“The Ottolenghi effect: sweeping the world” reports the Good Food blog.
The effect: the world is discovering and cooking– guided by Yotam’s seven cookbooks – a tasty old-new cuisine.
Old, because Yotam, who was born in Jerusalem, draws upon the flavors and aromas of classic Mediterranean cooking.
And no wonder. One of Yotam’s grandmothers was from Italy.
New, because Yotam has taken this cooking and re-imagined it, giving it a new zestful, highly contemporary look and feel.
The resultant “Ottolenghi cuisine” has an unusual history. It came into being, quite serendipitously, in London, where Yotam, a journalist by trade, had moved to study French cooking. After working as a pastry chef a three celebrated restaurants there, Yotam moved to Baker and Spice, an artisanal pastry shop.
It was there that Yotam had fateful encounter – with Sami Tamimi. Like Yotam, Sami had grown up in Israel. Unlike him, Sami’s childhood was spent in the Arab quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.
These two men – Jewish and Muslim – quickly bonded over their love to Middle Eastern cuisine.
Yotam and Sami founded “Ottolenghi”. Located in trendy Notting Hill, this delicatessen went out to become one of the world’s epicenters of innovative food.
Food that celebrates vegetables, spices, herbs and the many ways that they can be joined to produce mouthwatering dishes.
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