Ottolenghi's Vegetable Renaissance
Israeli-British chef Yotam Ottolenghi's tiny cafes in London are a destination unto themselves, serving delicious vegetarian, meat and fish dishes to grateful shoppers and robust lunch crowds. Stepping into Ottolenghi's Notting Hill cafe, one is greeted with enormous platters heaped with colorful vegetables and grains: roasted sweet potatoes with red onion jam, goat cheese and spiced pumpkin seeds, green beans happily nestled alongside watercress, shallots and roasted grapes, roasted eggplant decorated with feta, almonds, pomegranate and mint, and more.
Ottolenghi's gorgeously photographed cookbooks feature many of the recipes from his cafes. Plenty's (Chronicle, $35) vegetarian recipes are sectioned by ingredients: roots, funny onions, green things, brassicas, pulses, grains, pasta and couscous. The "mighty" eggplant and green beans both have their own chapters. Among the green bean recipes, a hefty salad called Gado Gado is accompanied by a tasty warm peanut sauce. The recipe is ingredient intensive but straightforward and well worth the long shopping list.
Plenty More (Ten Speed Press, $35) divides its vegetarian recipes by cooking method: steamed, simmered, braised and roasted as well as cracked, tossed and mashed. Ottolenghi refers to the recipes as his "vegi-renaissance." He layers flavor, texture and color, employing simple but effective techniques that bring out the best in his fresh and colorful ingredients.My favorites include Brussels sprouts risotto, sweet and sour leeks with goat curd and currants, and an Iranian vegetable stew with dried lime. Are you hungry yet? --Shahina Piyarali, writer and reviewer
Birchwood Manor, the house where much of the book is set, is almost a character itself. You've featured this sort of grand, mysterious house in several of your books. Was it inspired by a real house, and/or a combination of different places?
Last month marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Alcott introduced the four March sisters of Concord, Mass., in two volumes: part one, published in 1868, and part two, published in 1869 (copies sold in the United States usually put both parts in one book; in the U.K., part two is available separately as Good Wives). Widespread critical and commercial success led to two more sequels: Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Alcott (1832–1888) died at age 55 of a stroke. Much of her life was marked by her family's financial hardships prior to the publication of Little Women. The use of her own autobiographical details--each March sister matches one of the Alcotts--resonated with many women in all stations of society. Her work was a landmark in children's fiction, both ahead of its time and a guide for all that came after.
