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Life Inspired

M A R 9 M A R 15 2014

the interview

CREATING A SENSORY WONDERLAND

A chat with chef extraordinaire Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck, one of the worlds very best restaurants.
BY DEBORAH CHAN

ne would have thought that British chef Heston Blumenthal would have aced science in school. After all, this genius chef has been described as a culinary alchemist and food scientist whose kitchen experimentations have won him three Michelin stars, On the contrary, Blumenthal had regularly failed the subject although he did get an A in Art so there had to be some creativity there! he says with a hearty laugh at a media session during the Margaret River Gourmet Escape, the premier annual food and wine event in South West Australia, where Blumenthal is among the VIP guest chefs. Casually clad in jeans and a dark blue shirt with his recognisable thick-framed glasses, Blumenthal, 47, still exudes a contagious childlike enthusiasm when it comes to conversations about food. Despite the Michelin stars he has received besides an endless stream of accolades, Blumenthal is just as excited in discussing something as mundane as. Spaghetti Bolognese. Did you know that whenever youre making a meat-sauce using onions, you should add a hint of star anise? It reacts with the sulphur compounds and increases the flavour of meatiness, he says. Naturally someone wants to know about the oddest food he has tasted after all, he has dished out plenty of odd looking ones that often cause a gasp and a sense of wonderment! Reindeer kneecap in Siberia, leeches fed on goose blood sauted with parsley and garlic, and freshly milked camel milk where you have to pick the hairs out of my mouth, he says cringing. Blumenthals enthusiasm and passion for food coupled with creativity and hard work is what had elevated him into culinary stardom. A young Blumenthal had decided at 16 that he was going to become a chef after his family had their first Michelin starred meal in Provence, France, where the experience of enjoying food combining taste, sight and smell made a strong impression on him. Aside from three weeks of experience in professional kitchens, Blumenthal is entirely self-taught. Hed worked as a debt collector and photocopier salesman among other jobs to support his experimentations with food. After four years, he discovered Harold McGees book On Food and Cooking, that made Blumenthal take on a scientific approach towards cooking. Blumenthal made his name when he bought over a 450-year-old dilapidated pub in the small town of Bray, Berkshire and transformed it into a restaurant initially serving French bistro type dishes. Within five years, Blumenthal had elevated The Fat Duck into a three-star Michelin restaurant that requires two months advanced reservations. His television series In Search of Perfection has also won acclaim for its simple yet inspiring

take on experimenting with common food preparations. Poaching eggs and roasting potatoes are approached from a scientific angle that entails specific temperatures and precise techniques to create a perfect dish that has been tried, tested and approved by the perfectionist himself. Its a tall order to be hailed as the United Kingdoms most original and remarkable chef that this country has ever produced but Blumenthal continues to live up to the title by dishing out ever innovative meals. We eat with our eyes and our ears and our noses. Eating is the only thing you do that involves all senses that alter and influence our perception of flavours, he explains. Convinced that dining is a multi-sensory experience, Blumenthal toiled with the idea of creating food that will remain in our memories thta are served with a theatrical flourish. For example, we have diners listening to an iPod placed in a shell that plays the sound of the waves lapping up against the shore, along with the occasional call of gulls, while eating edible sand, foam, and various food from the sea, he explains, pointing out Sound of the Sea, a delightful experiential treat on the tasting menu at The Fat Duck that truly engages all the senses. Blumenthal has to date authored seven cookbooks and opened other equally successful outlets The Hinds Head and The Crown both in Bray, while his newest restaurant Dinner opened in 2011 at the swanky Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London catering to a thousand customers a week. The menu mines traditional British recipes dating back as far as the 14th century which are given a fresh twist through contemporary cooking techniques. A typical tasting menu at Blumenthals restaurants is a delectable journey taking up to four hours priced around 200. Naivety is one of the best friends of creativity, he says thoughfully. The first time you see anything happening, you get incredibly excited. Im still pretty excited about food! When I first opened the Duck, I had no idea how hard it was going to be. The naivety meant that I could question everything. The downside was that my organisational knowledge was rubbish. I was working 120 hours a week for the first eight years. You get to levels of delirium that you never thought was possible. For all the idea that Blumenthals gastronomical innovations are modern or magical, he is firmly rooted in tradition. Youve seen all the crazy stuff that we have done but they are really heavily grounded in a technical foundation which starts off with classical French cooking, which, from there you need a very deep understanding of classical French cooking in order to question it. And when you start questioning, that

forms the building blocks for something new. Im basically a big kid and I ask lots of questions. Im not a scientist, but I am endlessly curious. The best advice I can give to anyone is to question everything. You have to respect tradition but prepared to question it anyhow, he says. Fame and success does have its price. In 2011, Blumenthal went through a rough patch, having separated from his wife of 20 years, with whom he has three grown up children. Around the same time hed also had to cope with losing his father and juggle between the opening of Dinner. When things like that happen, you really have to deal with it in a deep way. It has become easier now, but of course, anything like that is going to affect focus, Blumenthal had said in an interview with Good Food. Nevertheless, diners and critics alike have not wavered in their appreciation for this inventive chef. The influential The Guardian had recently awarded Blumenthal Chef of a Decade Observer Food Monthly 2013 Award. Blumenthal reflects on the last 10 years of his career and says, With all the knowledge I have now, honestly, I still feel Im just scratching the surface.

Heston Blumenthal holding his audience spellbound during the Margaret River Gourmet Escape celebrity chefs programme. Nothing is what it seems at The Fat Duck! The celebrity chef at work. One of the books he authored. Blumenthal was the toast of the Margaret River Gourmet Escape celebrity chefs programme.

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