In addition to the four well-known delis, Yotam Ottolenghi also runs NOPI in London’s Soho district. The concept here is very clearly under the motto Fine-Dinig. The Upstairs at NOPI, in particular, serves dishes that significantly exceed typical deli cuisine in their complexity and are also much more elaborate in their preparation than the recipes in Ottolenghi’s previously published cookbooks. Now 120 of these extraordinary NOPI creations have been bundled and compiled in a cookbook that has just been published.
The standard of implementation in this work is accordingly much higher: Ottolenghi himself therefore speaks more of a restaurant cookbook. In addition, the radius of action and influence is significantly larger. Many of the recipes are penned by Ramael Scully, who heads the kitchen at NOPI and brought many of his Asian roots to the creation. The result is a colorful mix of Mediterranean and Oriental dishes with Asian influences – and vice versa. The book goes into great detail about this genesis and presented next to each recipe also some background, describes the path that led to the result – or presents individual products.
And it is precisely this mixture that makes this book so endearing. In fact, a treasure trove of recipes with exciting aromatics and unusual combinations opens up here: from hot and spicy watermelon soup to lavender labneh with roasted rhubarb and pine nut biscotti or roast duck breast with hazelnut beer butter, red quinoa and mushrooms to a sumac martini. In addition, at a level that is made for the interested amateur chef. Not too difficult, but challenging enough. And, at least from my point of view, a lot of new culinary territory to tread and discover together with Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully. Anchovy fillets meet coconut milk, lamb sweetbreads meet pea puree and miso, crab meets sweet pepper sauce, cucumber pickles and cinnamon. Everything is crying out to be cooked as soon as possible…
oriental – asian – refined
- Ottolenghi, Yotam (Author)
