How Ottolenghi changed my life, part 1/4 - A long introduction
Or how I manage to eat less meat thanks to Ottolenghi's recipes
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This article was first published in French here.
Another ecstatic review of Ottolenghi’s books, really ?
What else is there to say about Ottolenghi - or more precisely, the 4 people behind the group of the same name, namely Sami Tamimi, Noam Bar, Cornelia Staeubli and Yotam Ottolenghi himself?
What could I add, after 5 million books sold worldwide and such an influence that it has inspired a whole bunch of Levantine-inspired restaurants in our European cities, and that it has made sumac commonplace in British supermarkets?
Why should I post another photo of a tomato and pomegranate seed salad, when there are already a multitude of Insta accounts dedicated solely to testing their recipes, and that the hashtag #icookedottolenghi links to almost 40,000 posts on Instagram?
More importantly, what more could I write, when there are already excellent articles about Ottolenghi and his partners?
I recommend you to read first of all the long and fascinating portrait published in the New Yorker 10 years ago, when Ottolenghi and his acolytes were starting to change "the way London eats". Also of interest is this article on goodfood.au, which wonders how the "Ottolenghi effect" has swept across the planet, as well as this portrait on French newspaper Le Monde published in 2019, which looks back at Ottolenghi's impressive career, placing him after the emblematic Nigella Lawson, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver:
The very upper-class Nigella Lawson had taught British housewives how to feed their families, the volcanic Gordon Ramsay introduced them to the subtleties of the world's haute cuisine, the friendly Jamie Oliver relaxed them with his fifteen-minute, five-ingredient recipes. Ottolenghi, by blending Israeli, Iranian, Turkish, Italian and French influences, has become synonymous with vegetarian and international cuisine - the exact opposite of what he was taught at Le Cordon Bleu. Yotam Ottolenghi, épices and love, by Zineb Dryef
So what else could I write?
Well, maybe a story.
Or how I became a part-time vegetarian thanks to two Ottolenghi’s cookbooks.
The story of a pâté and duck confit lover who tried to eat less meat
Let's go back to the beginning if you will :)
I have been an avid meat-eater for most of my life. By habit first, because I grew up eating meat at every meal. But also and mostly by taste, and because some dishes are an integral part of my memories and of the person I have become.
For example, I would not imagine my life without the famous Vietnamese soup, phở. I was born and raised in France, and this soup is more than a soup, it’s a tenuous link with my family’s origins. Every time I eat it and swallow the broth until I see the bottom of the bowl, I feel at home, even if I happen to be sitting in a godforsaken restaurant in the east suburbs of Paris.
Duck confit with Sarlat potatoes is another dish dear to my heart. Many years ago, we were on vacation in the Périgord Noir, a beautiful region in the South-West of France. I don't remember the town and even less the name of the restaurant where we sat down, my parents, my husband and I, but I remember perfectly the somewhat rustic setting, the checkered tablecloth, the plate with duck confit and Sarlat potatoes, and the small glass of Sarlanoix, a nuts liquor that the owner offered us. We felt good, we chatted about anything and everything with the restaurant owner while drinking this too sweet but strangely delicious drink. And as this happened, it became one of these rare moments engraved in my memory where I felt explicitly French. There I also felt at home. During the '98 Football World Cup, that was a major moment for French national cohesion, I felt nothing in particular. But something happened at this meal.
Or it could be the simple taste of a good slice of pâté de campagne with pickles and a glass of white wine, which is one of the countless reasons why I started training in charcuterie a year ago.
But it's not just about eating meat, I also deeply enjoy the cooking part. I've always loved cooking meat, and since I started my charcuterie training, I've become even more passionate about working with meat. I was afraid that I would be put off by the carcasses and the volume - it's not the same thing to cook 2 chicken legs at home and tens of kilos of meat in a professional lab. But in the end, the opposite happened. Even though I was doing things that a lot of people would have deemed disgusting - tasting raw blood sausage, peeling dozens of cooked pig tongues, watching the butcher cutting half carcasses of pork with a saw... My curiosity grew.
How I grew aware of the impact of the meat industry
Nevertheless. About ten years ago, like many people, I first became aware of the dark sides of eating meat thanks to Jonathan Safran Foer's fabulous essay, Eating Animals. It’s a fascinating mix of investigation and personal story, enhanced by a wonderful storytelling. I was obviously touched, mystified, revolted by what I read in the book.
Was it enough? Unfortunately, no.
Something clicked after reading several studies showing the ecological impact of the meat industry. But something really changed after reading, only 2 years ago, another book, a novel this time. I had read this book for work and it ended up turning my life upside down. 180 jours by Isabelle Sorente (unfortunately not translated in English) is a story made of dazzling parts, murderous sentences and of images that stick in one's mind. The book is a reflection on the extreme mechanization, when one transforms the living into "productive unit". It evokes all the horror of the intensive breeding: not only the unbearable suffering that the animals go through, but also the workers' terrible working conditions, told through the friendship between a breeding farm employee and a professor who came to discover the daily life of a breeding farm for academic purposes.
This is perhaps where fiction is even stronger than numbers and facts: the story of the friendship between two men who have nothing in common, fascinated by a sow who's too intelligent for her own good, was enough to make me decide it was time to change.
Why my first attempts to eat less meat failed.
From then on, I tried several ways to reduce my meat consumption. Only X number of meals with meat per week. Trying vegetarian versions of dishes I liked. Looking for inspiration in vegetarian cookbooks with bright covers in different shades of green.
All of these methods failed.
Maybe I'll get into the details one day in a dedicated article, but to summarize, I always ended up with a frustration both behind the stove and in my plate. I missed eating certain dishes and cooking meat. The vast majority of the vegetarian dishes I cooked were uninteresting and repetitive in their flavor and preparation. As I became aware of this, I realized how important it was for me to vary and enjoy my meals and their preparation, much more than I thought.
Some of my friends can eat the same thing every day for weeks without being bothered. Some are genuinely happy with a plate of cooked wheat and steamed vegetables. Or some don't mind eating an average dish because dinner is "just" a necessary step before moving on to more interesting activities, rather than a special time to be enjoyed by itself.
I realized that in contrast, dinner in particular was fundamentally important to me, that it was almost a reward after my day's work. I needed the contents of my plate to brighten me up and to be different from the day before and the day after, no matter how simple it was, like an improvised fried rice with leftovers from the fridge and a small piece of bacon, or spaghetti carbonara Gennaro-style.
I'm not judging my friends, please do not read what I have not written! We each have our own hobbies, our own demands, our own sources of joy. And on the other hand, things that we don't care about, whereas they are essential to the happiness of others.
But in the meantime, I hadn't found a "good solution" after several months trying to reduce my meat consumption, and a way to not being frustrated both in the kitchen and at the table.
And then I went to the library and came across The Cookbook by Yottam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.
I picked it up without knowing at that time the two authors’ story. It was out of curiosity, as I had noticed their books highlighted in bookstores several times.
The Cookbook, and Jerusalem afterwards, changed everything.
After only a few weeks of exploring their two books, and then their website, I was no longer someone who was trying to eat less meat. But someone who had learned to passionately love dishes that not only tasted good, but also turned out to be meatless.
I was no longer under the constraint to eat less meat; I had simply discovered a different, but at the same time strangely familiar cuisine that was so exciting that the question was no longer “meat or no meat”. It was just delicious and different. Only the joy of preparing my evening meal and savoring flavors that were not far from being as deep and complex as the phở of my childhood remained.
Do you want to know more about how the two cookbooks convinced me ? Well, the next episode will be sent to you next week, subscribe below to receive it! ;-)
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Marjorie
Before you leave…
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