Yotam Ottolenghi, Ramael Scully dish on new cookbook, "NOPI"

This piece originally aired October 19, 2015.

Celebrated Israeli-born chef Yotam Ottolenghi is unveiling a new cookbook Tuesday based on recipes from his flagship London restaurant, with the help of his head chef Ramael Scully.

He already wrote four New York Times best-sellers, but his new offering takes Ottolenghi and his fans on a detour, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata.

In the heart of London's trendy Soho neighborhood sits Ottolenghi's restaurant, NOPI, which stands for "North of Piccadilly."

The idea behind "NOPI" the book is to challenge cooks to recreate the magic of Ottolenghi at home.

Ottolenghi discovered Ramael Scully-- "or just "Scully" as he is affectionately known" -- working in one of his kitchens. He describes Scully as "the big man with the congenial smile," who brought bold, intense flavors with an Asian flair to each new creation.

Scully was born in Malaysia to a mother of Indian and Chinese heritage, a father of Irish and Balinese heritage, and raised in Australia. It was the knack of bringing those early influences together that caught the eye of Ottolenghi, but when Scully first started working, Ottolenghi told him he was using "too much elements."

"It has taught me in a way that sometimes too much of a plate does not work," said Scully.

Ottolenghi said because Scully was trained in formal restaurants, there were always too many elements on the plate, so he taught him lose some things.

Jerusalem-born Ottolenghi has built a career on collaborating. The Jewish chef famously partnered with Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi to bring Middle Eastern street food to a global audience.

His new cookbook with Scully includes 120 recipes of the restaurants most popular dishes -- an Asian twist to Ottolenghi's signature style of combining fresh and innovative ingredients, like the quail with burnt miso butterscotch and pomegranate and walnut salsa.

Ottolenghi said he considers Scully less a protégé than a partner -- a master gaining knowledge from the student.

"It was very much learning from Scully. We constantly learn from people around us," said Ottolenghi. "I think probably the most brilliant chefs do absorb from their surroundings."

Fans of Ottolenghi's previous cookbooks, who now number in the millions, may find the new one more complex.

Ottolenghi makes clear this is a restaurant cookbook featuring restaurant food. He says the recipes may take more commitment but they're not out of reach for amateur cooks - the quail took less than 20 minutes to prepare - and he wants to challenge his readers.

"That whole ethos of cooking in a restaurant is what we try to bring to the home cook. Some ingredients, some recipes are slightly more complicated, others simpler. But overall it's a slightly more evolved way of cooking," he said.

It's about raising the game with dishes designed to impress guests, that look harder to prepare than they were, are delicious, and most importantly, doable at home.