Ottolenghi's approach to vegetables — roasting at high heat until genuinely charred at the edges — was influential in shifting restaurant and home cook practice away from the timid roasting that produces steamed, pale vegetables. The technique is not about burning; it is about taking the Maillard reaction and caramelisation to their maximum point before carbonisation, producing deep flavour complexity unavailable at lower temperatures.
Vegetables roasted at high heat (220°C+) with sufficient oil and spacing to achieve genuine caramelisation and edge charring — not browning, but the deep mahogany to near-black edge colouration that signals maximum flavour development without carbonisation.
Char on vegetables is a flavour amplifier — caramelised sugars, Maillard compounds, and the slight bitterness of controlled carbonisation create depth that no amount of seasoning applied before a timid roast can produce. Against tahini, yogurt, or pomegranate molasses, charred vegetables read as complex, intense, and fully realised.
- Temperature must be high — 220°C minimum. Lower temperatures steam before they roast, particularly with high-moisture vegetables [VERIFY] - Spacing is critical — vegetables touching each other trap steam, preventing caramelisation. Single layer with space between pieces is non-negotiable - Oil must coat every surface — dry patches steam, oiled surfaces caramelise - Different vegetables require different sizes to finish simultaneously — denser vegetables cut smaller, tender vegetables cut larger - The char at the edges is not a mistake — it is the point. The slightly bitter, intensely sweet edge char is where the flavour lives Decisive moment: The colour check at the edges — when the thinnest, most exposed edges have turned genuinely dark (not golden, not brown — dark), the vegetable is ready. The centre will be soft; the edges will be caramelised; the very tips will approach char. This is correct.
- Oven too cool — vegetables steam and turn soggy before colouring - Overcrowding — same result - Insufficient oil — dry-roasting produces hard, not caramelised, surfaces - Pulling too early — pale roasted vegetables have none of the flavour depth the technique is designed to produce
OTTOLENGHI JERUSALEM — Technique Entries OT-01 through OT-25