Yotam Ottolenghi; The New Vegetarian

Under the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis, an occasional indulgent purchase of the vaguely left-wing newspaper ‘The Guardian’ would be relegated to the back of the bathroom door where I would promptly rifle through the pages of political and global events, largely uninteresting to my 11 year old self, to pore over the limited food articles. Proving that I was indeed always this pretentious, skipping the comics and colouring books for Nigella Lawson programs and classic novels. I am no less unbearable to this day. Even at that young age, I had begun to feel the draw of vegetarianism and found inspiration in a column titled ‘The New Vegetarian’. Running between 2006 and 2011, Yotam Ottolenghi's seminal column celebrated vegetables and introduced myself and many others to a radical way to prepare and think of them.

I was once again exposed to his recipes while working in an appliance shop with a display copy of an Ottolenghi cookbook which I would rifle through whenever I was left unattended on the shop floor. In a fit of sudden renewed zeal for hosting I decided to attempt an unchallenging (for Ottolenghi) recipe of saffron tagliatelle with ricotta and crispy chipotle shallots for a friend who was coming to visit. The fresh-faced student, who I'm sure was more imagining a takeway and beer, instead was roped into shallow-frying shallots and popping bottles of sparkling wine.

Now, I am no longer vegetarian but still don't eat meat, I have found myself once again drawn to Ottolenghi's recipes. While I have not historically been one for traditional recipe books (I am loath to tie myself to one cuisine and am not fond of hauling large books internationally) I did find myself once again searching for the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi. Only this time in the bookshops of Brisbane.

I did find some challenges when exploring and attempting recipes from ‘Flavour’ (2020) largely from Australian seasonal produce varying from the rest of the world, recently developed allergies, and the admittedly limited palette of my encouraging if a little bewildered boyfriend. Being suddenly faced with sweet and sour onion petals or baked entire heads of cauliflower was certainly a divergence from his meat and 3 veg preferences. While I have decidedly learnt how to appreciate simple flavours and curb my desire to overcomplicate dishes, I have also been itching to flex my creative cooking skills. I may not have the muscles for a full spread as suggested in the ‘Feasts’ segment at the end of ‘Flavour’, consider these a warm-up. Mostly selected by availability of ingredients, my mini-feasts were a jog as opposed to a marathon.