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Heston Blumenthal

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Heston Blumenthal

Born	May 27 1966 (1966-05-27) (age 41) High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Nationality	British
Occupation	Chef

Heston Blumenthal OBE (born May 27, 1966, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) is the chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the village of Bray in Berkshire. Blumenthal (pronounced /ˈbluːmənˌθɔːl/) is famous for his scientific approach to cooking, which is often referred to as "molecular gastronomy" or "culinary alchemy".

1 Biography
2 Cooking methods
3 Signature dishes
4 Collaborations
5 References
6 External links

Biography

Blumenthal attended the John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe. Apart from a week's work experience in Raymond Blanc's kitchen, he is self-taught. According to an interview with The Observer in 2004, he has been cooking "seriously" since the mid-1990s. He is a regular contributor to The Sunday Times and formerly wrote for The Guardian. His book, In Search of Perfection, was published in 2006 and is tied in with a television series of the same name, in which he attempts to find the best way of preparing eight classic dishes, including fish and chips and Black Forest gateau. His traditional British cuisine is served at the Hinds Head Hotel near to the Fat Duck. He also has a television series on Discovery Science called Kitchen Chemistry with Heston Blumenthal. A second series, featuring inventive takes on peking duck, hamburgers and other humble fare followed in 2007. Blumenthal is a devotee of neuro-linguistic programming^[1], and lists kickboxing as one of his hobbies^[2]. In the Chili Con Carne episode of the series In Search of Perfection he claimed he was unable to participate in the MRI study of chili's effect on the brain due to having a metal plate in his back caused by falling off a roof at the age of ten. ^[3].

Cooking methods

Blumenthal is a proponent of Molecular gastronomy; he opened his own research and development kitchen in early 2004. One of his signature techniques is the use of a vacuum jar to increase expansion of bubbles during food preparation. This is used in such dishes as an aerated chocolate soufflé–like dessert. The low air pressure inside the jar causes bubbles to grow to a larger size. He has experimented with amplification to enhance the sounds, such as the crunch, created while eating various foods. Blumenthal is a proponent of low temperature, ultra–slow cooking, whereby a joint of meat is cooked for up to 24 hours so as to contain the fat content whilst preventing collagen molecules from re-forming within the meat. In his In Search of Perfection series, he cooks a Bresse chicken at 60 degrees Celsius (165 degrees Fahrenheit). Ultra-slow cooking produces no excess fat, making the creation of gravy impossible, to which Blumenthal argues that gravy is unnecessary, since the meat is sufficiently moist on its own when cooked in this way.

Signature dishes

Blumenthal's trademark dishes include:

Bacon-and-egg ice cream
Snail porridge
Oyster and passionfruit jelly with lavender
Triple-cooked chips
Poached breast of Anjou pigeon with pancetta.

Collaborations

Blumenthal has collaborated with scientists, including:

Professor Peter Barham, Reader in Physics at Bristol University and author of the book The Science of Cooking
Dr. Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford, with whom he collaborated in experiments with the use of headphones during eating
Professor Andy Taylor at the University of Nottingham with whom Blumenthal has sponsored a PhD studentship
Professor Don Mottram of the University of Reading, which recently awarded Heston with an honorary degree