How can we continue to talk about cooking when current events bring us back to tragic subjects? Yotam Ottolenghi had planned a Paris tour in mid-October to accompany the release of an updated French version of one of his bestsellers, Jerusalem, co-written with Sami Tamimi. This celebration of uninterrupted success, notable for the collaboration of two chefs, one from the Jewish part of Jerusalem, the other from the Palestinian part, could have been a grand and hopeful event.

All the more so as the approach of the London-based entrepreneur, who runs seven fairly expensive restaurants in the capital (between €20 and €50 a dish), has always been to engage in dialogue with other cultures through gastronomy. He serves up a cuisine that blends ideas from the kitchens of the Middle East, Italy, India and California, and systematically explains the context of his recipes (their origins, the person who inspired them) in short introductory paragraphs, so as not to be accused of cultural appropriation.

The October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel cast a dark shadow over the chef's tour. Ottolenghi, who very rarely talks publicly about political subjects, first published a post on Instagram, explaining his fear for his family and loved ones living in Israel. His public book signing scheduled for October 12 at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche department store was canceled for security reasons. And at a press conference the following day, he spoke out again on the subject (against the advice of his PR team), lamenting the victims on both sides and the "evil," inhuman turn taken by Hamas.

Although the timing of this new edition was unfortunate, Jerusalem seems more recommendable than ever. More than a simple compilation of recipes, the duo's work gives an insight into the city from the inside, through its cultural tangle and communal passions. The table ends up appearing as one of the last available places for reconciliation.

It surprised me enormously and continues to surprise me every year! However, when I was writing it, I knew it would appeal to a lot of people because I felt a kind of magic working on it. We tried to go below the surface of things, to tell stories, the story of the Jewish immigrant community in Georgia, the story of pastries in Nablus. You often have to dig deep to really understand cultures, the individual experiences that lie behind certain dishes. And I think we need that context today. If you're just looking for recipes, all you have to do is search online – the internet is full of them.

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