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Recipes to Excite

MEZCLA

Ixta is what we all long for in a cook. Innovative, passionate, exciting & accessible.

I've been a mega fan of Ixta for years. The way she expresses life and color and soul into every dish is dang inspirational. And now you can have this feeling all to yourself, in book form! I keep mine on my bedside table and read it before I sleep and the first thing when I rise in the morning. Gives me that pep in my step just like her beautiful bold cooking!

Mezcla ... is one of the hottest cookbooks of the year....The dishes Belfrage has created are vibrant and, as befitting fusion cuisine, exciting and inventive. Spectator Cookbooks of the Year 2023

Subtitled 'recipes to excite', this book lives up to its billing

Colourful recipes in this, her debut cookbook, sing with big, bold flavours.

Most refreshing debut cookbooks of the year

Ixta’s style of cooking draws inspiration from three countries she grew up travelling to, eating in and obsessing over. Brazil (where her mum is from), Italy (where she lived as a child) and Mexico (where her granddad lived). She began her culinary career at Ottolenghi's NOPI restaurant, before moving to the Test Kitchen, where she worked for Yotam Ottolenghi for five years, contributing to his columns in the Guardian and The New York Times. Ixta was Yotam's co-author on bestselling Flavour (2020) before publishing her first solo cookbook: MEZCLA (2022), which was nominated for 'best debut cookbook' at the Fortnum &amp; Mason Awards and 'best international cookbook' at the James Beard Awards. MEZCLA was named one of the best cookbooks of 2022 by The Independent, The Times, Bon Appetit, Amazon, Spectator and Squaremeal. 
 
In 2021 and 2022 Ixta was named ‘one of the most influential women in food’ by Code Hospitality. Ixta is a contributing editor at Elle Magazine and has also written for The Guardian, Suitcase Magazine and Pit Magazine.

'One-in-a-million creativity, Ixta's food is simply outstanding!' Yotam Ottolenghi 
 
'This is such a beautiful and joyful book.' Nigella Lawson 
 
'Ixta is what we all long for in a cook. Innovative, passionate, exciting and accessible.' Andi Oliver 
 
'Ixta has a unique culinary voice, producing food that's bold and intense and audacious. Buckle up. It's quite a ride.' Diana Henry 
 
'Ixta is an alchemist with flavour. Thrilling recipes full of life and imagination. I can't wait to cook everything.' Jessie Ware 
 
 
Everyday eating with built in wow factor - from the Ottolenghi protégé shaking up the food world. 
 
MEZCLA means mix, blend or fusion in Spanish and in her first solo cookbook, Ixta Belfrage - loved for her inventive ingredient combinations - shares her favourite mezcla of flavours. Helpfully divided into quick recipes (for when you need something great on the table, fast) and longer recipes (for when you have time to slow down and savour the process), here are 100 bold, impactful recipes inspired by Italy, Brazil, Mexico and beyond. Creative, colourful and always delicious, this is food for every day and every occasion. 
 
Includes quick, flavourful recipes, such as Giant Cheese on Toast with Honey and Urfa Butter and Chicken with Pineapple and 'Nduja, as well as dishes to spend more time over: Chiles Rellenos with Salsa Roja Risotto and Prawn Lasagne with Habanero Oil.

Ottolenghi FLAVOUR

The third installment in Yotam’s bestselling and multi-award-winning PLENTY series (over 2 million copies sold). FLAVOUR celebrates the limitless potential of vegetables and reveals how to transform them into magical dishes.

This is, quite simply, brilliant ... the way Yotam Ottolenghi and co-author Ixta Belfrage confound your expectations make this my favourite 
Ottolenghi book yet.

As ever the recipes hit the mark, simple, low-effort dishes that pack real punch. Ottolenghi fans will know the kind of palate-dancing flavours to expect.

Dead easy to prepare, gorgeous to look at, and a triumph of texture and taste.

Ottolenghi is a culinary magician, transforming everyday vegetables, grains and pulses into exotic dishes.

Yotam Ottolenghi (Author) Yotam Ottolenghi is the restaurateur and chef-patron of the nine Ottolenghi delis, as well as the NOPI and ROVI restaurants. He is the author of eleven bestselling and multi-award-winning cookery books. His championing of vegetables, as well as ingredients once seen as 'exotic', has led to what some call 'The Ottolenghi effect'. This is shorthand for the creation of a meal which is full of colour, flavour, bounty and sunshine. Yotam lives in London with his family. www.ottolenghi.co.uk @Ottolenghi Ixta Belfrage (Author) Ixta’s style of cooking draws inspiration from three countries she grew up travelling to, eating in and obsessing over. Brazil (where her mum is from), Italy (where she lived as a child) and Mexico (where her granddad lived). She began her culinary career at Ottolenghi's NOPI restaurant, before moving to the Test Kitchen, where she worked for Yotam Ottolenghi for five years, contributing to his columns in the Guardian and The New York Times. Ixta was Yotam's co-author on bestselling Flavour (2020) before publishing her first solo cookbook: MEZCLA (2022), which was nominated for 'best debut cookbook' at the Fortnum &amp; Mason Awards and 'best international cookbook' at the James Beard Awards. MEZCLA was named one of the best cookbooks of 2022 by The Independent, The Times, Bon Appetit, Amazon, Spectator and Squaremeal. 
 
In 2021 and 2022 Ixta was named ‘one of the most influential women in food’ by Code Hospitality. Ixta is a contributing editor at Elle Magazine and has also written for The Guardian, Suitcase Magazine and Pit Magazine.

Unlock new levels of flavour with vegetables 
 
Yotam Ottolenghi and co-writer Ixta Belfrage break down the three factors that create flavour with innovative vegetable dishes to excite and inspire. 
 
Ottolenghi FLAVOUR combines simple recipes for weeknights with show-stopping meals to take your time over, broken down into three sections that teach you how to use ordinary ingredients to create extraordinary food: 
 
Process explains cooking methods that elevate veg to new heights 
Pairing identifies four basic pairings that are fundamental for great flavour 
Produce features impactful vegetables that do the work for you 
 
Packed with photography and more than 100 recipes including Spicy Mushroom Lasagne, Miso Butter Onions, Aubergine Dumplings alla Parmigiana and Romano Pepper Schnitzels, Ottolenghi FLAVOUR is a next-level approach to vegetable cooking for Ottolenghi fans and vegetable lovers everywhere.

Ixta Belfrage

Ixta Belfrage’s focus on the Brazilian food of her heritage bears the bold stamp of her characteristic, rambunctious creativity, espousing a jubilant fusion that’s both coherent and convincing, but above all delicious.

I love how Ixta’s food takes you on a journey of discovery into the uncharted universe of fusion flavours - an experience we should all, and absolutely must, embrace.

There is this thing – a style, a flavour, a hue – which is so unmistakably Ixta and so downright delicious. Her kind of creativity is both a one-off and, at the same time, deeply grounded in the cultures that produced her. Not many cooks can come up with this kind of magic with such incredible flair.

I was lucky enough to work alongside Ixta for some years - her cooking style always did and continues to strike me as compelling, innovative and unapologetically unique. Fusao is the book Ixta has always wanted to write, and she does it beautifully - straddling all the truest parts of herself, the diversity of her culture and of course, the bold flavours that make Ixta’s food so special. I want to learn and devour it all.

Much anticipated because she's so singular in the space she holds in our hearts and our kitchens. This book is as captivating as Ixta is herself. Ixta captures a moment in time and place with this book and takes us with her. Ixta has always been a magician with her flavours and how she gets us excited to cook. But with this book she also transports us, sweeps us up and says, here's the Brazil I see and how it inspires my plate. Ixta is always inspiring, but this book is a film. It is fierce in words, in recipes and how it will stay with you. Ixta is a true Fusão of her heritage and experiences and the book captures this philosophy. 
 
Rare is a cookbook that makes you want to cook everything in it. Ixta, our generation's culinary magician achieves this in this book, and tells you about her Brazil all at once. This book is a film and a philosophy.

The mention of Ixta’s food triggers a Pavlovian response in me - I begin to salivate immediately, especially when the recipes are inspired by her beloved Brazil. The writing and photography in Fusao are deliciously intimate and exciting, the food absolutely drool-worthy.

Another beautiful book from the incredibly talented Ixta, and beautiful it really is from the inspiring stunning recipes (of course) to the  glorious photography and design. This book is one that everyone will want to get their hands on. Ixta's recipes sing with spirit, passion and invention, this book is one to keep close to you when you're in the kitchen and you need brand new exciting ideas

Untraditional recipes inspired by Brasil

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2025 
 
A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2025 
 
AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF 2025 
 
 
‘Jubilant fusion that’s coherent and convincing but, above all, delicious.’ Nigella Lawson 
 
‘Not many cooks can create this kind of magic with such incredible flair.’ Yotam Ottolenghi 
 
Brighten up your meal times with the flavours of Brazil. 
 
Bestselling author, Ixta Belfrage has made a name for herself as one of the most exciting young talents in the food industry and in FUSÃO (translating to fusion in Portuguese), she brings all her signature creativity and flair to the food of her mother’s homeland. 
 
With recipes such as Moqueca fish burgers, Duck in golden tomato broth and Papaya & chocolate cake with citrus honey glaze, Ixta’s recipes offer up fresh takes on Brazilian dishes and ingredients, along with explanations and substitutions for any hard-to-find ingredients. With stunning photography from Brazil and personal stories intertwined with vibrant recipes, this is food to share, excite and inspire.

Ixta Belfrage

Praise for FUSÃO

Ixta Belfrage’s focus on the Brazilian food of her heritage bears the bold stamp of her characteristic, rambunctious creativity, espousing a jubilant fusion that’s both coherent and convincing, but above all delicio ...

I love how Ixta’s food takes you on a journey of discovery into the uncharted universe of fusion flavours - an experience we should all, and absolutely must, embrace.

There is this thing – a style, a flavour, a hue – which is so unmistakably Ixta and so downright delicious. Her kind of creativity is both a one-off and, at the same time, deeply grounded in the cultures that ...

Ixta Belfrage’s focus on the Brazilian food of her heritage bears the bold stamp of her characteristic, rambunctious creativity, espousing a jubilant fusion that’s both coherent and convincing, but above all delicio ...

I love how Ixta’s food takes you on a journey of discovery into the uncharted universe of fusion flavours - an experience we should all, and absolutely must, embrace.

There is this thing – a style, a flavour, a hue – which is so unmistakably Ixta and so downright delicious. Her kind of creativity is both a one-off and, at the same time, deeply grounded in the cultures that ...

Ixta Belfrage’s focus on the Brazilian food of her heritage bears the bold stamp of her characteristic, rambunctious creativity, espousing a jubilant fusion that’s both coherent and convincing, but above all delicio ...

I love how Ixta’s food takes you on a journey of discovery into the uncharted universe of fusion flavours - an experience we should all, and absolutely must, embrace.

There is this thing – a style, a flavour, a hue – which is so unmistakably Ixta and so downright delicious. Her kind of creativity is both a one-off and, at the same time, deeply grounded in the cultures that ...

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