Heston Blumenthal

Infobox Chef
name = Heston Blumenthal


caption =
birthdate = birth date and age|1966|5|27
birthplace = High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
deathdate =
deathplace =
style = Molecular Gastronomy
education = Self-taught
Ratings = Michelin stars Rating|3|3
restaurants = The Fat DuckRating|3|3
prevrests =
television = In Search Of Perfection
awards =
website = http://www.fatduck.co.uk/

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 voted Best Restaurant in the UK by the Good Food Guide 2007. Blumenthal (pronounced IPA|/ˈbluːmənˌθɔːl/) is famous for his scientific approach and has been described as a culinary alchemist for his innovative style of cooking.

Biography

Heston 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.

Blumenthal has 3 books published: Family Food "A new approach to cooking" in 2004, "Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection" in 2006 and "Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In Search of Perfection" in 2007, in which he attempts to find the best way of preparing classic dishes, including fish and chips and Black Forest gateau. His traditional British cuisine is served at the Hinds Head Hotel near the Fat Duck. He is due to release the first book from the Fat Duck, The Big Fat Duck Cook Book in October 2008, edited by Bloomsbury.

In 2005 he produced a series of six half-hour television programmes called "Kitchen Chemistry with Heston Blumenthal" which were transmitted on Discovery Science along with a book Kitchen chemistry, published by Royal Society of Chemistry and distributed to 6000 schools in the UK and Ireland. This was followed by two more series (with much higher production values) called "Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection" and "Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In search of Perfection" in which he created dishes based on but different from British favourites like (series 1, 7 episodes) bangers & mash, fish & chips and spag bol etc.) and (series 2, 8 episodes) chicken tikka masala, hamburgers and peking duck.

Blumenthal signed a two-year deal with Channel 4 in March 2008, joining the channel's roster of celebrity chefs which already included Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay. It was reported that he had agreed to revamp the menu at a Little Chef motorway restaurant with his recipe ideas to be introduced in all 193 outlets and that this would be broadcast on Channel 4. [cite web| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/27/nchef127.xml| title= Heston Blumenthal to transform Little Chef - Daily Telegrah News| accessdate=2008-03-27]

Blumenthal is a devotee of neuro-linguistic programming, [cite web| url=http://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/MikeDuckett-Sweetshop.html| title=Like a kid in a sweet shop: the use of generative metaphor| accessdate=2006-12-10] and lists kickboxing as one of his hobbies, although in another interview he mentioned that he gave this up due to a back operation. [cite web| url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/food_and_drink/features/article1220937.ece| title= Independent Online: Britain's richest chefs| accessdate=2006-12-10]

In the Chili Con Carne episode of the series In Search of Perfection he said that he was unable to participate in the MRI study of chili's effect on the brain as he had a metal plate inserted in his back after hurting it falling off a roof at the age of ten. [cite web| url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/live/live.html?in_article_id=481790&in_page_id=1889| title=Daily Mail: Heston Blumenthal I injected my head chef with a dangerous dose of chilli oil]

Cooking methods

Blumenthal is a proponent of modern cooking; 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 does not melt the fat or release many juices, making the creation of gravy impossible, but Blumenthal says that gravy is unnecessary as the meat itself is sufficiently moist.

ignature dishes

Blumenthal's trademark dishes include:
*Smoked Bacon-and-egg ice cream
* Snail porridge
* Sound of the Sea
* Triple-cooked chips
* Beef Royal

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
* Professors Don Mottram and Margot Gosney of the University of Reading, which recently awarded Heston an honorary degree

References

External links

* [http://www.fatduck.co.uk/intro.html Official website of the Fat Duck restaurant]
* [http://www.fatduck.co.uk/heston_bio.htm Blumenthal's biography]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/heston_blumenthal/ Heston Blumenthal's column in The Times]
* [http://www.hindsheadhotel.com/index.aspx The Hinds Head Hotel]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/food/recipes/queryengine?templatestyle=refine_by_1_gg&orig_kw=&config=db&scope=recipes&page=1&pagesize=15&attrib_26=keywords&oper_26=eq&val_26_1=&attrib_2=programme_name&oper_2=eq&val_2_1=&attrib_3=chef_name&oper_3=eq&val_3_1=Heston+Blumenthal&attrib_12=healthy&oper_12=eq&attrib_13=quick&oper_13=eq&attrib_10=vegetarian&oper_10=eq&submit.x=35&submit.y=15 Heston Blumenthal recipes at www.bbc.co.uk]
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,9950,1145616,00.html An interview in the "Observer" newspaper, 2004]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1463749,00.html "Guardian" newspaper article on Blumenthal's collaborations with academics]
* [http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=300485 Heston Blumenthal profile on CatererSearch] (Named 3rd most influential chef in the UK in 2005)
* [http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/59 'The Molecular Gastronomer to the Best Restaurant in the World' Rachel Edward-Stuart] Freeview 'Snapshot' video by the Vega Science Trust.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20061029.shtml Heston Blumenthal's "Desert Island Discs"]
* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/thepanel/20061211.html Appearance on Irish television] Part 1 of The Panel on RTÉ