Interview | Yotam Ottolenghi and the cuisine of the heart

The flavors of comfort vary from continent to continent. With an author who grew up in Jerusalem to parents of Italian and German descent and co-authors who are natives of Asia and Northern Europe, the new cookbook Comfort casts a wide net to nourish the heart and soul. Yotam Ottolenghi tells us about his vision of a cuisine that soothes.

The chef who built a small empire of London restaurants and cult recipe books like Plenty And Jerusalem believes that the time has come for dishes that are cooked in the domestic sphere, to nourish rather than to impress. And it is in Quebec, thanks to KO Éditions, that this new Ottolenghi opus saw the light of day on September 4, even before its release in English!

“The real work on this book started during COVID-19, when there was a real need for comfort,” Yotam Ottolenghi tells us via video conference from London. “But Helen Goh and I were already talking about it when we were doing the promotional tour for Sweet [NDLR : sorti en 2017]. »

“We would talk about the food we loved to cook at home for our loved ones,” he continues. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Helen over the last 10 years and now I sometimes miss her cooking. So it’s possible to pass on your love of certain comfort foods to others, even as an adult.”

Because we know that it is mainly during childhood that the dishes that will become synonymous with appeasement take their source, whether it is macaroni and cheese, matzo ball soup, sausage and mash or coconut milk curry. “It is so personal,” says the chef.

Thus, Yotam Ottolenghi notes that there have never been so many Asian recipes in one of his books, courtesy of Helen, who was born in Malaysia to Chinese parents and raised in Melbourne. That said, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley, two other collaborators of the chef who are very active in the test kitchen, also had a say in the choice of recipes. That is why a cheesecake, German sausage puffs and a potato salad are next to nasi goreng (Indo-Malay fried rice), hummus and shawarma-style meatloaf.

Nor are they particularly traditional dishes. There is a huge amount of work going on in developing recipes at Ottolenghi and much of it is the work of a team of incredibly talented women.

” Plenty And Plenty More are perhaps my only books that have not been presented as collaborations, but all the others are. In Flavor For example, there are a lot more Mexican flavors thanks to my collaborator Ixta Belfrage. I like to celebrate all these new voices that are around me. It has always been my approach to tell the story of each recipe, from whom and where it comes from.

Appropriation is briefly mentioned in the introduction to Comfort. “I’ve been involved in many conversations on this topic over time. Food has always traveled and I think as long as the story is told well, as long as credit is given, we have a right to play.”

A curious cook can travel the world in his or her kitchen, the book says. “That’s why you can buy sushi and seaweed, pizza and pasta, split chickpeas and curry leaves in the same grocery store. When you do it with awareness, gratitude, pleasure and respect, you don’t see it as appropriation, but rather as cultural appreciation,” it says on page 8 of Comfort.

Afterwards, as is often the case with Ottolenghi’s recipes, comfort rhymes with effort! The ingredients can be numerous and the steps too. Here we offer you one of the most accessible recipes from the new book, which shows precisely how much a recipe can travel around the world.

Comfort

Yotam Ottolenghi

KO Editions

321 pages

Steph’s Jerk Spiced Chicken

Steph is a Jamaican chef Helen worked with for years in Melbourne. Her recipe for jerk chicken has been in Helen’s hands for a long time – in the kitchen, on a piece of paper – but she has never forgotten it. Recipes, like postcards, travel the world, with the smell of a place on one side and a few warm words on the other.

To accompany: You can serve this chicken with a simple coleslaw, consisting of a small cabbage and a quarter of a pineapple, each thinly sliced, with a few shavings of fresh coconut, sliced ​​jalapeno pepper, green onion, and cilantro and mint. Top with a vinaigrette made with olive oil, lime juice, and maple syrup.

Yield: 4 servings, with rice and salad

Ingredients

• 1 tsp whole allspice
• 2 bay leaves, roughly torn
• 1 1/2 tsp hot chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mild spice mix (like pumpkin)
• 2 tbsp (25 g) golden brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp runny honey
• 1 or 2 green jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
• 1 or 2 Scotch Bonnet (habanero) peppers, finely chopped
• 1 small red onion (100 g), cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) cubes
• 2 green onions (30 g), finely chopped
• 50 ml (a little more than 3 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 kg (2 1/4 lb) chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• Salt

Preparation

• 1. Place allspice and bay leaves in a skillet and dry-roast for 1 to 2 minutes or until leaves crack. Transfer to a mortar and, using a pestle, grind to a powder, then place in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients, except the chicken and vinegar. Add 1 teaspoon salt, mix well, then add the chicken. Massage the chicken thighs well to coat evenly with the mixture, then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (or overnight).
• 2. About 30 minutes before cooking the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator, add the vinegar and mix well.
• 3. Preheat convection oven to 180°C (350°F) or standard oven to 200°C (400°F).
• 4. Spread chicken on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, skin side up. Bake for about 45 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through, until skin is golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.