Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook

“Ixta, his co-author, is a significant influence here and she has a really global background, with a lot of roots in Mexico. So, there’s a lot of Mexican influence in here. Chilis pop up a lot. Ottolenghi has always been global, but with a Middle Eastern bias. In this book you get a lot more Mexican and Indian food. And there’s Thai stuff. I found that personally really exciting, too, because Indian is my favorite cuisine. They are unabashed about fusion, which has become like a dirty word in food and food media, as if it’s just diluting or just throwing stuff together. They point out that there are lots of cross-cultural hybrids and that this is what happens when food travels around the world and that, if you’re combining things have having respect for different cuisines, it’s totally OK. Don’t feel bad about it.” Read more...

The Best Cookbooks of 2020

Becky Krystal, Cooks & Food Writer