Food made and shared with love turns anymeal with family or friends into the best oftimes. As a willing participant, we’re first seduced by wonderful aromas, then by the visual delight of new or familiar dishes, and finally, by flavors embodying happiness.Somewhere between the first sips and thelast spoonful, we’ve smiled and laughed;swapped stories, jokes and opinions;reminisced about old memories and madenew ones.
Making connections through food is adaily activity for chefs. They know one wayto melt our hearts is to tantalize our tastebuds. While we all need to eat in order tosurvive, when we share good food, we areliving life. Four chefs who know this wellare Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi in London and Andrew Ticer and MichaelHudman in Memphis, Tenn.
All four men grew up in families wherelarge, shared meals played a central role ineveryday life. While the families of Yotam and Sami hail from the Middle East andAndy’s and Michael’s are from Tennessee,they held the same tradition in high regard.
The foods of both sides of Jerusalem
Yotam and Sami spent their childhoodssurrounded by food and family. Bothwere born in Jerusalem and they grewup just a few miles from each other—Sami in the walled, largely Palestinian Old Cityof Jerusalem and Yotam in JewishWest Jerusalem.
Both experienced the joy of foodand cooking at a young age, but foundtheir calling in different ways. Wantingto break free of the more conservativeattitudes of their hometown, theyoung men found their way to morecosmopolitan Tel Aviv in their early 20s, where Yotam was an assistantteacher and budding journalist, andSami pursued a cooking career.
It was on the doorstep of a westLondon restaurant, Baker and Spice,where the two finally met in 1999.Sami, who had by then attended LeCordon Bleu cooking school, wasthe head chef, and Yotam worked inpastry. After a 30-minute conversation,they realized the serendipity of theirpasts. A friendship formed, leadingto the opening of the first Ottolenghi restaurant three years later.
The various combinations of Yotam’s German and Italian heritage, Sami’s Arabic upbringing, the vibrant street foods of Jerusalem, and cooking with their respective grandmothers and auntshave in fluenced what diners experiencetoday at the four Ottolenghi locationsand their fine-dining restaurant,NOPI, all in London. Mid-Eastern,Mediterranean, Muslim and Jewishtraditions mingle, along with a nod to California and a grab for the occasionalJapanese ingredient.
For both chefs, happiness comesback to the sharing of food. “Food isnot a panacea and a bowl of hummus is not going to bring about world peace,”Yotam says. “Sitting around a tableand eating together is a good place tostart, though.”
“How can you be miserable whenbeing offered a platter full of roastedaubergine [eggplant] or butternut squash topped with green herbs andpurple, jewel-like pomegranate seeds?”Sami adds. “It’s sunshine on a plate.”
Southern hospitality
Connection to the past also runsdeep with Andy and Michael. Friendssince the sixth grade and raised withthe family-oriented, hospitality driventraditions of the South, theyhad another influential presence intheir lives. Both grew up in largeItalian families with wise, adoringgrandmothers who dispensed love andadvice along with tastes of whateverrobust dish they had in the oven orbubbling on the stovetop.
Andy and Michael each credit their "Maw Maw’s cooking" as their inspirationfor what they do today. Theirphotographs have prominent placesin their restaurant, Andrew MichaelItalian Kitchen.Their cooking is the best of bothItaly and the American South: Tortellini is stuffed with black-eyed pea purée,pecorino romano lives comfortablywith crispy fried chicken skins andCalabrian sausage flavors a simmering pot of collard greens. Ingredients aresourced locally; what farmers bringaround drives menu choices. Whensomething new comes into the kitchen, it spurs creativity.
“When you cook, when you spend allthis time being into the food; you wantto share it,” Michael says. “Our guestsare coming into our house to eat ourfood and break bread with us. We wantyou to put everything aside and justenjoy yourself.”
Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt
Serves 4
These addictive fritters are Sami’s mother’s recipe. She used to make them once a weekand give them to the kids in a pita to take toschool for lunch. They are not dissimilar toIndian pakoras. Best eaten hot or warm ortaken on a picnic—in a pita, of course, withsome hummus and tomato.
FOR THE LIME SAUCE
1¹/³ cups Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
Grated zest of 1 lime
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
FOR THE FRITTERS
1 small cauli flower
Scant 1 cup all-purpose our
3 tablespoons chopped at-leaf
parsley plus a few extra leaves
for garnish
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 free-range eggs
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups sun flower oil for frying
To make the lime sauce, put all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Taste—looking for a vibrant, tart, citrusy flavor—andadjust the seasoning. Chill or leave out forup to an hour.
To prepare the cauli flower, trim off anyleaves and use a small knife to divide thecauli fower into little orets. Add them to alarge pan of boiling salted water and simmerfor 15 minutes, until very soft. Drain intoa colander.
While the cauli flower is cooking, put the flour, chopped parsley, garlic, shallots, eggs,spices, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisktogether well to make a batter. When themixture is smooth and homogenous, addthe warm cauli flower. Mix to break down thecauliflower into the batter.Pour the sun flower oil into a wide pan toa depth of 2⁄3 of an inch and place over highheat. When it is very hot, carefully spoonin generous portions of the cauli flower mixture, 3 tablespoons per fritter. Takecare with the hot oil!
Space the frittersapart, making sure theyare not overcrowded. Fry in small batches, controlling the oil temperature so the fritterscook but do not burn. They should takeabout 2 to 4 minutes on each side.
Remove from the pan and drain well on a few layers of paper towels. Serve with thesauce on the side.
(Recipe are from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Ten Speed Press, 2013.)
Pickled Beet Crostini withTarragon and Gorgonzola
Serves 8
“One day in mid-fall, we had a partyscheduled for the restaurant, and we needed to come up with a passed appetizer for the event. For some reason, nothing really excited us, and then the Woodson Ridge Farm delivery truck pulled into our driveway. Leslie had some incredible lookingbeets that day that sparked an idea.
We wrapped the beets in aluminum foil andlaid them right on the embers of the pizzaoven to roast. When they were tender, wecut them into pieces and poured some ofour house pickling liquid over them. Wewanted something nice and bright to gowith them, so we combined some yogurt,ricotta, chopped fresh herbs and citrus juiceinto a thick spread.” —Michael Hudman
FOR THE PICKLED BEETS
¾ pound beets, any color
(2 or 3 medium beets)
1 cup champagne vinegar
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
¼ yellow onion, minced
2 bay leaves
1 bunch each fresh tarragon
and thyme
FOR THE TARRAGON YOGURT
Scant 1 cup fresh tarragon leaves
½ cup fresh mint leaves
Juice of 1 lime and 1 orange
3 or 4 ice cubes
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
½ cup good-quality fresh
ricotta cheese
Kosher salt
One baguette, thinly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil
Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese or
trout roe for garnish
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Place the beets in a roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Roast until tenderwhen tested with a knife tip, about 45 minutes. Set the beets aside until coolenough to handle, then remove the skinsand quarter. Put the beet quarters in amason jar or nonreactive bowl.
In a saucepan, combine the vinegar,½ cup water, the sugar, coriander seeds,peppercorns, mustard seeds, onion, bayleaves, tarragon and thyme, and bring toa boil over high heat. Reduce the heat tomedium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.Taste the liquid for flavor balance, but becareful not to take a deep breath or it willmake you cough. Strain the pickling liquidand allow to cool to room temperature.Pour the liquid over the beets, cover andrefrigerate overnight.
To make the tarragon yogurt, blanch thetarragon and mint in a saucepan of boilingsalted water to brighten their color, about10 seconds. Plunge them into ice waterto lock in the color. Drain the herbs andsqueeze out any excess water. Roughly chopthe herbs and put them in a blender withthe lime juice, orange juice and ice cubes.Blend on high speed until liquefied, about 3minutes. Do not let the mixture get hot, orit will turn dark green.Pour the purée intoa bowl and stir in the yogurt and ricotta.Season to taste with salt.
To make the crostini, preheat the ovento 350 F. Arrange the baguette slices on abaking sheet and brush them generously with the olive oil. Bake until golden brownand crisp, about 10 minutes.
To serve, remove the beets from thepickling liquid and cut them into smallerpieces, if you like. Arrange the crostini ona platter and spread each one with thetarragon-yogurt mixture. Top with the beets and garnish with the Gorgonzola.
(Recipe from Collards & Carbonara: Southern Cooking, Italian Roots, Olive Press, 2013.)
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