Jeruzalém - Kuchařka – Ottolenghi Yotam (2021)

The authors of this book, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, grew up in Jerusalem in the 1970s and 1980s without knowing each other. Yotam lived in the Jewish quarter in the west of this ancient city, while Sami lived in its Arab quarter in the east. They met in London in 1999 and became business partners in the Ottolenghi firm, which operates restaurants and delis, among other things. Their childhood experiences later served as inspiration for writing this book. They adapted traditional recipes to suit the lifestyle and tastes of contemporary cooks and diners. The book is written as a tribute to the city where many cultures and cuisines from different parts of the world meet. It contains 120 recipes for preparing interesting dishes made from vegetables, legumes, and meat, as well as desserts, selected by the authors based on their taste preferences, cooking habits, and memories of how food was prepared in their extended families. They did not aim to document Jewish or Arab cuisine in the city in detail; rather, they sought to capture their own experiences and apply them to modern cooking styles.