“Simple” was yesterday; now it’s “Just as simple.” The former is the title of a cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi, which he wrote eight years ago and which has since convinced many people that cooking with fresh ingredients isn’t much harder than reheating processed food from cans and the freezer. So now there’s a follow-up volume that (yes, indeed!) focuses on delicious food. And I have to admit, just flipping through it quickly made my mouth water—before, on a second reading, the “Must try this right away” notes marked the necessary step from drooling to structured sampling.
In hindsight, the notes turned out to be a bit counterproductive; it might have been easier to mark the pages with uninteresting recipes—but who does that? I should have known better, because Yotam Ottolenghi’s secret is this: he manages to whet your appetite. That’s no coincidence—it’s his stated goal. “Whether a lack of time, self-confidence, or decision-making ability keeps you from cooking, or the general hustle and bustle that distracts and numbs us —we’ve put together a collection of dishes with the sole purpose of getting you into the kitchen, with the promise that simple solutions are within reach—both technical and mental,” writes Yotam Ottolenghi in the book’s foreword.
