Yotam Ottolenghi - Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our book has been three years in the making and involved lots of very talented people, to whom we are extremely grateful.

Two years out of the three weve been having weekly tasting sessions in which we would taste up to a dozen sweets in one afternoon. In charge of those marathons was one Sarah Joseph, a great cook, colleague and friend, who has dedicatedly tested all the recipes in our test kitchen, many of them several times. Sarah kept her jolly spirit in the face of many a cake adversity. For that, and for all her insights, clever contributions and very hard work, we are utterly grateful.

Tara Wigley had the impossible task of putting all this complexity in order and turning it into an actual book. Baking is already highly technical and the fact that both authors are famously fastidious didnt make it any simpler. As she always does, Tara meticulously collected recipes and information, constantly offered thoughtful suggestions and, generally, kept the ball rolling even when it was veering seriously off course. Her observations, her ability to hold the project together and her brilliant way with words were all priceless assets.

We are also totally grateful to Esme Howarth and Claudine Boulstridge, both of whom were deeply involved in the recipe testing in the UK. On the other side of the pond, Kim Laidlaw happily confirmed our inkling that weve got something good going, also by American standards.

For their part in making this book as striking as it is delicious and as radiant as an Ottolenghi meringue, we would like to thank Caz Hildebrand and Camille Blais (incredible Team Here), and Taylor Peden and Jen Munkvold (awesome Team P+M). A big thank you is also due to Lucy Attwater and to Lindy Wiffen of Ceramica Blue.

For supporting us, trusting us and allowing us to play with our food, we are utterly grateful to our agents, publishers, editors and publicists: Felicity Rubinstein and Kim Witherspoon; Rebecca Smart, Jake Lingwood, Aaron Wehner and Hannah Rahill; Lizzy Gray, Lisa Dyer, Louise McKeever, Helen Everson and Kaitlin Ketchum; Mark Hutchinson, Sarah Bennie, Diana Riley, Gemma Bell and Sandi Mendelson.

We would also like to acknowledge a few colleagues and collaborators to whom we are always grateful: Jonathan Lovekin, Sanjana Lovekin, Bob Granleese, Melissa Denes, Sarah Lavelle and Fiona MacIntyre.

Throughout the book we refer to our colleagues and friends at Ottolenghi. Without them, this work would never have come to pass.

Firstly, we should mention Noam Bar, Cornelia Staeubli and Sami Tamimi. All three of them, in their own particular ways, have contributed to shaping this book and the environment in which it has been created. Noam, Cornelia and Sami are family to us, a constant source of stimulation, support and critical thinking.

Equally important are the heads of the pastry section who worked with us over the years. Paulina Bembel, who is currently in charge, has made the Ottolenghi pastry counter her own. Her smart ideas, her practicality, her striking displays and the way she runs her team are exemplary. Her deputy, Verena Lochmuller, is equally brilliant and a privilege to have around us. Other wonderful heads that have been with us over the years and to whom we are utterly grateful are Savarna Paterson, Sarit Packer, Carol Brough, Jim Webb, and Khalid Assyb.

At the helm of our bakery is Aaron Kossoff who, alongside Irek Krok, runs the little engine that supplies our shops and restaurants with breads, morning pastries, bagged cookies and biscuits, jams, chutneys and much much more. Aaron and Ireks clever innovations, their willing approach and their professionalism have successfully seen us through some very busy Christmases. Wed also like to thank Faiscal Barakat, Charissa Fraser and Mariusz Uszakiewicz, all of whom have have held this ever-challenging position in the past.

Other pastry chefs and bakers, present and past, that we would like to mention here with much gratitude are Jens Klotz, Daniel Frazer, Daniel Karlsson, Przemek Lopuszynski, Brooke Gladden, Julia Frischknecht, Solvita Valaine, Cline Lecoeur, Franceska Venzon, Dan Murray, Rob Wainwright, Vita Shkilyova, Kristina Kazlauskaite, Emily Parker, Simonetta Minarelli, Giulia Bassan, Mirka Strzep, Nelson Fartouce, Daniela Silva, Carley Scheidegger, Jacopo Romagnoli, Michael Strong, Cristina Mehedinteanu, John Meechan, Lingchee Ang, Mariusz Krok, Colleen Murphy, Adam Murawski, Andrea Del Valle Garcia, Artur Matewski, Agnieszka Wozniak, Ernestas Valantinas, Carlos Prachedi Pesca, Robert Jastrzebski, Peter Polgar, Damian Zmijewski, Elimar Viale, Jared Carter, Ali Jannas, Sergio Cava, Robert Czarniak, Arkadiusz Jaroszynski, Magdalena Juhasz and Zbigniew Zubel.

More than anyone else, really, we are grateful to all the sweet-toothed customers of Ottolenghi and NOPI who have been nibbling on our brittles, chewing our biscuits, inhaling our meringues and scoffing our cakes for many many years. Please keep on coming and let us carry on baking to our hearts delight.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge a small group of close friends and family and thank them here for being part of everything we do.

HELEN First and foremost, David Kausman, my rock and confidant, a true mensch , and father of my beautiful children; my parents, for their examples of generosity, courage and perseverance; my siblings, Jimmy, Lucy, Lily and Margaret, for their unfailing love and support, and my precious nieces and nephews; Brendan Slater and Eng Ching Goh for their enduring loyalty to our family; Mark, Roma and the entire Kausman/Aflalo/Tauber families the most incredible in-laws one could wish for; the Lee family who still loom so large and lovingly in my life your little Ah Nung turned out all right in the end!