Spending more time in Cape Town gave us time to explore and
rediscover favourite places. Apart from loving our ‘new’ courtyard where Table
Mountain is a constant presence, I had the opportunity to browse around in book
stores. Books are my one weakness and I never manage to walk out of a book
store without one.
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| Ottolenghi Simple |
That is how I found myself on a busy afternoon in Kloof
Street, Cape Town, with the latest offering from Yotam Ottolenghi, Simple, in
my hands. If a cookbook from a favourite chef is in my hand, it will be in my
library at Towerwater.
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| New season pomegranates |
The title promised easy recipes. I am eager to add Yotam’s
Middle Eastern inspired dishes to my lunch and dinner menus. If they are simple
easy dishes, I am all for it. I was curious to see what he saw as simple
because, in his own words, cooking for him “has always been about abundance,
bounty, freshness and surprise.” A philosophy I like to follow at Towerwater.
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| Tomato seedlings |
The Simplicity was in that one can make the recipes in 30
minutes or less, with 10 or fewer ingredients and in a single pot. The
ingredients read like Towerwater’s sowing and harvesting chart, with tomatoes,
dill, basil, coriander, carrots, aubergine, courgette, pomegranate, fig and
many more.
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| Beetroot and carrots |
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| Courgettes |
Looking at all the young seedlings in the garden, I wonder if they realise what
an important task they are facing. Adding the ingredients to meals from my new
cookbook. While my seedlings are growing, I add my new cookbook to the rest of
my Ottolenghi collection in the Towerwater library. I derive joy seeing the
collection complete with the latest offering, plain and simple.
