Heston Blumenthal's "snail porridge," one of his unexpected yet delicious creations
This is how a conversation with Heston Blumenthal goes: You start with niceties, perhaps ask if he’s been anywhere interesting lately, and then all of a sudden you’re on to medieval banquets, experiential psychology, and Alice in Wonderland. Blumenthal, the chef-owner of the Fat Duck, largely regarded as one of the best restaurants in the world, was in New York to promote his new cookbook. The just-released book, a follow-up to last year’s The Big Fat Duck Cookbook, is smaller and less expensive than the original but just as detailed (a section on meat cookery includes a diagram of connective tissue), with vibrant Dali-like illustrations and candid commentary. It’s a fascinating read, with insight into the creation of his outlandish dishes, like “Sound of the Sea,” an elaborate composition including lily bulb “seashells,” tapioca and panko “sand,” oysters, sea urchins, razor clams that is served with an conch shell containing an iPod loaded with sounds of waves washing up on shore and the gulls squawking in the distance. As with many of Blumenthal’s dishes, this came as a result of months of tinkering, experimenting, and consulting with experts.
His latest menu additions are just as involved—maybe more so. Inspired by historical British cookery books and Hampton Court banquet events,
Blumenthal has started to research pre-1900 British recipes. “We had a
cuisine that was the envy of Europe in Georgian times, but it died off
during the Industrial Revolution.” One of his latest dishes is “Mock Turtle Soup,”
an Alice in Wonderland inspired riff on the Victorian dish that took
him two years to perfect. It involves, among other things, making an
intensely concentrated consommé, freeze drying it, and encasing it in a
gold leaf tea bag in the shape of a fob watch. This combination of
science, imagination, and whimsy is characteristic of all Blumenthal’s
projects. (For his television series, "Feast," he prepares elaborate
banquets inspired by certain historical periods, like a medieval feast that included an oversized blackbird pie.)
Next up: an overhaul of the Fat Duck Web site, which will relaunch this spring with an exciting element: guests who already have reservations will be able to enter a special passcode to access a virtual “Sweet Shoppe” with fantastical animations and interactive elements. “It was born out of the fact that it’s such a pain in the butt trying to get a reservation; this is a bit of a payoff.”
Next up: an overhaul of the Fat Duck Web site, which will relaunch this spring with an exciting element: guests who already have reservations will be able to enter a special passcode to access a virtual “Sweet Shoppe” with fantastical animations and interactive elements. “It was born out of the fact that it’s such a pain in the butt trying to get a reservation; this is a bit of a payoff.”
Leave a comment