In new cookbook, Ottolenghi gives flavor to vegetables – 03/17/2023 – Food

Unconditional lover of vegetables and award-winning author of a dozen cookbooks, the chef dedicated his most recent one to ways of transforming these ingredients into dishes full of flavor —word that gives name to the book that has just arrived in Brazil by Companhia das Letras .

“In this new book, we talk about how to extract the most flavor from vegetables, whether it’s marinating, sautéing or infusing to create layers of flavor,” said Ottolenghi in an interview with Sheet.

Written in partnership with chef Ixta Belfrage, born in the United Kingdom and with a Brazilian mother, “Sabor” guides the reader to explore vegetables based on techniques (such as toasting, browning and maturing), combinations (sweetness, fat, acidity and spicy) and the references that the duo collects in decades cooking around the world.

Among the recipes in “Sabor”, Ottolenghi highlights the plantain with coconut, apple and ginger salad, inspired by the experiences of Ixta in Brazil, and the roasted cauliflower with pepper butter which, according to him, is a great example of the versatility of your favorite vegetable.

Despite his passion for vegetables, Ottolenghi says that his young children are still discovering flavors and textures — one of them, aged seven, cannot stand raw tomatoes. “But the worst way to convince someone is to ask them to jump right in,” says the chef.

His new book suggests “a new way of thinking about processes, combinations and ingredients”. What new way is this? Essentially, “Sabor” is a collection of recipes that Ixta Belfrage, co-author of the book, and I developed in our test kitchen, with new ideas and new flavors when cooking vegetables. It is a book very inspired by the flavors that Ixta experienced growing up in Mexico, the United Kingdom and Brazil, where she has family, and the influences of the Middle East, where I come from. It’s a celebration of vegetables.

Right in the introduction, you present “20 flavor ingredients” that represent the essence of the book. Why? Essentially, this is a list of ingredients that allow you to incorporate intense flavors into vegetables — which is precisely the story of this book. We use a lot of peppers, which come from Ixta’s passion for Mexican food, but also from the Middle East, like the Aleppo pepper, and from South America, like the ancho pepper. The Middle East, by the way, is always present through cardamom, lemons. Vinegar and rice wine bring a bit of Asia too.

You say that vegetables can change a lot between dishes. Which one is the most versatile? Cauliflower, which has the ability to transform completely depending on the technique used. In the book, there is a recipe for roasted cauliflower with pepper butter that says a lot about versatility: we can achieve a good depth of flavor simply by seasoning and roasting the cauliflower — the same thing we would do with a piece of chicken or ham . Fortunately, people are rediscovering cauliflower and the many ways to prepare it, be it roasted, grilled, steamed or even raw, grated into salads.

Maybe people don’t like it because of that weird smell it has when it’s cooked. Cauliflower is like cabbage: if you cook it in water for too long, it will give off that bad sulfur smell. Instead, you can boil it in water for a few minutes, then bake or grill it to concentrate the flavor. So it doesn’t smell bad. This goes for many vegetables: you cook them quickly, then grill them. Thus, they are firm on the inside, but soft and slightly burnt on the outside, which brings an incredible flavor and a good contrast of textures.

How to awaken the desire to eat vegetables? Vegetables, like mushrooms, are incredibly tasty and versatile, but they can get a little watery if you don’t know how to prepare them. A simple shock of heat can bring out a flavor that wouldn’t be there. So, the problem is not the vegetables, but how aware people are of what is possible to do with them. An example of this is hummus, which is very famous, many people love it, but… how to make a very smooth and soft hummus? You need to know how to work chickpeas.

Why is it important to learn cooking techniques? When people hear that word, they immediately think that it is a level of cuisine that is not for them. But even when frying an egg you learn that if you use a lot of oil and it’s hot enough, the edges will be burnt and crispy. That’s a technique. Others are more complicated, like emulsification, but once you get the hang of it, you can make delicious, silky sauces. Every time you cook something, you’re learning techniques. The next time you do something similar, you already have this repertoire. That’s the magic.

Brazil has a strong food culture, but ultra-processed products are gaining more and more space, as in the United Kingdom. How important is cooking? Going to the market and buying something ready-made is very tempting, but our body was not designed to digest ready-made sauces or powdered seasonings. They are shortcuts to taste without the nutrients our bodies need. You think you’re eating real food, but you’re fooling your body. And the effects are palpable like obesity, for example.

It is possible to create much more delicious and nutritious things if you cook them at home. We need to build our own flavors. An example of this is a ragu I make for my children. It’s like Bolognese sauce, but vegetarian, made with lentils, tomatoes, garlic, harissa, miso, mushrooms, barley, cumin… that processed, has nothing artificial added.

Do your kids like vegetables? Like any child, they start out not liking many things. I think they are learning to like more complex flavors. My policy is never to fight. The seven-year-old hates raw tomatoes, for example. I don’t care that much because the worst way to convince someone is to ask them to jump right in. But children do need to be exposed to good food.

In the book, you say that Ixta is a great storyteller. What did you learn from her about Brazilian cuisine? Ixta often talks about the cuisines where she grew up, including Italy, Mexico and Brazil, which even inspired one of the recipes in the book: the plantain with coconut, apple and ginger salad. And he also introduced me to a Brazilian dessert that I like to call “truffles” [o brigadeiro]. It’s absolutely delicious. She loves the culture and food there. She says it’s the liveliest place in the world. Unfortunately I never had the chance to visit, but I really want to visit.