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" After all these years of cooking and writing recipes, I am still amazed every time I notice how even the minutest of variation in technique can make a spectacular difference. "

Yotam Ottolenghi

I Am

Time

Cooking

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" Urfa chillies are a Turkish variety that are mild on heat but big on aroma. They're sweet, smoky, a lovely dark red, and go with just about anything. "

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" Chefs don't use white pepper just to avoid spoiling the whiteness of pommes puree or bechamel. It has a more peppery aroma, with sharpness and sweetness, too. "

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" The addition of vinaigrette to freshly roasted vegetables gives them a freshness and juiciness they don't normally have; the acidity brings out new shades of flavour, too. "

" Custard is controversial: what makes it a custard, how best to cook it and, crucially, is it to be eaten or put in a pie and thrown? "

" For those, like me, who can't rely on being given a home smoker this Christmas, you can build your own approximation with just a roll of tin foil and a big wok or pan for which you have a lid. "

Yotam Ottolenghi

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Christmas

" Most fish require a short cooking time, but cephalopods are the exception to this fishy rule. As with some cuts of larger land beasts, the longer they're cooked, the more tender they get. "

" Cobnuts have a fresher flavour than any other nut I know of and go very well with autumnal fruit and light cheeses. "

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Fresher

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" Going out for a meal, especially for young urbanites, is less about socialising over enjoyable food than about enjoying food as a way to socialise. "

" There's nothing more marvelously wintery than orange root veg mash; some butter is all it needs. "

" I adore recipes that make use of one cut of meat or a whole animal to create a complex dish, loaded with flavour. "

" Dried porcini add a substantial, deep flavour to otherwise more neutral vegetables. I use them in risottos, mashed roots and winter soups. "

Yotam Ottolenghi

Winter

Roots

" Having grown up in the Middle East, eating beans for breakfast always seemed like a bizarre British eccentricity. "

Yotam Ottolenghi

Eating

" Just-poached vegetables show off their natural attributes and taste fresh and light in a way you never get with roasting or frying. "

" How can something that's 95% water be so divisive? Alone among vegetables, the poor, innocent stick of celery elicits the most vicious attacks. "

" Every era has its own list of ingredients that are considered exotic and then, 15 years later, they're not. "

" Chinese sausage, which is widely available from Asian grocers and online, is sweet, rich, and enticingly smoky. I add it to steamed rice with strips of omelette and a few baby veg stir-fried with soy. "

" Orange blossom water would make a magical addition to your store cupboard. "

" Nearly all edible seaweeds - or 'sea vegetables,' as they ought technically to be called - belong to one of three broad groups: green, red and brown algae. "

" I have a terrible tendency to lick my fingers when I cook. So much so that I got a telling off from my pastry teacher years ago, who said it would hinder my prospects. "

" I used to have a very unmediated experience of food but, because of the recipe testing, I've lost that now. I can't switch it off even when I'm on holiday. "

" Mackerel is sustainable and healthy. "

Yotam Ottolenghi

Healthy

Sustainable

" Apart from its famous healing properties, manuka has a strong, woody flavour. "

" Tossing doughnuts, fritters or fried dumplings in fennel sugar adds grown-up complexity without diminishing the indulgence factor. "