Yotam Ottolenghi

“My father always cooks more polenta than he needs for a meal. The excess he spreads on an oiled surface and chills. Next day, he cuts out chunks, fries them in olive oil and serves with sala...”

“Some breakfast cereals only come into their own as children's party treats: what are cornflakes and Coco Pops for, if not to clump together with melted chocolate and spoon into a cupcake hol...”

“Most pumpkin dishes involve scooping out the seeds, cutting off the skin, and chopping up the flesh before cooking.”

“There is a unique freshness when eating buckwheat noodles cold with plenty of herbs and citrus acidity. I can't think of any better use of chopsticks on a hot and sweaty evening.”

“Some days, just occasionally, when I've had just one too many chickpeas, drizzles of olive oil or chunks of feta, I crave a return to the sushi-filled joints of Tokyo.”

“Black glutinous rice works in both savoury and sweet dishes. It's a popular pudding rice in south-east Asia, where you'll often come across it cooked with water, coconut milk and a pandan le...”

“The combination of lentils with rice or bulgur is the absolute height of Levantine comfort food. I could eat it every day.”

“The natural sweetness of leeks, with their soft, oniony aroma, makes them the perfect winter comfort food.”

“Braising eggs in a flavoursome, aromatic sauce is all the rage. It is warming and comforting, ideal for the morning when you are not normally up for a great culinary challenge.”

“Yogurt sauce, as you may have noticed by now, is a regular presence in my recipes - that's because it has the ability to round up so many flavours and textures like no other component does.”

“Fusion food as a concept is kind of trying to quite consciously fuse things that are sometimes quite contradictory, sometimes quite far apart, to see if they'd work.”

“Custard is controversial: what makes it a custard, how best to cook it and, crucially, is it to be eaten or put in a pie and thrown?”

“New-season lamb shoulder, cooked pink, is the perfect platform for a mixture of fresh and cooked herbs.”

“Small okra pods have a much more attractive texture than large ones, which, when cooked, can be gloopy, stringy and totally spoil a dish.”

“Food that's served at the table in a paper parcel always creates a remarkable culinary moment when opened, because the package is full of aromatic steam from the lightly cooked ingredients i...”

“Like parents, cooks shouldn't have favourites, but some recipes inevitably shine more than others.”

“The kitchen is tough. It's one of the last bastions in civilized culture that sets out to crush the spirit.”

“Middle Eastern cuisine has the same depth of ingredients and processes as other cuisines. They just haven't had as much exposure.”

“Turkish cuisine is, to my mind, one of the most exciting and accomplished in the world.”

“I'm a firm believer that the world should be your oyster when you're cooking. People should open themselves to other cuisines - there are a lot of hidden secrets all over the world.”