Chef Yotam Ottolenghi brings comfort to the Irvine Barclay Theatre

There are multiple ways to describe comfort food, but the four words Yotam Ottolenghi and the co-authors of his new book have decided on are: “nurturing, convenient, nostalgic, indulgent.”

The chef, restaurateur and author has written best-selling cookbooks and has been a weekly columnist for the Guardian for the past 16 years. For his latest book, “Comfort,” he collaborates with Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley to present the recipes for dishes they reach for again and again.

“What Helen, Verena, Tara and I are really focusing on here is the emotional impact food has on us,” said Ottolenghi. “Rather than come up with a list of recipes that are perceived as being comfort, like mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, we tried to bring up recipes that we like to cook at home and bring us a sense of comfort.”

Ottolenghi will appear at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Oct. 13 to discuss “Comfort,” in conversation with another renowned chef, restaurateur and cookbook author, the Los Angeles-based Nancy Silverton. Live on stage, Ottolenghi will treat the audience to a one-off live experience, preparing a dish in the second half of the show with a little audience participation.

“I will ask the audience to get involved, not come on stage, but sort of vote from their own seats,” Ottolenghi hinted.

The Israeli-born British chef has a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in comparative literature from Tel Aviv University, but he moved to London to study French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu.

His first cookbook debuted in 2008, titled “Ottolenghi,” and was co-authored by his friend-turned-business-partner, Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi. Ottolenghi’s cookbook, “Jerusalem” won the the International Assn. of Culinary Professionals’ Cookbook of the Year award and was named Best International Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation. His vegetable-focused cookbooks “Plenty,” published in 2010, and “Plenty More,” published in 2014, have been credited with changing the way diners view vegetables and the way chefs prepare them. His influence in London, where he co-owns delis and restaurants NOPI and ROVI, has resulted in something the dining scene there widely regards as the “Ottolenghi effect.”

“Comfort” is Ottolenghi’s 11th book and one that Ottolenghi said he and his co-authors wanted to approach without the assumption that we all have the same sense of comfort. Ottolenghi grew up in Israel as a child of parents with Italian and German heritage but also spent summers in Italy and eventually moved to London as an adult, and he acknowledges that comfort can be culturally specific.

“Each and every one of us has their own story, their own background and their own journey,” said Ottolenghi. “So what gives you comfort isn’t necessarily what gives me comfort.”

Ottolenghi maintains, however, that common denominators in cooking go beyond culture.

“Ask 80% of the people on earth, they will tell you that they find chicken comforting, but that could be a roast chicken, chicken soup or chicken stir fry,” said Ottolenghi.

Besides the fours adjectives Ottolenghi said are decidedly present in comfort food, another word that helps to define it is “home.”

“Home is a very crucial word here, too, because the book is not restauranty in its nature; it is much more about home and domestic cooking,” said Ottolenghi.

The recipes in “Comfort” are meant to give you a sense of comfort and home not because they are starchy and cheesy, but instead because they are familiar. Within the pages of “Comfort” readers will find recipes for matza ball soup, crepes three ways and tortang talong, a Filipino dish in which charred eggplant is dipped in egg to make a sort of eggplant omelet.

Although none of the co-authors of the cookbook are necessarily Filipino, Ottolenghi believes it is possible to get so comfortable with a place (or with a person) that you find them to feel like another home, and their food can become a sense of comfort.

“Helen and I have been friends for many, many years, and she is Malaysian and of a Chinese background but also grew up in Australia. I learned to love Malaysian food through her,” Ottolenghi said of the cuisine culturally influenced by India, China and Malay. “Now I have a nostalgia for that.”

When it comes to the things that bring Ottolenghi himself the most comfort, food is certainly a factor but not in the way one might expect.

“I have just come back from holiday, and I have been sitting around a lot of tables with people eating delicious food and for me, those moments of sitting around food and talking about food, even if you didn’t cook it and even if none of the people that are with you are chefs, it’s just such a fun thing to do,” said Ottolenghi. “That gives me lots of comfort.”

“Comfort” will be available this fall, published by Ebury in the UK and by Ten Speed Press in the U.S. and Canada. Tickets for “An Evening with Yotam Ottolenghi, moderated by Nancy Silverton” on Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. at the Irvine Barclay Theatre are available at thebarclay.org.