last anyone else half a lifetime is my form of art. And so far, I have kept my standards pretty high.

Upon landing, literally, I was taken by childhood friend Yoni to Mission Chinese Food, a kind of grubby pop-up restaurant that has seemed to have turned permanent with a cult following of immense magnitude. By 7pm there were at least 20 people queuing outside, and more to arrive shortly. They don’t take bookings so queuing is the only way. And it is well worth it.

Despite the too-cool-for-school style of chefs, servers and many diners, the food is dead serious. Our most loved were the pork belly with soy cured eggs and cucumber, the tea-smoked eel rolls with pulled ham hock and the lamb and fresh noodle soup in a tingly broth. The flavours are massive (!) and that’s a lot, coming for me, but almost always perfectly-balanced. I would have tried everything on the menu, if I only could, but, alas, stomach capacity and jet-lag were creeping up on me, slowly but very surely.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was my first day of proper working (well, at least I call it work). Interview at Il Cane Rosso in the ferry building was over an egg sandwich, but not any old egg sandwich. I am talking a sumptuous take on the theme with a warm salad made with anchovy butter and capers, served on a very crunchy bread slice.

Next was a selection of macaroons from [link https://www.miette.com/ Miette], also in the ferry building. These were not the fancy French style of Pierre Herme and Laduree, but more naturally looking and tasting. The hazelnut and chocolate won a resounding yes.

Dinner was hosted by the charming Elan and Brett Emerson at their Contigo restaurant, a mega-popular place that is talked about all over town for its perfectly executed Barcelona inspired tapas. Elan and Brett were too good natured to stand up to the relentless pressures from Celia Sack of Omnivore Books, the most charming book shop I have ever seen, who took it upon herself to force me on all the best restaurants in town. So they hosted a most delicious meal inspired by Plenty. Such an honour!

Thank you Celia, Thank you Brett, Thank you Elan - And what a night!

Here’s just a few of the highlights:

Wood oven roasted Monterey sardine and avocado toast with pickled onion and smoked salt

Smashed corn on sourdough toast with La Quercia speck, Idiazbal cheese and peimentos de padron

Local king salmon baked on a fig leaf with summer beans, samphire, mustard seeds, tarragon and allioli

Must I continue?

Mike Britten, manager and most familiar face of Ottolenghi, Belgravia, is back from Italy with a very visual travel log:

Another year, another trip to my wonderful friends Neil and Richie and their home in the hills of the Piemonte region of Italy, an area abundant in naturally grown produce that is converted into some of the best quality cheeses, wines, salamis and meats I have tasted.

This trip was full of (mainly) foodie excitements:

A ten course fish supper at the Sardinian owned Trattoria Fabiana perched on the edge of a beautiful valley.

The wafer thin shaved octopus, sea bass fillet on crushed peas with hazelnut sauce and an octopus lollipop croquette were particular highlights of this girth expanding supper.

A trip to the beautiful and historic Turin.

A very tiny cheese and wine festival in Murrazzano, where we met an organic farmer who invited us to his kitchen canteen and farm for supper (more of this later).

The obligatory trip to Alba for Prosecco in the central Piazza, followed by a drive through the wine lands of Barolo and a little stop off in this medieval town perched on top of a hill. Sadly, being in Italy and it being a Monday everything was closed (Next time – wine tasting doesn’t escape me that easily!)

Finally, back to our organic farm invite. At the end of a tiny gravel lane, down a valley we find, Finnochiona Verde Farm. Literally translated as - Green Fennel Farm, locally known as The Green Gay!

Amusing but lost in translation. The beautiful food made and served here using mainly produce from this farm, worked much better than the local humour.

After watching the livestock milking, we ate peppery salami, extremely ‘hoofy’ goat’s and sheep’s cheese, super-fresh raw broad beans, excellently flavoured carne cruda (something I can never normally get my head around) followed by simple pasta and a rabbit stew.

The piece de resistance however, was the wild strawberry, Moscato and mint jelly dessert. Quite simply - stunning! The wild strawberries are everywhere across the valleys at this time of year.

The Finnochiona Verde is affiliated with W.O.O.F, an organisation that allows volunteers from all over the world to come along and learn about organic farming. No better way to get your hands dirty.

Next up for me: Biennial Bra International Cheese Festival in September - another reason, should one be needed to take a trip to Piemonte.

Plenty is now published in Germany, Holland and the US and I just got back from a speedy promotional tour in Amsterdam and New York.

In the Dutch capital I was fortunate enough to be coupled with the much-admired (by me and everyone else) Claudia Roden who's Book of Jewish Food just got a brand new Dutch edition. We gave a cookery demonstration and a talk at the Uilenburger synagogue and then had dinner at Toscanini, my favourite Amsterdam restaurant ever since I lived there in the mid 90’s. From all the marvellous dishes the lamb’s tongue with quail egg was the one I can’t let go of.

The next day Claudia and I signed books. I had to get out quickly, though, to have the famous herring sandwich sold in small stands along the canals. This was an everyday affair for me in the old days and it was (almost) as heavenly as I had remembered.

A man on a mission, I also had to taste the famous Dutch prawn croquettes from Holtkamp, probably the best bakery in Amsterdam. I was so determined to have them I got the book shop owner to call Holtkamp and reserve some for me. What can I say? I am obsessive. I got there, breathless, at 5-to-closing-time and received a perfectly packed bag with two boxes full of croquettes. As I was leaving the sales’ assistant, clearing down, just reminded me to “defrost them for five hours before you fry them”. My heart sank with agony: how, where and when. Reluctantly, very (!), I had to give the treasure to my Michael and Peter, living in Amsterdam, who sent me this the next morning:

Well, I was on my way to New York, which was some kind of consolation, but the pent-up frustration (plane food was bad, really bad) made me grab Noga, one of my oldest friends, as soon as I arrived and take her to momofuku ssam bar and milk bar next door for David Chang’s famous pork buns and cornflakes milk. Only after wiping my mouth with glee I was truly over the croquette trauma.

The next day I was on the Martha Stewart show cooking garlic tart and couscous live, in front of an audience. I was terrified to start with but the combination of American professionalism (nothing is left to chance, though I did manage to forget the onion in the couscous), Martha’s composure and having Noga and Tamar there turned this into some kind of fun/funny reunion.

Next on the agenda for the day was a book signing at
Williams Sonoma and terrific sushi at Takahachi in the East Village with Jeffrey and Thomas. Sake hangover the following morning felt like some kind of punishment, not sure what for. Perhaps greed?

On Tuesday I cooked aubergine at Bon Appetit and made sure my American publisher didn’t feel they brought me out here for nothing but the absolute highlight was dinner at Torrisi (Food? again?) with warm home-made mozzarella and a pork salad with radicchio and a few mysterious ingredients. My friend Keren was half asleep, I was full and also completely exhausted, but we were both grinning with silly joy when leaving the restaurant.

Just before flying back, I managed to squeeze in vegetable shopping at Union square market, followed by a couple of hours with NY Times journalist cooking Swiss chard cakes at her funky Brooklyn apartment before heading back to a very sunny London.

Our shiny new restaurant, NOPI, is now in full operation. It’s not an Ottolenghi but it is beautiful, delicious and proves very popular already. You can book a table, upstairs or downstairs, read our blog or just enjoy the pictures...

Photographs by Keiko Oikawa

We are delighted to announce our next set of classes at Leiths, starting September 2011.

As advertised earlier, there will be a short window of opportunities to sign in to the classes, due to their great popularity. Leiths' booking line (020 87496400) will be open on the 8th March only, from 9am onwards, until places run out. We advice you to be persistent and keep on trying even if the line is busy. Once connected, you'll be able to book a class for up to 2 people.

We hope you all have success in booking and looking forward to teaching you soon!

September 10th, with Sami Tamimi
Sweet potato patties with cumin and coriander
Turkish beef and leek meatballs
Basmati and wild rice with chickpeas, currants and herbs
Roasted beetroot and plum salad
Fresh berries with orange blossom syrup and cream

October 15th, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Warm haloumi and chicory with pomegranate and walnut
Aubergine with herbs
Baked okra with tomato and preserved lemon
Quinoa and fennel salad
Poached quince with star anise, blackberries and vanilla ice-cream

November 19th, with Sami Tamimi
Padron pepper fritters
Braised lamb meatballs with yoghurt and herbs
Saffron couscous with butter and chervil
Green bean salad with mustard seeds and tarragon
Fig and grappa trifle

December 10th, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Char-grilled squash with labneh and pickled walnut salsa
Whole quail stuffed with pork, pine nuts and herbs, braised in tamarind
Freekeh pilaf
Mixed herb salad with lemon and honey dressing
Baked pears in white wine and cardamom, served with crème fraiche

Noam, Garry, Karl and Yotam - just got back from a short break in Thailand, where food (surprise, surprise) was the star.

It's all over now. Orders are out, kitchens are clean, tired chefs and shop assistants are on their way home, and we all get a few days to rest. Thank you - to ALL Ottolenghi staff - for a smooth and fun Christmas!

Please please excuse what may seem like a shameless, brazen and cynical promotional attempt, which we normally don’t do, but there is just so much at the moment that we just can’t wait for everybody to slowly find out.

First, we have our holiday menus, where we offer you the opportunity to work a little less at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Basically, you can order from Ottolenghi any part of your holiday meal – starters, mains, sides, nibbles, sweets, condiments – or the complete, whole meal . We supply everything packed with clear heating and serving instructions.

Then, there’s a range of Iranian products that, as far as we know, we are the only ones in London to sell. They are quite magical.

Pashmak (Persian Fairy Floss), nougat and toffee brittle, are all made in Iran. Pashmak is the original type of candy floss / cotton candy, just like the ones kids get in fairs but of top quality. The version we have is hand-spun, and made from sesame and sugar. In this way, it has much more flavour and looks incredible. Although a little expensive, a little goes a long way. Pashmak is served on its own or as an accompaniment to fruits, cakes, ice creams, puddings and desserts, or just as a sweetmeat with coffee.

The Nougat is made with manna, (yes, manna from heaven!), a natural sweetner which imparts a distinct sweetness without being cloying.

Perbellini Artisan Panettone, Pandoro di Verona Perbellini, Fior d'Albicocca perbellini. This is a range of enriched seasonal sweet breads made in traditional methods and in small batches near Verona. Both flavour and packaging are ultimate examples of Italian elegant restraint.

Then there are Ottolenghi Christmas cakes, covered in marzipan, with fruit that has been macerating in rum and brandy since the summer.

There’s actually much more, but for that you’ll need to come to us... Happy Holidays!

So much was cramped into the three days of the World Chef Showcase, part of The Sydney International Food Festival, that I am not sure what happened when anymore. And the jet-lag isn’t helping much either.

I can tell you that Sydney’s skies were more than welcoming on my second visit to this charismatic city in less than eight months.

My assistant (and much more than that), Ling, and I spent our first two days pigging out on food without stopping. Dinner at Marque was unique, with beetroot and foie gras macaroon being the absolute highlight. Even better was lunch with Brad, Ex-Ottolenghi Islington, at Bodega tapas bar where sashimi Kingfish on toast with cuttlefish ceviche was king. The brawn (jellied pig’s head) was a good contender to the throne.

Pastries were astounding, as usual, at Bourke Street Bakery and The Book Kitchen next door.

On Friday all the big name chefs arrived and we were panicking a bit. We had to do all our prep in various kitchens and then trolley it all through the long corridors and massive lifts of the Star City casino complex, which is, literally, the size of a medium city. But the team, headed by Andrew North, was as helpful as can be, considering a massive group of big-egoed chefs were monopolizing their kitchens and staff, and all (almost... wait for labneh) went smoothly.

On Saturday morning I could even have a quick peek at what others were doing, before getting on with our show, which was, so I’m told, a success. Phew... I demonstrated a baked red mullet, wrapped in Swiss chard, with chreime sauce, braised eggs with lamb, tahini and sumac, and quinoa salad with dried Iranian lime and labneh. A little drama of the yoghurt not draining quick enough to form a lebneh was averted by substituting with feta. Did it work? I did see some happy faces around.

The line-up of chefs over the next couple of days was completely inspiring, but more so were the dishes they came up with. There isn’t enough space here to describe a fraction of all the stupendous things. The images tell half of it (Thanks to Crave Sydney International Food Festival and photographer Belinda Rolland):

Very reluctantly and completely sleep deprived, Ling and I dragged our sorry little faces to breakfast on Harbour Bridge at 6am (!!) on Sunday morning. Despite the rain and the funny anoraks, it was well worth the agony. The site of this awesome construction lined with real grass and strewn with 6000 people all having their breakfast together was fantastic. Only in Australia!

After a quick Q&A session with Joanna Savill, the energetic and completely charming organizer of the festival (oh, and Melly brought me this mind-blowing watermelon and strawberry cake with roses and pistachios from Black Star Pastry), I rushed off to the Ivy complex, where Ling and I, along with a bunch of imaginative, mostly Lebanese and Turkish chefs, prepared (sort of, David O’Brien’s team at the Ivy was more than instrumental) a gala dinner for 200 guests. It was a sweet night, in many ways.

After all the madness of the weekend all we wanted to do is take it easy. And easy we did. Lunch at cafe Sopra at Fratelli Fresh in Waterloo, walk in the botanical garden, Bondi beach, the fish markets and that’s it.

Back home now. Sydney’s a sweet, quickly-blurring memory and so much to do...

ALL CLASSES ARE NOW FULL. PLEASE DON'T CALL

We are happy to announce our next set of classes at Leiths, starting January 2011, with the new booking system in place.

As advertised earlier, there will be a short window of opportunities to sign in to the classes, due to their great popularity. Leiths' booking line (020 87496400) will be open for 2 days only, on the 20th and 21st of October, 9am to 4pm. We advice you to be persistent and keep on trying even if the line is busy. Once connected, you'll be able to book a class for up to 2 people.

Good luck and looking forward to seeing you next year!

15 January, with Sami Tamimi
Purple sprouting broccoli with chilli, garlic and feta
Root mash with wine braised shallots
Lamb and feta kebabs
Kohlrabi and white cabbage slaw with lemon zest, tarragon, dill and sesame seeds
Plum, grappa and hazelnut trifle

12 February, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Bulgur and cauliflower tabouleh with red onion, pomegranate and sweet spices
Smoked aubergine salad with red onion, yellow pepper, tomato and cumin
Swiss chard cakes with Greek yoghurt
Purple sprouting broccoli with chilli, garlic and lemon
Busbusa: semolina, orange and coconut cake

19 March, with Sami Tamimi
Courgette fritters with Greek yoghurt and mint sauce
Char-grilled chicken, orange and herb salad
Roast beetroot and red onion salad
French beans with tarragon, sesame and garlic
Baked rhubarb with meringue and yoghurt cream

9 April, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Sweet potato patties with cumin and coriander
Pork belly and fresh fennel salad with sumac, lemon and mint
Saffron couscous with chervil
Caramelised fennel with goat’s curd and fennel seeds
Baked pears in white wine and cardamom

14 May, with Sami Tamimi
Baked artichokes and broad beans
Chicken and courgette burgers with spring onion and yoghurt-dill sauce
Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio and mixed herbs
Okra with tomato, preserved lemon and coriander
Limoncello and mascarpone trifle

11 June, with Yotam Ottolenghi
Roasted aubergine with preserved lemon and chilli yoghurt
Halibut in Chreime (North African sauce)
French bean salad with fennel, roast cherry tomato and basil oil
Bulgar and herb pilaf
Baked cherries with meringue and yoghurt cream

9 July, with Sami Tamimi
Sweet potato patties with cumin and coriander
Butterbean mash with lemon juice, garlic, spring onion and sumac
Yoghurt flatbread
Roasted aubergine with a sharp salsa of walnut, pomegranate and coriander
Caramelised fennel with goat’s curd and fennel seeds
Fresh strawberries with orange blossom syrup and cream

It was one of the most productive chef meetings we’ve had so far. Almost everybody was there, bar Adriano, Garry and Francis (we sort of excuse them), and the ideas were both original and delicious. It was short as well.

Myles’ beetroot mash with ginger puree and duka was immediately popular. Sami stunned us all with some amazingly looking and tasting fairs using Odyssey’s giant butterbeans: No. 1 with burnt aubergine, pomegranate and mint (so Ottolenghi); No. 2 with avocado and chilli (so Mexico); no. 1 won by a small margin. Becky’s puy lentils with Jerusalem artichoke and truffle oil were a clear hit, beating Yotam’s lentils with roasted peppers and manuka honey. 1-0.

Then there was Mark’s aubergine with cinnamon, chilli and maple, served with pecorino, which was a real surprise (who would have thought? Not about Mark, about the cinnamom) and a great hit. Ling’s take on Waldorf, but Ottolenghi-fied, was spot one: celeriac, green apple, quinoa, red onion and poppy seeds with pickled chilli and a sharp dressing. Raphael brought couscous and freekeh salad with dried tomato and grilled courgettes. Also a triumph.

Expect all these wonders on the coming menu, starting next week. Oh, and almost forgot, welcome back Scully!

It’s been way too long in the pipeline. Finding the right space wasn’t easy, particularly with our constantly adjusting demands. But at the end we managed to find a site for a new restaurant. And what a site it is!

The old home to the mythical Sugar Club (run by our friend, the chef Peter Gordon) with the ideal location on Warwick Street on the edge of Soho, around the corner from Regent Street and the beautiful Golden Square, we couldn’t have asked for more. The elegant proportions of the interior are as charming as can be.

But to all you great Ottolenghi fans, we must set the record straight and clarify right away that this is not another Ottolenghi. It won’t even be called Ottolenghi. It won’t be selling food or pastries to go or have the casual communal dining. This will be a straightforward restaurant and we will do all it takes to turn it into a great restaurant.

If you want to know more, follow our provisional blog documenting the setting up of our new venture. And please, wish us luck.

I didn’t really want it to end. But all sweet things must, eventually, come to an end and so I had to say a sad goodbye to my charming group of students at the Arvon foundation in Totleigh Barton, Devon, and to the centre’s inspiring managers Claire and Olly. Oh, and also to Mr Doggles, a dog who’s much more than just a dog.

I spent a week at Totleigh giving a course in creative writing, alongside Peter Gordon.

Both Peter and I, we later sheepishly admitted to each other, arrived at the centre with serious trepidations. We hadn’t a clue how to teach food writing, or, for that matter, any other form of creative writing. I guess we both secretly trusted the other to get out of this one safely.

As a matter of fact, it wasn’t half as trying as we had imagined. Claire and Olly put us at ease in seconds, with their calm and naturally reassuring demeanours. The beauty of the place and its long and solid literary history also managed to calm our nerves. And Mr. Doggles, of course, with his canine lovability and persistent barking fevers.

But it was only after the first encounter with our students - all so obviously different from each other and having a vast variety of culinary and literary agendas, yet with tons of humour and big personalities – that we realised that all is safe.

The rest was pure fun: from the chicken auction in Hatherleigh to the eventful readings in the barn, from the one-on-one tutorials, where some brutal honesty was often called for, to writing restaurant reviews, from group cooking in the afternoons, where the standard continuously deteriorated, to fumed roars of laughter around the massive dinner table dissecting the organ of one infamous TV chef.

I guess that in the end it worked out so well because our week was about so much more than just creative writing. It was about self expression, changing direction and exposure; it was about courage to embellish, uncovering a voice and leaving safe grounds; and it was about simple human (and dog) interaction.

Due to the phenomenal response to the Saturday classes we run together with Leiths School for Food and Wine, we had to come up with a new booking system with greater clarity and, hopefully, eliminating the frustration of the long waiting list.

Basically, a new list of courses will be advertised every six months. After several weeks, Leiths will open their phones for bookings over two clearly designated days. Those who don’t manage to secure a place in those two days will, unfortunately, have to wait for the next time. To start with, Leiths will restrict booking to one course per person calling.

This may seem a bit harsh but we believe this is the most effective and fairest way to ease the disappointment created by the existing system, where courses are booked out as soon as they are advertised and before many can’t even get a chance to check whether they are available or not.

Here is the system in detail:
• Leiths’ website and the Ottolenghi site will make it clear when the next menus and dates are going to be displayed.
• The new menus will be displayed for several weeks before booking starts.
• The website will give two dedicated booking dates for the next series of classes.
• You will need to make bookings by telephone to Leiths School of Food and Wine on 02087496400 between 9.00am and 4.00pm on those dates.
• You may book for yourself and one friend if you wish.
• When the places are all full, Leiths will then take a waiting list of 15 people.
• Gift vouchers for Ottolenghi courses will only be available during the 2 days of bookings.

The next Ottolenghi menus and dates will be on the Leiths website and Ottolenghi website from 20th of September 2010.

You will be able to book onto these courses if you call Leiths on 02087496400 on the 20th and 21st of October, 9am – 4pm, or until places run out.

Thank you so much for supporting Ottolenghi classes at Leiths and we are sorry such a formal arrangement has been necessary, but we hope you understand and find it easier to use.

After almost 8 years of mango and passion, blueberry crumble and carrot and apple - we are about to change our muffins. It may not sound like anything to some but for us, in our little geeky cake world, this is as momentous as any of the big revolutions in human history.

But please bear with us while we experiment a little longer and come up with suitable substitutes for those old giants... and it is probably evident from the picture that we are not taking this lightly.

Apart from long walks (some sunny, some rainy), a spectacular Sunday Roast at The Potting Shed Pub in Wiltshire and lazy evenings by the fire in a charming Landmark Trust house near Tetbury, we managed to fit in a masterclass and sign many, many books.

...and to all of you (and others) who were brave enough to come and see us cooking scallops at 9am on a Bank Holiday weekend, here are the recipes (all serving 4):

Tiger prawns, scallops and clams with tomato and feta

250ml white wine
1kg clams
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
600g tinned Italian plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1 lemon
200g tiger prawns, peeled and de-vained
200g large scallops, cleaned
120g feta, broken into chunks
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper

Place the wine in a medium saucepan and reduce to 1 quarter. Add the clams, cover immediately with a lid, and cook for about 2 minutes, shaking occasionally, until the clams open. Transfer to a fine sieve to drain, keeping the cooking juices. Remove the clams out of their shells, keeping just a few in the shells to finish the dish.
Set the oven to 220ºC.
Cook the garlic in the oil for about a minute, until golden. Carefully add the tomatoes, clam liquids, sugar, oregano and some salt and pepper. Shave off 3 lemon skin strips, add them and simmer gently until the sauce thickens well, about 20-25 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper accordingly.
Add the prawns and scallops, stir gently and cook for just a minute or two. Fold in the shelled clams and transfer everything to an ovenproof dish. Sink feta pieces inside the sauce and sprinkle with spring onion. Top with some clams in their shells and place in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the top colours a little and prawns and scallops are just cooked.
Remove the dish from the oven, squeeze a little lemon juice on top and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Yoghurt flatbread

140g wholemeal flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
140g Greek yoghurt
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
4 tbsp clarified butter (or a mixture of melted butter and vegetable oil)

Combine all the ingredients, apart from the butter, in a bowl and use your hands to mix them together to a dry dough; add more flour if needed. Knead the dough for a minute or so, until it is smooth and uniform. Wrap it in cling film and chill for at least an hour.
When ready to make the flatbreads, divide your dough into six pieces. Roll into balls, then flatten them with a rolling pin into round discs about 2mm thick. Heat some clarified butter in a non-stick pan and fry the flatbreads, one at a time, on a medium heat for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Add more butter as you need it and keep the flatbreads warm as they are cooked.

Burnt aubergine with tahini and pomegranate

2 large aubergines
140g tahini paste
120ml water
1½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, crushed
30g chopped parsley
6 mini cucumbers (360g in total)
180g cherry tomatoes
Seeds from 1 large pomegranate (180g)
Olive oil to finish
Salt and black pepper

To cook the aubergines on a gas hob, which is the most effective way, start by lining the area around the hob heads with foil to protect them. Put the aubergines directly on two moderate flames and roast for 12–15 minutes, turning frequently with metal tongs, until the flesh is soft and smoky and the skin is burnt all over. Keep an eye on them the whole time so they don’t catch fire. For an electric cooker, pierce the aubergines with a sharp knife in a few places. Put them on a foil-lined tray and place directly under a hot grill for 1 hour, turning them a few times. The aubergines need to deflate completely and their skin should burn and break.
When cool enough to handle scoop out the flesh into a colander, avoiding the blackened skin. Leave to drain for at least 30 minutes.
Chop the aubergine flesh roughly and transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Add the tahini, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and some salt and pepper; mix well with a whisk. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more garlic, lemon juice or molasses if needed. You want the salad to have a robust sour/slightly sweet flavour.
Cut the cucumbers lengthways in half and then each half lengthways in two. Cut each quarter into 1cm long pieces. Halve the tomatoes. Stir them and the cucumber into the aubergine mix.
To serve, spread over a shallow dish, scatter the pomegranate seeds on top and drizzle with oil.

Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio and mixed herbs

35g unsalted butter
350g basmati rice
550ml boiling water
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp saffron threads
40g dry barberries
2 tsp caster sugar
30g chopped dill
20g chopped chervil
10g chopped tarragon
60g slivered pistachios, lightly toasted

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the rice, making sure the grains are well coated in butter. Add the boiling water, salt and white pepper, mix well, cover with a tight lid and leave to cook on minimum heat for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, soak the saffron in 3 tablespoons of boiling water and set aside. Throw the barberries and sugar into a small saucepan of boiling water, remove from the heat and leave on the side.
Next, remove the rice pan from the heat and pour the saffron water over the surface of the rice. Cover the pan immediately with a tea towel and place the lid tightly over the towel. Leave for 5 minutes.
Finally, transfer the rice into a mixing bowl, fluff it up with a fork and let it cool down a bit. Drain the barberries and stir them into the rice along with the herbs and most of the pistachios, reserving some to scatter on top when serving. The rice is delicious warm or at room temperature.

It is not too late to come and watch Yotam and Sami at the Hay Festival this bank holiday weekend. Tickets are available online. On the program: Tiger prawns, scallops and clams with tomato and feta, Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio and mixed herbs and more! Entertainment guaranteed.

The most beautiful place for a cookery demonstration? I think I was there on Wednesday.

Sarah Ravens garden is truly outstanding and a perfect venue for a bunch of colourful old Ottolenghi recipes, plus a some new ones from Plenty: Gruyere and rosemary cake, Watercress and chickpea soup, Beetroot with preserved lemon relish and more.

I am there again on June 8th! Call to see if they have any places left: 0845 092 0283. I don't think they do, though. Sorry.

We've been spending the last couple of weeks re-writing and re-trying our canape menu. The new menu is full of our latest creative ideas. We are now fully ready for all manner of spring garden parties, cocktail events, fancy gatherings, or whatever comes to mind.

Cheers!

Hurrah! We are in the Good Food Producers Guide 2010.

This is a fully independent guide, written by the award-winning Daily Telegraph food writer Rose Prince, listing the best places to buy food in the United Kingdom, ranging from farm shops to delis, food markets to specialist producers.

You can order your copy here.

After an emotional goodbye to Maria and Tanah, we started heading south, through the centre of the north island. The breathtaking landscape made up for bits of culinary desolation, where small towns have little to offer, apart from an always descent flat white and a range of savoury pies, the Kiwi equivalent of the British sandwich.

We visited the area of Rotorua, a unique centre of geothermal activity where boiling geysers erupt through mud and streams of steamy water flow through newly created volcanic valleys. The active volcano Ruapehu was reluctant to show its snowy peak to us until the last minute, when the clouds lifted to reveal its full glory.

Closer to Wellington, in little Greytown, was the culinary highlight of our road trip from Auckland. It was our breakfast at the French Baker, where we had exquisite croissants and the most delicious Parkvale mushrooms on toasted sourdough. This was pure perfection, created by the admirable Moise Cerson, a French chef who had married a Kiwi girl and set up a wonderful bakery of top standards and a cosy and generous atmosphere.

In Wellington we met Hilary, ex-manager of Ottolenghi Notting Hill, a good friend and a true Wellingtonian (with all the local know-how). Hilary took us to lunch at the famous restaurant Logan Brown, where we had paua (local abalone) ravioli with lemon and coriander. It was superb.

In the evening we went to Zibbibo where Anthony Shone, Hilary's boyfriend and head chef, spoilt us with some of his creations. Ortiz anchovy salad with caviar, orange, fennel and radish sticks to mind.

Our one day in the windy Kiwi capital was... how to put it?... filling.

We next headed to Whangarei Heads, a stunning area on the eastern coast of the northern island, about 2 hours drive from Auckland, where our friend, Maria Dallow, has a beautifully charming beach house.

Our weekend at Maria's "bach" was a total heaven. We went swimming in the stunningly clear sea, trying to catch the shoals of dolphins that make regular appearances, alas, without much success, despite Maria's Maori dolphin call.

It was also a culinary wet dream thanks to Maria's friend, Tanah Jane Dowdle, an expert in anything food and wine related, and to the constant flow of seafood supplied by Maria's generous neighbours.

From the freshest kingfish imaginable (see picture), Tanah prepared Ike Mata, a kind of ceviche originating from the Cook Islands and consisting of whatever was left of the fish that we didn't eat while Peter was filleting it, coconut milk, lime and chilli. Superb!

We were also thoroughly introduced to the local clam, Pipi, that we picked ourselves from the water bed during low tide, shucked and then ate as the most sensational spaghetti vongole Tanah made using kamut pasta.

The seafood extravaganza, always accompanied by the finest New Zealand wine or Tanah's cocktail of choice, just didn't want to end. The highly popular Kiwi delicacy of whitebait fritter was probably the pinnacle. (By the way, New Zealand whitebait is a completely different kettle of fish, excuse the pun, from what we have in the UK and absolutely fantastic!)

Haven't been blogging for a while due to a long anticipated trip to New Zealand and Australia, where food, naturally, was very much the focus.

We started off in Auckland, where my friend, Peter Gordon, has Dine, an elegant restaurant serving his signature fusion food with much flare.

Peter's friends and colleagues made us feel at home in seconds after a attending a proper Kiwi barbecue, with the moistest grilled lamb, a huge selection of fantastic local wines and, finally, an alcohol ignited burst of Maori/Kiwi sing-along.

I would have stayed longer in Auckland if there wasn't so much more we wanted to see. Before leaving, though, we had the most gorgeous breakfast at Dizengoff, with the perfect flat white and poached egg.

In May 2010 Yotam Ottolenghi published his much anticipated Plenty, a collection of recipes many of which appeared in different forms in his New Vegetarian column in the Guardian's Weekend magazine, plus plenty of new vegetarian dishes.

All the recipes are true to the Ottolenghi form: vibrant, daring and highly original, with fantastic new photography by Jonathan Lovekin. Signed copies are sold at all of our branches.

Alongside the seriously genius Peter Gordon, I will be tutoring in a summer course focused on food themed writing.

The course will be run by the Arvon Foundation, which offers a huge variety of courses in creative writing set in the most inspiring rural or historic locations.

The week long course, starting July 12th, will be held at Totleigh Barton in Devon. It will explore many types of food writing genres and include various assignments, including some hands-on cooking. Some serious inspiration guaranteed!

but consider coming with your loved one for an unusual dinner at our communal table in Islington and feast on oysters, pomegranate seeds, calamari and courgette flowers. Check out the lovable menu.

This year I will be giving two cookery demonstrations at Sarah Raven's kitchen and garden at her Perch Hill farm in Sussex.

The gardens themselves and Sarah's inspirational project – which includes everything, really, from selling seeds to teaching gardening to writing cookbooks to teaching cookery and floristry... and so much more – are good enough reasons to come to Perch Hill. I will be demonstrating a few typical and seasonal Ottolenghi dishes, to be followed by a lavish lunch in the most beautiful setting imaginable.

The first date, April 21st, is already full I am afraid, but there are still some places available on June 8th. You can contact Perch Hill on 0845 092 0283 or book online.

Sarah herself will be giving courses on growing vegetables and flowers at the LSE, London, on the 22nd and 23rd of April. You can (and should!) book online now.

Yotam

We are very happy to announce a one-off whole day cookery demonstration we will be giving in July at the famous Irish cookery school in Ballymaloe, County Cork, run by Darina Allen. The place is a centre of culinary excellence and the most beautiful site.

So, for all you Londoners who have been complaining that it's absolutely impossible to get places at Leiths or Divertimenti, here's your one chance to show some real dedication... We'd love to see you there.

Sami and Yotam

Our Christmas was cold yet fun. We managed to get all the orders out on time on Christmas eve, with (hopefully) many happy customers.

Thank you to all the staff. They wroked extremly hard, even if it doesn't show in the pictures.

Happy new year!

I just got back from a short visit to Jerusalem, where I had probably the best kebabs ever. It was at Shahin, a tiny hole-in-the wall in the old city where my family used to eat when I was a child. All they serve are kebabs and an incredible hummous.

You go down David st., which is the main market street running from Jaffa Gate and into the centre of the old city. After about 300m on your left is the butcher's alley, and right there, just after the corner is Shahin, best kebeb place in Jerusalem and probably in the word.

P.S. The picture is from the old city but unrelated.

Despite the increase in the number of classes we offer, all our Saturday morning cookery classes for the first half of 2010 are now full.

We are sorry if this causes disappointment to some. If you want to secure places for the future please contact Leiths and have them put you on their wait list. Call or email Leiths on 020 8749 6400 or info@leiths.com. A class costs £130. Classes begin at 10am and don't require any prior experience.

January 9th, with Yotam Ottolenghi - FULL
Okra fritters with lime, cardamom and yoghurt sauce
Braised lamb meatballs with quince, pomegranate and fresh coriander
Buttered vermicelli with basmati rice
Limoncello and mascarpone trifle

February 20th, with Sami Tamimi - FULL
Green gazpacho with sourdough croutons
Baked monk fish with fennel, potato, caper and fennel seeds
Kohlrabi and fennel salad with dried cranberries, baby spinach and lemon
Baked pears in white wine and cardamom, served with crème fraiche

March 13th, with Yotam Ottolenghi - FULL
Mejadarah: basmati rice with lentils, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and fried onion
Beetroot and plum salad
Aubergine with preserved lemon and chilli yoghurt
French beans with tarragon, sesame and garlic

April 10th, with Sami Tamimi - FULL
Courgette and feta fritters with Greek yoghurt and mint sauce
Tiger prawns and scallops with tomato and feta
Mixed herb salad with lemon and honey dressing
Buttered basmati rice with fennel seeds, coriander seeds and dill

May 8th, with Yotam Ottolenghi - FULL
Sweet potato patties with cumin and coriander
Lamb and feta kebabs in tomato and mint sauce
Saffron couscous with butter and chervil
Crunchy cucumber and red onion salad

June 12th, with Sami Tamimi - FULL
Char-grilled courgette with balsamic vinegar, basil and caprini freschi
Polenta crusted fish cakes
Fresh broad beans with paprika, coriander and preserved lemon
Bulgur and cauliflower tabouleh with red onion, pomegranate and sweet spices

Have a look at our seasonal and fantastically delicious Christmas party menu - perfect for office parties or any large group of celebrators.

Make sure you tell us well in advance. Just call Basia in Islington.

Have a look at our holiday menus. We offer them every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas to make life a little bit easier for our customers.

Just let us know in advance, and we can get it all ready for you for the big day!

Mike Britton, zealous assistant manager of Ottolenghi, Belgravia, wrote this wonderfully colourful account of his recent visit to Alba, the capital of white truffle. Thank you, Mike

A truffle snuffle

As my train from Genoa chugged slowly into the beautiful hills and valleys of the Piemonte region in North West Italy, I cast my thoughts forward to the weekend, where I would be attending the famous Alba truffle festival.

My very good friends, Neil and Richie, have owned a house in this area for a year now and not only do I get wonderful company (including the lovely Helen) when I come here, I get tremendous food.

Piemonte is famous for the king of the fungi world, the rare Alba white truffle (aka Magnatum Pico).

In all honesty, I knew very little about this strange blobby fungus, aside from the fact it is either black or white and was snuffled by pigs. I had sampled both but only as oil. So with great excitement and buoyed with Italian enthusiasm I embarked on a little mission of discovery!

We set off for Alba on the Saturday morning. Neil had read of a famous truffle breakfast, ‘il ouvo con tartufo’. This was baked eggs with shaved white truffle. After several attempts we found a restaurant that could produce this for us, even though they had never heard of it!

Out came the baked eggs and the waitress delicately shaved raw white truffle over the top. A special ultra fine shaver is used. I would describe the flavour as delicate, yet quite overpowering; garlicky, oniony and much more. Combined with a light Venetian Prosecco we had made a successful start to the day.

Next up was the ‘piece de resistance’, the truffle market. To sell your wares here, one must have your products inspected for quality, size and taste and be awarded a special license.
Upon entry we were given a glass and two vouchers for a free glass of red and white wine of our choosing. The day just got better!

The smell is the first thing that hits you. It’s quite overwhelming. Apparently, the truffle gives off an aroma that contains chemicals that are similar to the sex pheromones of a male pig. This is why female pigs were traditionally used to snuffle them out. Unfortunately they were so attracted to them they often tried to eat them! Specially trained dogs (Tabui) are now used and the ‘white diamonds of the kitchen’ are spared. With prices knocking 3000 Euros a kilo I can quite understand the need for change!

Each seller or Trifulao tries to entice you to their stand by offering a sniff of their finest truffle. Not being a female pig, I resisted, leaving me hundreds of Euros heavier.

The second part of the market was given over to promoting other delicious items the region is famous for. First stop, naturally, the wine stands. My lack of Italian language skills seemed not to matter here. I just held out my free tasting glass, put on a big smile and enjoyed its new contents. A quick ‘Molto Bene’ at the end and swiftly on to the next stand. The local vineyards specialise in Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo and the renowned Barolo grape varieties.

By now with red cheeks and a slight swagger, the wine had encouraged me to buy things. I had acquired Torrone (local hazelnut nougat), some gooey double cream gorgonzola (again a regional speciality) and several bottles of Barbera to accompany our truffle pasta supper. The passion of the vendors is seriously infectious.

Outside the truffle market, in the streets of Alba, were hundreds of stalls loaded with locally farmed products. The abundance of fruit and vegetables, all slightly misshapen and vibrant in colour, screamed ‘put me on your dinner plate’. All the producers were from the local Langhe region and are proud of their traditional, organic and eco-friendly farming methods. The slow food movement (Which has its origins in Bra, a town just a few miles from Alba), is most certainly at work here. You could walk down any street in a Piemontese town and not see a branded high street food store.

So as we observed a flag-waving medieval marching band and a parade of vintage cars from a beautiful piazza in the centre of Alba, Neil, Richard, Helen and I reflected on the zeal of the Albese and their passion for all things food. We raised a glass full of bubbling Prosecco and thought how lucky we were to be somewhere so special. Salute!

Just back from a scrumptious weekend in Istanbul, where the six of us from Ottolenghi – or, otherwise very closely associated – ate our way through heaps of burek, baklava and beyaz peynir (the famous salty white cheese).

The best food we had was in simple, unassuming street stalls or basic restaurants, where the greatness of Ottoman food is evident in its simplicity yet strict adherence to tradition. The combination of flavours of Arab, central Asian and Balkan cuisines produces the most inspiring dishes.

Here’s a few of our favourites:

Kanaat Lokantesi in Üsküdar for simple home-style cooking and the best stuffed vegetables.

The Egyptian spice market that sells much more than spices, or actually, everything and anything you never knew you needed.

Balikci Sabahattin restaurant in Sultan-Ahmed for the freshest and, literally, the most delicious fish in the world, or as Itamar calls it, the Temple of Love.

The best burek we had at Asli Borek on Buyuk Postahane Caddesi, just off the spice market.

Namli, a shop full of Turkish magic selling and serving Ottolenghiesque style salads and much more. You must buy their tahini, halva and many cheeses!

At Hamdi Et Lokantasi we had the best lamb kebabs we have ever tasted, and that’s quite something.

We also visited Muzedechanga, where we sampled some amazing modern Turkish cuisine and got lots of tips from the lovely owners, Tarik and Savas.

The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4 are running a short series of programmes about chefs and their key ingredients. Listen to Yotam and Sami talk about cauliflowers.

Take a look at this. The Ottolenghi cookbook has been voted book of the month for August in this popular American website.

Seems like the book is making some waves across the pond and it makes us very proud!

Photo: Keiko Oikawa

I spent my lunch hour yesterday with a huge bunch of people I didn't know. Why? Well, I was invited to a lunch in St. James's Park that kick-started a campaign by Paul McCartney and his family to encourage us to eat less meat.

I don't often do campaigns. But I think that this one just makes sense. It makes sense to eat a little less of something that is so labour intensive and contributes dramatically to the total green house gas emissions. It makes sense to think of meat as something special, less of an every-day triviality.

Especially, it makes sense because there is so much else out there!

Have a look at the Guardian's recent dinner for under a fiver series, where I feature a couple of easy and economical recipes.

Watch Sami make our sweet and spicy beef and pork pie for channel4 online.

Have a look at the recent visit of Chicago based ABC journalist Steve Dolinsky at Ottolenghi Upper st and other London attractions, including the world's best 50 restaurants awards.

I am normally good with criticism. I actually like it. I welcome any comment about Ottolenghi’s food, my style, the level of execution, clarity of recipes… the more the merrier.

There is only one kind of comment that really gets to me, and it is part of a growing trend that I find both annoying and silly; these are comments about the health attributes of certain dishes.

I particularly refer to a letter to the Guardian’s weekend magazine by a reader from Cardiff complaining about the amount of fat that went into a broccoli pie recipe I published a couple of weeks earlier.

This reader, as many others self-appointed guards of the nation’s welfare, don’t trust that people are smart enough to make the right decisions about their diet. He can’t imagine that someone would be responsible enough to have a small slice of the rich pie, along with a green salad, to create a perfectly healthy and delicious lunch.

I actually suspect that delicious doesn’t come into the equation at all here, that this type of criticism comes from people that don’t really like food.

I wish all this energy would instead go to the enjoyment of great food, whatever it may be.

Have a look at this.

James Phillips, a Kiwi, a coffee aficionado and an ex-shift manager at Ottolenghi Islington, has just opened Dose, a lovely and personal coffee shop near the Barbican.

I went there with Basia a couple of weeks ago to wish Jimi and Marketa, also an Ottolenghi person (she is still with us, luckily!), lots of luck with their new venture and taste Jimi's incredible coffee.

Dose is the sort of place that London misses terribly but is so common in Australia and New Zealand, an independent food or drink outlet where individual entrepreneurial spirit and love of anything food related is written on the walls.

Jimi would talk to anyone who walks in about his love affair with coffee, about espresso as an artisanal craft, about embracing coffee as seriously as wine.

Mind, it is a small place and does mostly take-away.

The coffee at Dose is supplied by Square Mile Roasters, a London based company that supplies our Islington branch. Their coffee is ethically sourced, carefully roasted and delivered in reusable buckets. Their blend changes with the seasons to ensure that it is always fresh and representative of the best coffees around.

You can also get some home-made sandwiches at Dose and little sweet bites to go with the delicious coffee.

Jimi with his girlfriend Helen

Hurry up and and sign up for our next set of hands-on cookery classes. To do this, please call or email Leiths on 020 8749 6400 or info@leiths.com. A class costs £125.

The spring classes are all full now but you should be able to find places on the following dates:

September 5th
Lamb kebabs with pine nuts, tahini sauce, warm butter and parsley
Roasted potato wedges with paprika and garlic
Tomato and cucumber salad with quinoa, lemon, coriander and spring onion
Fresh berries with orange blossom cream

October 17th
Mezze
Roasted aubergine with a sharp salsa of walnut, pomegranate and coriander
Fried sweet potato with rosemary and sage
Butterbean mash with lemon juice, garlic, spring onion and sumac
Char-grilled courgette with balsamic vinegar reduction, basil and caprini freschi
Roasted red peppers with garlic, lemon and fresh oregano

November 14th
Salsify, pecorino and watercress salad with caper vinaigrette
Whole pan-fried red mullet
Bulgur and cauliflower tabbouleh with red onion, pomegranate, celery, lemon
and sweet spices
Poached quince with star anise, blackberries and vanilla ice-cream

December 5th
Whole quail stuffed with pork, pine nuts and herbs, braised with dried apricots and tamarind
Saffron couscous with butter and chervil
Kohlrabi and white cabbage slaw with lemon zest, tarragon, dill and sesame seeds
Baked pears in white wine and cardamom, served with crème fraiche

The Easy Cakes of Ottolenghi

‘food that is closer to the source … emanating from genuine instincts’

In his salad days of skins and caves, man
gave chase. He slaughtered buck, swallowed
the heart. He knew adrenaline, hauled woman

after woman by the hair. That’s all gone.
Now there’s money and a new ache every day,
sags in unexpected places, a loss of collagen

and desire. Hunger’s always knocking
at the edges, just the tongue that’s jaded.
The waitress leans into the table:

Sorrel sir, or salsify? The soft salt melt
of sea-bream, halibut, a thrill
of salsa, quince and pomegranate.

Then dessert: the easy cakes of Ottolenghi
drip their syrups, glisten in the night, secrete
fresh tones of apple, grenadilla, rose.

Jacqueline Saphra, an award winning poet, an Ottolenghi fan and "a woman that thinks too much," according to Sami, has written this smart-and-witty poem after attending our cooking class in December. She promises to write more.

Just back from a fantastically inspiring short trip to Tokyo with Noam. We went to check if this is really the new food capital of the world. And we came back with a resounding YES.

We were totally blown away by the simple food we had at small sushi joints and local izakayas (the equivalent of a British gastro-pub, but nothing like it, really).

But what was the most impressive were the food halls in the basements of the big department stores. There was nothing to prepare us for the abundance of pastries and prepared foods, for the rivers of knowledgeable and excited shoppers, for the quality and beautiful packaging... for the foodie's heaven that these places are.

We will be back.

Tsukiji market

The view from our hotel room. Unfortunately, we could only afford one night

Plastic food

Real (?) food

Japanese sweets

Noam outside Yabu Soba, greatest soba noodle restaurant in the world, at least in our mind

Take a look at this blog. We couldn't have asked for more. Thanks Keiko

All the Ottolenghi's were this year, as usual, victims of Christmas madness - customer orders, last minute rush, wrapping up for the a 2 day break...

No matter how much we prepare for it, we always seem to be running frantic: ticking off orders, checking serving instructions, making more gravy (why is there never enough gravy?), running out of mince pies.

The head chefs and shop managers were, by the end of it all, a little bit like zombies in a horror film: slow , dark eyed and running round in circles. Still, they all did an incredible job.

Here's just a few images:

As always, during the festive season we have a huge range of gift options, all home-made Ottolenghi products. On top of those, you can get a meal voucher or a signed copy of our cookbook, both wrapped with a red ribbon... so there you go, a bit of promotion on the blog shouldn't harm anyone.

To create you own unique “Ottolenghi Selection” we give you a bag, tied with a ribbon and padded with red tissue (see photo below), to fill up with our goodies and give as present.

Here's just a few options:

Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, signed and wrapped copy - £25.00
Gift token or lunch/dinner voucher (you decide how much)
Mince pie - £2.00
Ottolenghi Christmas cake (made with the best fruit and lots of alcochol)
small - £14.00, medium - £22.00, large - £44.00
Machiavelli Panettone
classic - £16.00, chocolate - £17.00, marrons glacé - £18.00
Christmas shaped gingerbread biscuits - £4.20
Shortbread snow flakes - £4.50
Double chocolate and hazelnut biscotti - £3.50
Amaretti biscuits - £4.90
Spicy grissini sticks with chilli and chive - £4.80
Chocolate macaroons - £7.50
White or dark chocolate brittle - £4.80
Mini chocolate or raspberry meringues - £4.90
Elizabeth David’s tomato and pimento chutney - £4.95
Cranberry and apple relish with orange and ginger - £3.90
Seasonal jams - £3.90
Mixed spicy nuts with chilli and rosemary - £4.80
Seasonal fruit cordial (to prepare hot or cold) - £3.90

Contact any of our shops by email or phone and we'll get this ready for you in no time.

Happy Sweet Christmas!

Just had a first glimpse at the Christmas food supplement that Sami and I wrote for the Guardian. It looks absolutely delicious.

This exquisite 20-pager will feature our take on Christmas food, including smoked aubergine and yoghurt vol-au-vents; sumac marinated baby chicken stuffed with lamb and bulgar; sourdough, green chilli and feta stuffing; roasted pumpkin with chestnut, cinnamon and fresh bay leaves (see photo); meringue, morello cherry and rose roulade; drinks to match the food and so much more!

Out on the 6th of December.

On a recent trip to Malaysia I made with Helen and Ling (both originally from Malaysian) I got a thorough peek into this incredibly multi-faceted cuisine.

We ate almost only on street markets and in hawker centres, where the three main cultures that make up this nation (Malay, Chinese and Indian) display their unique dishes. Being so cheap and so incredibly fresh, you end up sampling dozens of dishes. It seems that the word “grazing” was invented for this kind of experience. You sit surrounded by a multitude of mini-kitchens that constantly create mouth watering local delicacies. How can one resist?

One of my favourites was a typical fried oyster omelette, which wasn’t perfect everywhere but once in a while had just the right balance of runny and crispy, with a strong but not overbearing oyster flavour. When right, it is heavenly.

Helen and Ling, proudly posing with their banana leaf wrapped nasi lemak

Another obvious choice was nasi lemak, probably the most popular dish in Malaysia. Again, if done right this dish – comprised of coconut rice, chilli sauce (sambal), roasted peanuts and small dried anchovies – is as complex a delicacy as any you get in a Michelin starred restaurant.

Nasi lemak also inspired a vegetarian dish I published recently in the Guardian. I highly recommend it, but only if you can take the heat.

To be continued...

A new set of hands-on cooking classes, in collaboration with Leiths, has just been announced. We recommend that you rush to sign up; places are taken up in a flash.

The classes offer a great opportunity to enjoy a morning of cooking, eating, drinking and sharing of food experiences. They are taught by Ottolenghi chefs, alongside teachers from Leiths. You can come as a pair, or on your own.

The cost of a class is £120. To book please call Leiths School of Food and Wine (020 8749 6400) or book via their website.

February 21st
Char-grilled fennel salad with red onion, lemon, sumac and dill
Braised lamb meatballs with quince, coriander and pomegranate seeds
Buttered vermicelli with basmati rice
Clementine and almond cake

March 14th
Okra fritters with lime, cardamom and yoghurt sauce
Warm waxy potato and mushroom salad with herbs and truffle oil
Purple sprouting broccoli with chilli, garlic and lemon
Limoncello and mascarpone trifle

April 4th and May 9th
Beetroot, aubergine and goat’s cheese with shallot and walnut vinaigrette
Grilled chicken with red pepper, chilli, red onion, paprika and basil
Potato latkes
Mixed herb salad with lemon and honey dressing

June 6th
Char-grilled asparagus and courgette with pecorino, pistachio and purple basil
Seared tuna with salsa verde and cherry tomatoes
Herb and panko crusted globe artichoke hearts
Fresh berries with vanilla and orange blossom syrup and cream

Have a look at our Thanksgiving and Christmas menus.

With so many years of experience we think we now have the perfect selection of dishes.

We all know computer geeks. Tom from Poke, our dedicated web designers, introduced me yesterday to some of their bread-and-butter: google analytics. This offers the ultimate pleasure to anyone with a website and loads of time to spare. You can find absolutely anything there: who visited your site, when, where are they there from (in our case, UK, USA and Australia are in the lead), how long they bothered to stay tuned, what browser they used etc. etc. etc.

Talking to Tom it dawned on me that I am also a geek, a cake geek. The amount of time I can spend waffling about cakes is unlimited; I am sure I can rival any IT buff.

And I am not alone. Once a week Sarit, Helen and I meet to do just that. In our regular pastry tastings we spend long hours analysing the minutest and most bizarre and far-fetched elements of a cake, comparing textures and flavours, scrutinizing methods, suggesting alternative components, shapes, moulds, going over recent trends, what’s a must and what’s lost its sparkle, who’s the master of brownies and what makes the ideal cupcake. And we also stuff ourselves with cakes, which is fun and (try to believe me!) an agony.

If you’re like me and you’re into food head to Umbria; it’s a trip I do together with my partner, Jeremy, and a couple of friends every year in the summer and let me tell you, I really look forward to it every time. We stay at our friend Gianluca Piermaria’s family house in a little village called Cantalupo on the outskirts of Bevagna. The village is very simple, in contrast to the picturesque surroundings of the amazing hills of the area.

The Piermaria house is big enough to take us in without feeling cramped. Every time we are there I say “this is the kind of life I would like”. Around the house there are is a fig tree, plum, walnut and vines; also a plot where Gianluca’s mum, Iolanda, grows all the vegetables for the season (and to keep them going for the rest of the year she preserves a lot). There are plenty of chickens, rabbits and cats wandering about!

The trip started at three in the morning to catch a flight to Rome at 7am. Two hours later we land in Rome, then a two hour train journey to Foligno, and then another 25 minutes journey by car to Cantalupo. What kept us going was the knowledge that a nice lunch was waiting for us.

It was Thursday, which meant “baking bread” day for the rest of the week and while the wood oven was on, lots of other cooking goes on as well. We started with home-made white lasagne with fresh artichoke and sausage meat, followed by a succulent whole roast goose with roasted mix vegetables and the most delicious potatoes that had been swimming in fat underneath the bird, accompanied by a simple tomato, cucumber and lettuce salad from the garden. The finale was a fluffy and “light as a feather” walnut and cinnamon flan, and all that was washed down by a chilled home made white wine! Of course after such a meal nobody could go further than bed for a little nap.

It is such a pleasure to go food shopping in Umbria. Even the supermarket stocks seasonal, fresh and only local food; I can’t stop myself from buying far too much stuff to take back home. I keep telling myself not to buy too much and always end up with more than myself and Jeremy can carry - cheese, salami, balsamic, black truffles and my favourite, Acquavita D’uva Regina grappa.

Jeremy was lucky this year as it was his birthday when we were there so we celebrated twice. The first time a fabulous dinner cooked by the lovely Iolanda and Gianluca, and the second was at our friends Daniela and Craig’s house, where I made all the salads; then we set up a humble barbecue outside the house and Gianluca cooked lots of different cuts of meat.

On the menu were: freshly picked figs with aged pecorino cheese, honey, mint and balsamic; roasted round courgettes with spicy breadcrumbs, parmesan and lemon; celery salad with sultanas, capers, olives and parsley; beef chops; pork belly; 2 types of sausages; lamb cutlets; cakes, pastries and lots and lots of wine!

Like any respectable town or village in Umbria, that has its own one celebrated food item (sweet potato, artichoke, pig, wine, olive oil), on the fourth day we went to the [link http://www.prolococantalupocastelbuono.it/ snail (lumaca) festival] which takes place in Cantalupo every year at the end of August.

It’s a charity event supporting people in need and the village in general. On the menu, guess what, snails in lots of different ways.

Lastly, I must mention Iolanda’s wonderful fritters. We tried them last year and we couldn’t keep our hands off them. This year I promised myself to get the recipe and see how she makes them, which she kindly let me do. Here it is.

Big apologies!!!
After receiving comments from a few of you we realised there is a mistake in the sweet potato gratin recipe, page 68 in the Ottolenghi cookbook.
There should only be 2 teaspoons of malden sea salt in the recipe, and not tablespoons as stated.

Just back from an enchanting weekend in the south of France. Karl and I stayed with our friends, Ossi and Paul Burger, in the house they rent every summer at the village of La Garde Freinet, 25 minutes up the hill from Saint Tropez.

Ossi, an extremely capable yet unassuming cook, had for us a majestic meal as soon as we came out from our first run of the pool. Paul got the line caught Loup de Mer at the tiny fish market in Saint Tropez (see above) and Ossi served it in a light broth, made with tomato, fennel, saffron and Pernod. How appropriate!

Cheese - Chèvre frais, Reblochon and Beaufort – Paul got next door to the fish market, at a hole-in-the wall shop selling a huge array of French cheese and run by the entertaining Carmen and Dominique (photo above).

The wine was from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Paul and Ossi went to the famous estate Vieux Telegraph hoping to come back with cases of the famous wines. Instead, they managed to buy a case of wonderful Gigondas 2003, Domain Les Pallières.

There was more, but at some point you just sink into blissful unconsciousness.

The next day we were at the famous beach club 55 in Saint Tropez, where we saw some (literally) unreal bodies descending from yachts for a bite at this 50 year old establishment.

Dinner was at a fantastically hidden-away little restaurant in the village of Cogolin, where Anne and Philippe Audibert have been running and admirable two-man-show for years. The menu at Grain de Sel is minimal, made out of what Philippe buys at the local market and nothing else and is typically Provencal/North-Italian. The highlights were veal confit with roasted vegetable, risotto with wild sea bass and lemon and small yet full of flavour strawberries drizzled with vanilla infused olive oil. Wow!

We have just received all the hi-res photos taken while working on the cookbook. This is a treasure of striking images by the highly gifted Richard Learoyd.

Richard was generous enough to give us all the images, including many that didn't make it to the book.

Over the next few months we will be publishing here a trickle of photographs, with the relevant pages in the book. This is meant to encourage those of you who haven't got the book yet to rush out and buy it. The others we encourage to try more and more recipes.

Pan-fried sea bass on pita with labneh, tomato and preserved lemon - page 144

Sweet broccolini with tofu, sesame and coriander - page 39

A culinary weekend at the Brecon Beacons ended up being a very wet affair. Apart from a short venture up a promising hill - reaching a fine summit to discover zero visibility and 3 solitary sheep - we mainly managed to steam up the car.

Still, a huge consolation for the poor weather conditions was an unforgettable meal at Shaun Hill’s Walnut Tree, outside Abergavenny. It was, literally, perfect, a title I am always hesitant to give.

The starters and the mains were outstanding (the calf’s sweetbreads and pig cheeks – the highlights) but the desserts ruled. I have never had a pannacotta with better consistency and the poppy seed parfait with caramelized apricots surprised all of us by the harmony of flavours and beautifully light texture.

Worth a huge detour, all the way from London and back.

Come and celebrate with us the publication of our Cookbook in a relaxed and informal style dinner.

On Thursday, 24th July 08, La Fromagerie will be hosting a tasting event with Sami Tamimi & Yotam Ottolenghi.

On arrival guests will enjoy Lychee Martinis & Saffron Scented Prosecco, before being introduced to a menu of vibrant of dishes. This will include roast chicken with saffron, honey and hazelnuts, cauliflower and cumin fritters, marinated aubergine with tahini and oregano, cous-cous and mograbiah with oven-dried tomatoes and seared tuna with pistachio crust and papaya salsa.

All dishes will be enjoyed along side well chosen wines.

Tickets are £70.00pp including all wines.

La Fromagerie, 2 – 6 Moxon Street, W1 Time: 7.30pm

For further information please telephone La Fromagerie: 020 79350341

Or download a booking form

Last night we resumed our tradition, where Sami and Yotam, together with partners, gather for a tasting of a new dish, soon to be turned into a recipe. Sami makes the food, the rest of us taste and give a verdict.

We did it every Friday for many months, whilst working on the cookbook. After a long-winded discussion of inherent virtues, textures and subtle aromas, we'd come out with a final decision: yay or ney.

This recent one was definitely a yay. Fried and then baked baby aubergines, served warm with a sweet spice tomato sauce and, you'd never guess, thick Greek yoghurt.

Soon to appear on an Ottolenghi menu!

This is such an exciting time for us - Sami and Yotam. We are barraged by compliments and good wishes about the book that we just continuously smirk and blush.

Sales seem to be great (constantly refreshing Amazon's bestsellers page) but what is more important are the reactions we get from customers and readers.

They all seem to like it - a lot. "I tried 7 recipes this week and they were all incredibly delicious," a customer in Islington told us the other day. She is taking the book to Tuscany with her to give to a friend, an accomplished Italian chef.

And there is much more. Check out these 2 reviews (we couldn't have written better ourselves):

Amazon.co.uk

101cookbooks

Incredible!

We have now finalized our plans for the next set of Saturday morning cookery classes, done in collaboration with Leiths School of Food and Wine.

The classes tend to fill up quickly so sign up now!

Just to remind you, the days begin with registration at 9.30 and start promptly at 10.00 with a discussion of the skills and recipes to be covered. Students work in pairs and then sit down and enjoy the food they have made with a glass of wine. Some people come with a friend, but most come alone and enjoy the friendly atmosphere. The classes finish at approximately 2.00.

September 13th

Gazpacho soup with Yemenite chilli paste
Baked monk fish with fennel, potato, caper and fennel seeds
Braised broccolini with chilli, garlic, sesame oil and lime

October 18th

Polenta crusted fish cakes with spicy tomato and basil sauce
Aubergine with preserved lemon and chilli yoghurt
Wild rice and quinoa salad with dried blueberry, walnut, lemon and herbs

November 15th

Courgette and feta fritters with Greek yoghurt and mint sauce
Bulgar and aubergine pilaf with onion and sweet spice
French bean salad with fennel, roast cherry tomato and basil oil

December 6th

Braised lamb meatballs with quince, pomegranate and fresh coriander
Buttered basmati rice with fennel seeds, coriander seeds and dill
Slaw of courgette, fennel and red cabbage with dried cranberries

The cost of one class is £120. To book please call Leiths School of Food and Wine (020 8749 6400) or book via the website

It took us, Yotam and Sami, a whole year, and many hours of testing and tasting to put together our first collection of recipes. The Cookbook, finally out on the 1st of May 2008, is published by Ebury press, cover price £25. You can order it from Amazon, Play, Waterstone’s, or the publisher’s own rBbooks online shop.

The Cookbook is our first attempt at “summing up” Ottolenghi food for the home cook. The 140 recipes cover everything we do: our prominent salads and roast vegetable dishes, cold meat and fish, substantial main courses from our dinner menu in Islington, some of our wholesome breads and savoury pastries, and a good mixture of the sweets that distinctively adorn Ottolenghi’s windows. We encourage you to use this open window into our world.

The pollution almost did me in. I am back from a short visit to Vietnam, where I took in some of the filthiest air on the planet with some of the most incredibly delicious food.
First, 24 hours in Hong Kong. Despite jetlag, I dragged my lazy bones to the Jordan neighbourhood in Kowloon. Sat on low a stool at Aberdeen restaurant, somewhere around Temple Street, and downed truly great scallops, topped with vermicelli, bread crumbs, coriander and garlic (so much of it, I should take some Ottolenghi customers here to show them what garlicky really means). Also on the menu, and I quote precisely: Fried affluent prawn with spiced salt; Big shell in boiled water till cooked; Deep fried stomach fish; Pigs intestine and goose intestine.
Next day I managed to squeeze dim-sum and jellied pig’s ears, incredibly tasty, at King’s Lodge, 67-71 Chatham Road South, Kowloon.
Hanoi greeted me with a thick veil of misty smog that never lifted during my 5 days there and eventually brought me down with a violent flu. Prior to this unfortunate eventuality, Alex (my travel companion and Ottolenghi’s designer) and I managed to find the best restaurant in town on the first day. All other paled in comparison so we just kept on coming. We must have eaten at Quan An Ngon (18 Phan Boi Chau, Quan Hoan Kiem; Tel: (04) 942 8162/3) five times, turning into regular fixtures. It is not quite a restaurant but more of a cluster of stalls, serving what they do best in Hanoi, street food. The freshness of ingredients and the light touch when bringing it all together are the signature features. Fish sauce, nuoc mam, the common denominator. Everything was good, but some wonderful highlights were: Banh Xeo (Vietnamese pancake or crepe, light as a feather); Goi Bo Bop Thau (beef salad); and Mien Xao Luon (stir-fries cassava noodles with eels).
Check out this Hanoi food blog: www.stickyrice.typepad.com

Over the past few years we have been nurturing a close collaboration with Leiths school of food and wine, now based in Chiswick. As well as guest chef classes given by Yotam Ottolenghi to the students at the school, we take on students (and sometimes also teachers) for work experience, some of which end up working with us permanently.

As part of this close collaboration, we also offer monthly hands-on cookery classes at Leiths. These sessions, held on Saturday mornings, offer a brilliant opportunity for our customers and fans to come and get a first-hand Ottolenghi cooking experience with our chefs and the highly qualified teachers of Leiths. The Saturday workshops start at 9.30. They are fun and are conducted in a very relaxed manner. You don’t need to know much about cooking and can come on your own or with a friend or a partner.

The cooking is done in couples and at the end, around 1pm, tables are laid for everybody to enjoy their creations with a glass of wine.

The cost of one class is £115. To book please call Leiths School of Food and Wine (020 7937 3366) or book via their website www.leiths.com

Next cookery classes:

Moroccan Flavours, February 2nd 2008 – sold out

Sweet potato patties with cumin and coriander
Crunchy cucumber and red onion salad
Chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives, served with saffron couscous

Vegetarian, March 8th – sold out

Beetroot, carrot and red cabbage slaw with cranberries and pecans
Baked polenta with wild mushrooms, tallegio and thyme
French beans with tarragon, sesame and garlic

Brunch, April 12th – sold out

Own granola with yoghurt and fresh fruit
Warm and spicy corn muffins
Shakshuka: Tunisian eggs with tomatoes, peppers, saffron and coriander

Early Summer Event, June 14th - sold out

Chilled pea and sour cream soup with basil and chive
Pan-fried sea bass with green and red tomato salsa
Bulgar salad with caramelized onion, feta and tarragon

This is the period that we all dread. The “festive” time has sucked out every little bit of festive energy, many of our customers are still away on their festive holidays and there is this cold gloom in the air, the lethargic calm after the storm. So what better to do than think about the future, de-place one self.

So we got together – the Ottolenghi creative team: Sarit, Helen, Sami and Yotam – and focused our gaze on the future. In the current state of mind, the only way to do it is systematically. I mean, go over our product list and revaluate. I can reveal a few secrets: the cheesecake tart cranberry topping is changing, stopping the pumpkin muffin (seasonal consideration)… and the most exciting bit, Helen has come up with an incredible clementine cake (just need the right moulds now) – a sure hit. Stay tuned!

Last night I tried to get into the new Rowley Leigh restaurant in Bayswater Le Café des Anglais. Cornelia and I didn’t book a table but tested our luck anyhow. Tough luck. The swanky new venue in Whitley’s shopping centre was fully booked and even Cornelia’s strong sense of persuasion wouldn’t persuade Hannah at reception to find us a corner. We will try again, but not for an intimate one-on-one. The huge dining space is nothing but intimate.

Instead, we went to the second floor of the Oak on Westbourne Park Road, near Ledbury Road, where there was plenty of intimacy to be had. England was losing to Croatia at the same time so there was enough space in an elegant and still terribly cool room. The tapas were delicious. We had some beef carpaccio with truffle oil and a most luscious consistency and a vegetable antipasti with Buratta. What is buratta? Well, it’s sort of the new mozzarella. Not quite new (it has been discovered in the states quite a few years ago and invented in Italy in the 1920’s) but definitely the new rage in the London restaurant scene. It is a soft cheese made from buffalo milk. It comes from Puglia and is best eaten within 2 days of its production. It is so creamy you only need a small knife-scrape of it. The taste is heavenly and a small online search shows you can get it from Manicomio restaurant/deli on the King’s Road in Chelsea.

It is Thanksgiving today and we are all sharing a small sense of panic. Nothing major, since everybody was working very late last night to get every possible bit of preparation done (Ged and his team in Kensington have the most orders; he was drowning in gravy when I saw him at 8pm yesterday). But still, we have to roast all those turkeys and get the stuffings ready in the plastic bubbles, all nicely labelled for our beloved Americans customers to come and pick up.

And Americans, we know very well now, unlike their fellow Brits, will not keep quiet if something goes wrong with their orders, be it a tired herb to garnish their chowder or a substantial crack in their pumpkin pie. So Maria and Karl, devoted managers of Ledbury Road and Holland street, are like diligent proof-readers, going a million times over the most microscopic of details. We must get it right.
I am feeling confident about the menu this year. We made it simpler than in previous years after realizing that Thanksgiving and Christmas are no times for originality. That’s how it is and we better get used to it, even if every year, around September, all of us (Sami, Helen, Sarit and me) get together to re-invent the wheel. With our over-enthusiastic chefiness, we don’t grasp a most trivial truth: that tradition is tradition, that people get together for Holiday meals not to be surprised and astounded but for exactly the opposite reason, to be soothed and reminded of past experiences, for a bit of childhood comfort.

So I am eagerly waiting to see how our pumpkin pie, made with maple syrup and as orthodoxly as possible, will fare with our know-what-they-want Americans.