MEZCLA: Recipes to Excite

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Reinventing 'fusion' flavours with fun, flavour-packed recipes to cook for yourself and others, from the co-author of bestselling Ottolenghi FLAVOUR. Set the tray aside and leave the peppers to cool on the rack, slit side down, so any liquid drains away. Increase the heat to high, add the chopped prawns and fry for another 8 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the prawn mince has taken on some colour.

Here Yotam Ottolenghi and designer Caz Hildebrand tell the story of ‘that’ lemon and their latest creation FLAVOUR, from the book’s cover to the photography and illustrations inside. You have spent time in various corners of the globe, but you grew up mostly in London and that’s where you live right now.Fry, stirring often, for 8–10 minutes or until the onions are soft and golden and the tomatoes have broken down. Add the cooked rice to the pan with the salsa roja, stir together and gently heat through for a minute. After rattling through the menu, Belfrage explains how working on Mezcla was a different beast entirely to “dream project” Flavour. She worked in the test kitchen for four-and-a-half years, and says of her old boss Ottolenghi: “He had an influence on my cooking before I even met him, but working with him was an incredible experience. It means mix, blend or fusion [in Spanish], so it’s the perfect word to describe the recipes, and also my background, and me.

While the mushrooms cooked – and the kitchen filled with mouth-watering aromas – chickpeas were mashed with yoghurt and garlic (do heat this before serving, it is optional but I feel improves the taste).Indeed, I’ve made so many lists, I have to whittle them down, and then further condense them here to give you some idea of the thrilling scope of the book. Mezcla was both conceived and written over a period of six months during a period of strict pandemic-related lockdowns in London, and the book was very much influenced by its author’s own emotional state.