Yotam Ottolenghi Quotes

A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.

Experience, which plays such an important part in culinary work, is nowhere so necessary as in the preparation of sauces, for not only must the latter flatter the palate, but they must also very in savour, consistence, and viscosity, in accordance with the dishes they accompany.

One must know combinations, one must have a true knowledge of food to be in the moment.

I concentrate in my work on preserving and displaying the original flavor from each ingredient in a dish.

If you combine good flavors, food turns into an orchestra.

The simpler the food, the harder it is to prepare it well. You want to truly taste what it is you're eating. So that goes back to the trend of fine ingredients. It's very Japanese: Preparing good ingredients very simply, without distractions from the flavor of the ingredient itself.

Balance is key in cooking - you want a little acid, a little sweet, a little savory - the flavors should be harmonious.

A plate of food has to have balance. For example, a mild fish like skate mustn't be overwhelmed by the side dishes. They should have personality and color, but they also have to be subtle.

I never try to marry more than three flavors in one dish.

I love it when a few simple ingredients come together on a plate, and I think, 'Wow, that's a dish.'

Tasting a dish should be memorable If nothing remains in the memory of a single guest, then I have made a mistake.

I know how I like my food. I like it spicy, salty, sticky, crunchy, juicy, oozy - basically any dish you know and love, jacked up to a bordering-on-socially-unacceptable amount of flavor.

If it tastes really good, and it's funky, it's funkalicous. If the guy making it is funky, he's funkintacious.

I have a large pallette of tastes.

I've thrown vanilla beans into mustard. Nothing crazy or grainy, just normal dijon. It's great for duck. Smear some of that right on the duck, coupled with some roast plums, and it all comes together in that savory over sweet over savory over sweet way we all love.

People under-salt their food, and they think it's bland, but salt brings out flavor.

I remember the first time eating my chef's Caesar salad. It was just like one of those moments in the movie theater when everything gets quiet.

We didn't grow up with processed foods at all. I mean, I am not a nutritionist. I make enchiladas for a living, so that disclaimer needs to be there.

Desserts are all about form and function, about warm and hot and cold. I want every component to hit your palate on different levels at different times.

When you think about French pastry, one of the most classic traditional pastries is the eclair. An eclair is like a blank canvas that can be easily adapted to any environment. Ingredients are the most important aspect of a perfect eclair, and they need to be used at their peak.

Tart pomegranates that pop in your mouth make the perfect counterpoint to roasted chicken and salty-creamy feta cheese.

I just love food and the art of it. There's such an art to being a good chef and the way you present food and the different ingredients you use. It's like music - you get inspiration from different genres. It's the same with art, too.

Persian cuisine is, above all, about balance - of tastes and flavors, textures and temperatures. In every meal, even on every plate, you'll find both sweet and sour, soft and crunchy, cooked and raw, hot and cold.

Salt's relationship to flavor is multidimensional: It has its own particular taste, and it both balances and enhances the flavor of other ingredients.

When you roast a chicken perfectly, there's nothing more delicious.