Ebury acquires three Ottolenghi cookbooks

Penguin Random House (PRH) imprint Ebury Press has acquired three new Ottolenghi cookbooks, with the first two coming out in 2020.

The world all language rights deal, excluding the US, was secured by publishing director Lizzy Gray from Felicity Rubinstein at Lutyens & Rubinstein Agency. In the US and Canada, Ten Speed Press publisher Aaron Wehner bagged rights from Kim Witherspoon at Inkwell.

The first title, Falastin: The Cookbook, by Ottolenghi co-founder Sami Tamimi and co-collaborator Tara Wigley will be published in hardback for £26 by Ebury in March 2020. It is described as “a love letter to a place and its people, an evocative collection of over 110 unforgettable recipes written for the busy home cook and stories that will make you want to find out more”.

With photography from Jenny Zarins, Falastin sees Tamimi and Wigley take readers through Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, Nablus, Jenin, Haifa, Akka, Nazareth, Galilee and other places in the West Bank. Recipes include falafel with sumac onions, rice tabbouleh, tray bake chicken with lemon and za’atar, along with Sayadiyya, or fisherman’s spiced rice.

The publisher said: “Get ready to laden your table with the most delicious of foods – from vibrant salads, silky soups and wholesome grains to fluffy breads, indulgent one pot dishes and perfumed sweet treats – there are feasts to be shared and everyday meals to be enjoyed. These are stunning Palestinian inspired dishes that you will want to cook, eat, fall in love with and make your own.”

Falastin will be followed by two new cookbooks from Yotam Ottolenghi, published in Autumn 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Executive head chef Tamimi partnered with Noam Bar and Ottolenghi in 2002 to set up Ottolenghi in Notting Hill. The company now has four stores and two restaurants. Alongside Ottolenghi, Tamimi is co-author of Ottolenghi: The Cookbook and Jerusalem: A Cookbook. Wigley worked in publishing for the best part of a decade before switching to food and writing in 2010, starting work with Ottolenghi in 2011, eventually becoming his writing collaborator.