Yotam Ottolenghi
I always preferred my father's pasta the next day, when he'd put it in a hot oven with heaps of extra cheese. It would emerge slightly burned and very crisp on top.Collection: Food
The smells of slow cooking spread around the house and impart a unique warmth matched only by the flavour of the food.Collection: Food
Fusion food as a concept is kind of trying to quite consciously fuse things that are sometimes quite contradictory, sometimes quite far apart, to see if they'd work.Collection: Food
Tiny quails may not seem as impressive as a mammoth turkey, but there is something refreshing about a spread of individual birds on the Christmas table.Collection: Christmas
One man's trash is another man's treasure, and the by-product from one food can be perfect for making another.Collection: Food
If the first bite is with the eye and the second with the nose, some people will never take that third, actual bite if the food in question smells too fishy, fermented or cheesy.Collection: Food
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.Collection: Teacher
Food can bring people together in a way nothing else could.Collection: Food
A food processor, or even one of those small bowls that fit on a stick blender, is a real treasure. No, that's not an overstatement.Collection: Food
The natural sweetness of leeks, with their soft, oniony aroma, makes them the perfect winter comfort food.Collection: Food
For me, the end of childhood came when the number of candles on my birthday cake no longer reflected my age, around 19 or 20. From then on, each candle came to represent an entire decade.Collection: Birthday
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.Collection: Christmas
Most of my recipes start life in the domestic kitchen, and even those that start out in the restaurant kitchen have to go through the domestic kitchen.
I do support people eating more vegetables. It's a good thing to do.
Eating ready-made meals is about being very passive, and actively cooking is something that nothing compares to.
TV chefs are not responsible for people's consumption of fibre; this is not our job.
The teaching thing, the one where I have to impart my knowledge, is probably what comes the least naturally to me because I'm an absorber of things.
If you can't taste an ingredient, you have to ask yourself why it is there.
There used to be a time - it isn't so much the case now - that vegetarianism was some kind of religion, and either you belong or you don't belong.
Stereotypical vegetarian food looks gray and brown.
I'm a firm believer that the world should be your oyster when you're cooking. People should open themselves to other cuisines - there are a lot of hidden secrets all over the world.
In vast parts of the world, people don't eat meat.
Conflict is very much a state of mind. If you're not in that state of mind, it doesn't bother you.
Food was always important in my family, but I didn't think of it as a vocation until a later point in life.
There are tons of wonderful places to eat in London.
Some days, just occasionally, when I've had just one too many chickpeas, drizzles of olive oil or chunks of feta, I crave a return to the sushi-filled joints of Tokyo.
The moment to tell my barber I was gay just never came up.
The range of ingredients available to home cooks has expanded dramatically. People are incorporating herbs and spices like lemongrass, smoked Mexican chile, sumac, and za'atar mix.
These days, meals are more open to personal preferences. People like to serve themselves.
When I was a kid, there was always food to be had on the street in Jerusalem, but anything above a falafel stand was mediocre or worse.
I don't do guilt. Whatever I do, I do it happily.
Pasta with melted cheese is the one thing I could eat over and over again.
When I cook a meal, I like to serve things one by one and keep them separate. I get that from my father - he's such a purist. Some people even put their desserts on the main plate. It's just wrong.
People don't know how good cauliflower is, because they always have this image of cauliflower cheese - awful, sticky, creamy and rich.
I used to love fine dining, but I lost my appetite for it to a degree because sometimes it is too much about the effort and too little about the result.
Most men say they can cook pasta, but I think you should find a little bit of an unusual angle on your pasta and make that your signature dish.
One of the troubles with food is that people take themselves too seriously. This is why I'm very happy for people to change my recipes, alter them, replace one ingredient for another.
The Guardian's 'Word of Mouth' blog bridges the gap between blogging and serious food journalism.
Some breakfast cereals only come into their own as children's party treats: what are cornflakes and Coco Pops for, if not to clump together with melted chocolate and spoon into a cupcake holder?
Way back when I was a junior pastry chef, I'd bake loads of muffins every morning, as many as 120 or so, while operating on autopilot.
When it comes to the battle of the molluscs, cephalopods win tentacles down.
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.
As with lemon juice, the more sorrel you use, the more it has to be balanced with something sweet, starchy or creamy - it's a yin-yang approach to cooking that I find rather calming.
I have had to come to terms with the fact that I am hooked on Twitter. Not good.
What makes maftoul worth celebrating is that it's so easy and forgiving to cook.
There are many reasons I feel at home in the U.K., but if I were asked to pinpoint the moment I knew I'd arrived, it might well be when I realised the British shared my love of fritters.
As for pineapple, it's far more versatile than you might think, and certainly merits wider use than in Hawaiian pizzas and pina coladas and on cheesy cocktail sticks.
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.
Lebanese mezze, Cantonese dim sum and Basque pinchos have all evolved over years and are designed to make sense together.
I now understand how varied the world of cultivated rice is; that rice can play the lead or be a sidekick; that brown rice is as valuable as white; and that short-grain rice is the bee's knees.