A renowned celebrity chef, author of several cookbooks — you definitely have one lying on your bookshelf — and now…Masterchef hologram?
Regardless, Yotam Ottolenghi has earned his stay in the cooking world — and, along the way, done the impossible. He’s made us love vegetables again. Just check out his column in the Guardian, centred around veggies.
But that’s not all Ottolenghi’s good at (obviously). Along with his cookbooks, he’s dropped tips and tricks, hints and hacks throughout his career — and his latest involves everyone’s (maybe not vegans) favourite garnish.
Yes, we’re talking about cheese. Specifically parmesan cheese.
If you were to go to the grocery store and avoid the pre-packaged, pre-grated cheese, you’d see that authentic parmesan cheese comes in a big wheel (the dream), and has a protective layer on the outside of it — called the rind.
This rind is commonly disposed of by chefs, cooks, and maybe even you too, if you’re one to splash out on authentic cheese.
Oh, but not Ottolenghi, of course. He’s a sustainable man when it comes to his cheese. In fact, he’s confessed to the fact he likes saving the rind — which he then adds to other foods.
As for what he enjoys using it for? The celebrity chef suggests dropping it in a soup, risotto or stew. If you’re concerned you’re just going to have a lump of rind swimming around your dish, don’t worry — he claims the ring melts and permeates the dish with its cheesy, umami characteristic.
Or as Ottolenghi claims, its’s “a quick and cheap way to add lots of flavour with minimum effort.”
Come to the end of the rind, but not quite ready to melt it in a meal just yet? Don’t worry, he’s reassuring to the fact that the rind freezes incredibly well — “so you’ll have them whenever needed.”
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