Rather than easing gradually into this blog, I’ve decided to jump into the deep end in, Heston-style. With a unique name, distinctive food philosophy and overall flair for the dramatic, I’m willing to bet that there aren’t many people who haven’t at least heard the name Heston Blumenthal. If you have been living under a rock for the greater part of the 21st century, Blumenthal is an English celebrity chef, author, television host and all round overachiever.
Heston Basics:
- As a cook, Blumenthal was entirely self-taught. Prior to opening The Fat Duck, his only experience was a week working in Raymond Blanc’s (Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, two Michelin stars) kitchen
- Blumenthal owns the restaurant The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, opened in 1995. The restaurant has a menu filled with unusual dishes, following Blumenthal’s interest in molecular gastronomy. Perhaps the most famous of these dishes is bacon & egg ice cream.
- Blumenthal also owns The Hind’s Head and The Crown at Bray, both pubs also located in Berkshire. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London, is the newest of Blumenthal’s restaurants. The menu consists primarily of historical British dishes, and is consistently ranked among the best restaurants in the world.
- He has received numerous honorary degrees in recognition of his scientific approach to cooking and, along with scientists at Reading University, he co-wrote an academic paper on the taste and flavour of tomatoes called “Differences in Glutamic Acid and 5′-Ribonucleotide Contents between Flesh and Pulp of Tomatoes and the Relationship with Umami Taste”.
Cooking Style:
Although he hates the term for it’s ‘elitist’ connotations, Blumenthal is a proponent of a type of modern cooking called ‘molecular gastronomy’. Molecular gastronomy is the application or study of scientific principles and practices in cooking and food preparation. For examples in Heston’s cooking, check out his approach to cooking staple dishes like steak, poached eggs and roast chicken. Heston is also famous for his interest in the connection between food and multi-sensory experiences, and for the heavy influence of British food history in his dishes, books and television shows.
What you probably didn’t know:
- Prior to opening The Fat Duck, Blumenthal worked a variety of jobs, such as photocopier salesman, debt collector and credit controller. It took him more than a decade to follow his dream of being a chef.
- The book that sparked Blumenthal’s interest in the relationship between cooking and science was On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. He has perviously claimed that the book made him look at cooking in a completely different way.
- He claims to be ‘not a bad artist’ and a decent kickboxer.
More Heston:
- Blumenthal has written a thousand books that are worth exploring, including Heston at Home, Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection & Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In Search of Perfection. The most fascinating to me however is The Big Fat Duck Cookbook, a 532 page combined cookbook and biography extravaganza. This Observer review can probably explain it far better than I can.
- If you’re more of a TV fan, he recently made an appearance as a guest judge on series 5 of Masterchef Australia. He’s also hosted his own television shows on UK’s Channel 4, including Heston’s Feasts, and my own recommendation, How to Cook like Heston.
- If you’re interested in his contemporary approach to cooking, The Fat Duck website has a great interactive section explaining more about the multi-sensory experiences used in the restaurant.
- Finally, if you’re like me, and interested in the man behind the glasses, I thoroughly enjoyed this profile of the man himself.
If you’re not sucked in by the blowtorches and trickery, I think that, if nothing else, learning a little about Heston Blumenthal helps you appreciate the true passion that food can foster in people. And, further to that, the beauty of learning about Heston is that although we can’t all use liquid nitrogen to make our ice cream, there are small things that everyone can learn from him, like which cuts of beef are better for certain dishes, or how you can use sea salt to make chocolate dishes seem sweeter. And with those kooky glasses and that adorable accent, he’s not bad for entertainment value either.
Sunday Mornings Melbourne 