Ottolenghi answers the eternal question: why so many ingredients?

It is safe to say that our Members love Yotam Ottolenghi. His books hold the top three slots in the EYB Library in popularity: Plenty currently resides on 13,927 Bookshelves, followed closely by Jerusalem and Ottolenghi Simple. Two more of his books are in the top 10. To provide more perspective, the most popular non-Ottolenghi book sits on 7,984 shelves (Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat) – an impressive amount, but not even close to the top two spots. Along with effuse praise for their deliciousness, Ottolenghi’s recipes have garnered a reputation for being complicated, something he addressed with Ottolenghi Simple. However, even that book has many recipes that contain a dozen ingredients. The chef finally answered the topic outright in his advice column in The Guardian when a reader asked “Why always so many ingredients?”

He begins by stating that his objective in writing a recipe is to include as much information as possible and to be precise about ingredient measures. The reason for this, he says, is so “the reader can follow a recipe to the letter and know that this is how it’s meant to be, or improvise and not worry if “my” onion is 160g and theirs weighs in at more or less. I want my recipes absolutely to work.” But even the seemingly indefatigable Ottolenghi acknowledges that as he gets older he is simplifying his cooking, sharing that in his test kitchen he now frequently asks the recipe developers if the ingredients list could be shortened or the techniques streamlined.

Whether you believe that or not, the chef wants you to know that it is okay to improvise, make substitutions, or omit an herb or spice if you don’t have it, noting that “the world will keep turning and the dish will still be pretty tasty.” However, he adds that if you have the ingredient on hand you should always include it because through extensive recipe development, the test kitchen found that the ingredient adds something valuable to the dish. He promises that “We never add anything just for the sake of it.”