Sami Tamimi

Very well written, with a sensitive treatment of the political situation. It acknowledges the challenges faced by the Palestinian people with a sympathetic unbiased perspective. Interspersed between the food sections are occasionally heartwarming and all too often heart-wrenching profiles that don't pull any punches but don't resort to inflammatory rhetoric like Yasmin Khan did in Zaitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen. The two books are quite similar in many respects, same subject show more matter and format, but this one is so much better. The other can be safely avoided.

The photography is gorgeous and artistic, and showcases both the food and the people and terroir behind it.

The recipes look fantastic, they are well introduced, well formatted, and clearly written. The quantities for most ingredients are listed in both cups/oz as well as grams, which is extremely helpful.

Overall the approach is respectful of tradition yet playful. Indicative of someone who has a deep understanding of the cuisine, its ingredients, and is able to apply modern techniques to achieve something new while preserving the spirit of the old. As opposed to his restaurant partner Yotam Ottolenghi, who often seems to get carried away with weird flavour combinations that don't always work out, Tamini sticks a little bit closer to the mainstream, while still putting his personal twist on things. For instance, he innovates with elements of traditional dishes, such as using panko instead of ground almonds in muhammara, or replacing molokhieh with spinach and okra.
As a result, there are quite a few recipes that look like they sprang from the kitchen of a modern upscale restaurant, while retaining the essence of the traditional recipe upon which they are based, and still accessible for the home cook in a normal kitchen with regular ingredients. There are also lots of creative vegetable dishes, which tends to be a weak area in many cookbooks.

I look forward to trying a bunch of the recipes in this book, something that I can't say for a lot of the cookbooks I've read recently. show less

I read this book over the past two weeks like crazy, and so far have tried two recipes. Fantastic. It didn't surprise me too much though, as I tend to pick books and recipes if the ingredients loosely fit into what we eat. There are a few we won't be eating - squid just isn't my thing - and a couple are either too time-consuming, or are too exotic for my "house cat" palette (there really are not many of these, though).

These recipes draw mostly from all over the Mediterranean, with some show more Asian tossed in (and maybe others too, I think it's mentioned in the intro), and even one or two Mexican-based recipes. One of them was for Quesadillas, and they were absolutely delicious. There are AT LEAST twenty other recipes bookmarked for taste-testing. :-)

The recipes in this book are vegetarian, but the author is not vegetarian, and that suits me/my family perfectly as we are not vegetarians either, but have cut our meat consumption by almost half over the past several years. These dishes can easily be served with meat, when the occasion/mood suits it. This is a book that will definitely be used very regularly. show less

I had never heard of Ottolenghi before and when I saw this cookbook, the title was the first thing that grabbed my attention, and then the blurb sealed the deal.

The first thing I want to say about it is that it is the most interesting cookbook I’ve ever read. The recipes are very different than what I’m used to making, and they all sound easy enough to prepare. The photos were amazing, and the stories shared about his family made me feel as if I knew them. They were very close and I show more liked that.

The contents are:
Introduction
Vegetables, legumes, and grains
Meat and fish
Baking and patisserie
Larder
Index
The Ottolenghi people
Thank-yous

My favorite recipes were the salads. I love a good salad and there was such a variety. Some of them had ingredients that I would have never thought to put together. Even days after finishing the book I catch myself thinking “oh, I could make a salad with …

If you’re a cookbook lover, check this out. I don’t think you’ll be sorry. show less

Favorite. cookbook. ever. Every recipe comes out exactly as expected, which is delicious, and healthy to boot. It's so tempting to say I threw the recipe together myself when guests rave, but they wouldn't believe me. And I could never miss an opportunity to turn someone onto the genius that is Ottolenghi.