Goodness me, the food photography in this book is… so beautiful. Following up from his success with the cook books ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Plenty’, London-based Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi will harness your vegetable/grain/legume cooking prowess in ‘Plenty More‘, add to it in all kinds of imaginative and inspiring ways, and send you on your way to healthy, stunning dishes.
I’m liking
There is a reason why this book was one of the most highly anticipated cook book releases of 2014, it is on another level entirely to your average-joe how-to-cook title. As I’ve mentioned, the photography is almost reason enough to love this book. The pictures give you the impression that Ottolenghi is a master with ingredients, and that he is absolutely passionate about good food. His introductions reinforce his purist approach to proper food – from one recipe, ‘serve this with pita, and nothing else’.
The book is sorted by technique (tossed, simmered, braised, roasted, mashed etc.) so you really get a good go at trying something new and mastering it. There are a few baked/sweet treats too, but they also focus heavily on using fruits and some fairly unique ingredients.
Things that made me go hmmmm
There are a few folks this book won’t suit… if you simply must cook with animal protein, you won’t find it here. If you’re a paleo or similar eater then you’d have to adapt a lot of the grains used, so it isn’t ideal for you – even though the book is primarily based on vegetables. If you’re not a foodie, this book will probably frustrate you due to the volume of specialty ingredients and the love of beautiful food which fills the pages :).
I can only imagine what one has access to food-wise in London, it must be a lot of specialty ingredients that are easily accessed. If you’re expecting to cook these recipes with no adaptations you might struggle to find some ingredients (kashk, dakos, black garlic, dried sour cherries, yuzu…). For this reason also, these recipes may not entirely suit a family budget that is on the conservative side.
The conclusion
If 2015 has brought you a desire to eat healthy meals, try a few more vegetarian dishes and branch out and learn to cook a few new, interesting ingredients – then Plenty More will almost certainly assist in meeting your goals. It’s not cheap but gosh, it’s beautiful.
Plenty More is published by Ebury Press and has a RRP of $69.99
