"I am not a vegetarian, and this is important to emphasize. I mention meat and fish in introductions to recipes, as I think about them periodically. But that doesn't mean I miss them. Here I offer you dozens of hearty, balanced and nutritious meals - it just so happens that they have neither fish nor meat. This book sums up my four years at The Guardian Weekend, where I wrote a column for vegetarians. Readers fed up with collecting magazine clippings often asked me to collect everything under one cover. This collection is based on recipes that were previously published in The New Vegetarian, to which I added many new ones. Someone may not like that I actively use eggs and dairy products. Someone will probably be deterred by the fact that I advocate parmesan and other continental cheeses, in the production of which rennet is almost always used. But I am what I am, and I cook what I like." (Yotam Ottolenghi)