Yotam Ottolenghi

Many of my favourite comfort foods are connected by one ingredient: semolina. Whether it’s my Italian grandmother’s gnocchi or the cakes, dumplings and couscous of my childhood in Jerusalem, it’s often semolina at work. Its texture is distinct: glutinous and gritty in the likes of those gnocchi, but light and sandy when used in cakes and cookies. Semolina, which is halfway between wheat and flour, is also a really effective way to bring a welcome crunch to two other great comfort foods: roast potatoes, which benefit hugely from being rolled in semolina after parboiling, and chicken schnitzel. In fact, it’s a bit of a miracle ingredient.