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!

From the Ottolenghi cookbook, here's one of our favourite recipes that unfortunately didn't get a picture.

Try it as a side dish at your Christmas table or as an original picnic salad.

read more

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.