In Search of Perfection

by Heston Blumenthal

One of the world's most renowned chefs, Heston Blumenthal has made his name creating such original - and some might say bizarre - dishes as Snail Porridge and Nitrogen Scrambled Egg & Bacon Ice Cream at his internationally acclaimed restaurant, The Fat Duck. Heston decided, though, that it was time to go back to both his and our roots and to focus his creative talent on reinventing some of our most well-known and abused dishes. In order to do this he travelled around the world in search of 'perfect' versions of eight dishes which represent the essence of our culinary Roast Chicken & Roast Potatoes Pizza Bangers & Mash Steak Spaghetti Bolognese Fish & Chips Black Forest Gateau Treacle Tart & Ice Cream Everybody's idea of 'perfection' is different, and so Heston, drawing on interviews with experts and cooks as well as using his own culinary and scientific research, sets out to discover what makes these standards so great. He explores the origins of each dish, how to find the best ingredients, and of course the many different ways - and whys - of cooking them to perfection. He reveals priceless culinary tips along the everything from how to cut potatoes for flawless frying, to what makes the choicest beef, to the secret ingredients in the perfect spaghetti Bolognese, to capturing the essence of a fish and chip shop in a perfume bottle, to making aerated chocolate bars at home with a vacuum cleaner. In Search of Perfection examines the role of food in our lives and memories and is a completely original, inspiring and fascinating exploration of these kitchen classics.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Science, Reference, Food and Wine

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Heston Blumenthal is chef-patron of The Fat Duck in Bray, a three Michelin-starred restaurant known for its whimsical, scientific and creative style of cookery and famed for being named World’s Best Restaurant more than once.

At the age of 16, Heston travelled to France with his family for the first time and became fascinated with the world of food. He spent the next decade learning the basics of French cuisine from books and working as everything from a photocopier salesman to a debt collector to fund annual research trips to France. One of the books that most influenced him was On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee, which questioned the fundamental rules of the kitchen and explored the science of cooking.

Heston opened The Fat Duck in 1995 with no financial backing. On the second day of opening the oven exploded, and Heston spent the rest of service with a bag of frozen peas on his head. Gradually, the restaurant eventually moved from serving simple French bistro food to the innovative, rule-breaking, multi-sensory tasting menu it serves today. Perhaps what is most extraordinary about the success of The Fat Duck is that Heston is entirely self-taught, save for three weeks spent in a few professional kitchens.

Reviews

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody gets "disgusted face" like Heston Blumenthal, because he shaves his head, and it goes all the way up.

Anyway, a great book. You should read it, if nothing else, than for the description of the process of making chocolate: it includes how things smell and taste throughout the stages.

The recipes end up somewhat involved for the average home cook, but the process of how he gets to the recipes is the really fun part.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I largely don't believe in platonic perfect version of food; there's no perfect tomato sauce--but perfect tomato sauce(s) based on personal preference.

Books like the Modernist Cuisine tried to bridge this gap, by creating the 36-Hour Hamburger, which was an attempt to synthesize the best flavors of cheese with the best consistencies via molecular gastronomy.

Heston, the owner of the The Fat Duck is known as experimental and an innovator, by creating things like Snail Porridge, Nitrogen Scrambled Egg and Bacon Ice Cream. Much of his stuff is absurd and avant garde.

Howver, this book is a bit on the fundamentals and back to basics--with an attempt to create "perfect" version of some classics; Roast Chicken and Roast Potatoes, Pizza, Steak, Spaghetti Bolognese, Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash, Black Forest Gateau and lastly Treacle Tart and Ice Cream.

These are fancy and elevated by generally approachable attempts. A nice balance.

[Mark Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather than some wanky indulgent chef's book including his snail porridge and bacon and sausage breakfast ice cream (or whatever it was), Heston's first venture was to take those traditional childhood favourites, things like pizza and bangers and mash, spag bol etc, and delve deep into the history of each dish and span the globe to find the finest ingredients for each component. As well as spelling out his own perfect recipe. Its very much a travel memoir and history of food. It's a really great read, aside from being a mere cook book.

[Elizabeth]

As seen in Modernist Cuisine.

[Martin S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book .

[The Book Nazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt kinda intimidated at first reading a book by Heston Blumenthal. The man is a scientist in the Kitchen, Heston's reputation – as a Michelin-starred chef whose restaurant "The Fat Duck" was declared at one time the best in the world – and as a man who creates food using dry ice and vacuum packs and not-so-known utensils.

But as I flipped through the pages reading this well researched book offering a sea of knowledge on Pizza,Fish And Chips, Sausages & Mash, Trifle, Black forrest cake...It made me hungry and made me go into my kitchen and try some of them out. It is a book well worth reading and has the potential to make its readers into more skilled and confident cooks. Even more importantly, the book is not pompous - it has a down to earth style and the scientific facts interest us rather than send us to sleep or give us nervous jitters.

The Book is a companion to his show by the samename.. here is Heston making Fish & Chips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQaLjL...

Because of this Book My Fish And Chips and Sausages and Mashed Potatoes taste ''Fat Duck'' Good ;)

[Emma Fite-Wassilak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is interesting and informative, if not really for cooking from. Blumenthal takes an approach to cooking that I would be all to happy to replicate, if only time, money, and equipment allowed. Alas, the average layman does not have access to the kind of resources he does, and thus can only expect the results of recipes to fall short of the fabled perfection he is questing after. As a read, however pretentious it may get, it is fun, even funny sometimes, and may spark off quirky ideas in terms of approaches to food. Worth a look, at least.

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes you more thoughtful about the science & techniques that goes into cooking. A most enjoyable read. Sorry that it came to an end. Also doubles as a travel guide for those who want addresses of good eats!

[Rory · Rating 4 out of 5]

My chips now ROCK !

[Airflux · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of a philosophy book in the depth it takes to really understand a dish: from its foundation to its science to its evolution

[Artem Huletski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molecular gastronomy (like This) is interesting.

[Able Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind blowing!
If you take the approach of Heston Blumenthal, you can perfect anything, just anything.