Jerusalem
Winner of the Observer Food Monthly Cookbook of the Year 2013.
Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi are the men behind the bestselling Ottolenghi: The Cookbook. Their chain of restaurants is famous for its innovative flavours, stylish design and superb cooking.
At the heart of Yotam and Sami's food is a shared home city: Jerusalem. Both were born there in the same year, Sami on the Arab east side and Yotam in the Jewish west. Nearly 30 years later they met in London, and discovered they shared a language, a history, and a love of great food.
Jerusalem sets 100 of Yotam and Sami's inspired, accessible recipes within the cultural and religious melting pot of this diverse city. With culinary influences coming from its Muslim, Jewish, Arab, Christian and Armenian communities and with a Mediterranean climate, the range of ingredients and styles is stunning. From recipes for soups (spicy frikkeh soup with meatballs), meat and fish (chicken with caramelized onion and cardamom rice, sea bream with harissa and rose), vegetables and salads (spicy beetroot, leek and walnut salad), pulses and grains (saffron rice with barberries and pistachios), to cakes and desserts (clementine and almond syrup cake), there is something new for everyone to discover.
Packed with beautiful recipes and with gorgeous photography throughout, Jerusalem showcases sumptuous Ottolenghi dishes in a dazzling setting.
Yotam Ottolenghi (Author)
Yotam Ottolenghi is the restaurateur and chef-patron of the nine Ottolenghi delis, as well as the NOPI and ROVI restaurants. He is the author of eleven bestselling and multi-award-winning cookery books. His championing of vegetables, as well as ingredients once seen as 'exotic', has led to what some call 'The Ottolenghi effect'. This is shorthand for the creation of a meal which is full of colour, flavour, bounty and sunshine. Yotam lives in London with his family. www.ottolenghi.co.uk @Ottolenghi
Sami Tamimi (Author)
Sami Tamimi was born and raised in Jerusalem and was immersed in food from childhood. He started his career as commis-chef in a Jerusalem hotel and worked his way up to become head chef of Lilith, one of the top restaurants in Tel Aviv in the 1990s.
Sami moved to London in 1997 and worked at Baker & Spice as head chef, where he set up a traiteur section with a rich Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean spread. In 2002 he partnered with Noam Bar and Yotam Ottolenghi to set up Ottolenghi in Notting Hill.
Alongside Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi is co-author of two bestselling cookbooks: Ottolenghi: The Cookbook and Jerusalem: A Cookbook, which the New York Times recently named as one of the 25 most influential cookbooks from the last 100 years. Sami’s third cookbook Falastin is co-authored with Tara Wigley and won the Fortnum & Mason Cookery Book of the Year 2021. Sami's first solo cookbook, Boustany, will be published in 2025.