I am no professional chef, but I’m an experienced home cook. And I found these recipes to be very doable, and I think many of these I could do with my twelve year old little cousin.I do encourage anyone who buys this to take two minutes to read the introduction written by the author, so that you understand how to look at this book. He makes a good point that “simple” is different for each person, as it was for each person who helped put the book together. For example, simple for one person may mean, put it together and let the oven do its thing while you do something else, or simple is few ingredients, or simple is prep fast, or simple is make ahead on Sunday so you can just assemble it quickly after work on Monday. That’s how the SIMPLE system helps you choose recipes. There’s something for everyone.I’ve included a picture of the inner cover with a brief description of the SIMPLE grading system, and each recipe has one or more of these letters to categorize the recipe. So don’t expect every recipe to meet all 6 criteria.The introduction goes over ingredients:For those who are intimidated by the “Ottolenghi Ingredients” (see picture)If you live in Texas, I was able to add these following ingredients into my curbside pickup at H-E-B. Saves time searching! I was able to find Sumac, Za’atar, Pomegranate Molasses, Ground Cardamom, Tahini, and Date Syrup (Molasses)—not Ottolenghi ingredients, but a unique ingredient used in a recipe. All for reasonable prices. Note, each store will vary, so if you can do curbside pickup—find the closest “big” H-E-B close to you and go town. Curbside is something I’ve come to embrace during the pandemic, and it saves so much time when it comes to finding special items.If you don’t have an HEB, then your local grocery store with a good international section that includes middle eastern ingredients/brands like SADAF etc, may have these.Black Garlic I found at our local 99 ranch market which is an Asian grocery store, so if you have one in town, check it out.I found Harissa at our local Kroger’s but not Rose harissa, but I do have rose water and will try to simulate the taste.There are recipes for Rose Harissa online and the ingredients are quite attainable, so you could make a batch to jar and use for months. The recipes I have found involve both petals and rose water, but I will omit the rose petals and try mixing the proportions for harissa to rose water to at least get the floral element.I’ve seen you can find many of these ingredients at the middle eastern grocery store. Many Asian Supermarkets have a good Indo/Paki/Middle Eastern section—you might find them there tooIt’s more likely cheaper to buy in store than online.[UPDATE: I went to our local middle eastern grocery store, Phoenicia— all or most of these ingredients are $6 at most. Awesome!!]BUT EVEN IF you don’t have these, and don’t have these special grocery stores, and don’t feel like buying them online and paying more for them—improvise! He offers substitutions if you can’t find the fancy stuff, and the internet has all the substitutions you need when you’re missing something.That’s what you would do when you’re cooking “normal” things at home right? I don’t have heirloom tomatoes, but I have normal tomatoes! I don’t have date syrup, but I have honey. So take a chance and you might be pleasantly surprised, or disappointed—but that’s the fun in learning and gaining experience with cooking.With that being said, any substitution means it will deviate from the original taste intended, but if you like it, and your loved ones like it, then the substitution was a win and you didn’t need to buy a $13 ingredient you may only use once or twice.I say this so that people will not hold back from this book because of these special ingredients.At the end of the introduction, he clarifies certain ingredients to be EXTRA clear—and I really appreciate that he took the time to be very clear throughout the book to help the reader be successful in following the recipes.The book is beautiful with many pictures and of most of the recipes. Its layout is user friendly. And Ottolenghi is very detailed in his instructions.Cut it this way, and lay it on the dish this way, in this direction.Most recipes are very approachable. And if you understand the SIMPLE system, then you can choose a recipe that suits your needs at that moment. There are soo many great recipes here, so don’t be discouraged to try new things!UPDATE:I have made about 5-6 recipes already, and now that I’ve acquired the rest of the ingredients and have found a middle eastern grocery store to replenish my ingredients—I can forsee many of these becoming go to/staple recipes in our house.I also highly recommend using this book alongside Adeena Sussman’s “Sababa” cookbook. She offers recipes to many of these special ingredients, spice blends, and condiments.