Chef Heston Marc Blumenthal – Gave “The Fat Duck” Restaurant Recognition

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Chef Heston Marc Blumenthal gave his restaurant, The Fat Duck, its best recognition when he pushed it to the top. Today, this restaurant is enjoying not only three Michelin stars but also the third spot as the Best Restaurant in the World.

Chef Heston Blumenthal is recognized in the culinary world as being a culinary alchemist, simply because he has a certain scientific approach when it comes to whipping up creative dishes known for its delectable taste.

His first love affair with food happened when he, together with his family, ate at a three-star restaurant. The ambience of the restaurant, the busy scene of graceful waiters, the tantalizing aroma of food, and the mouth-watering dishes passing them by were enough to make Chef Heston Blumenthal fall in love with the idea of being a chef.

However, his first steps to becoming one came into fruition more than ten years after that particular visit to the restaurant. During the daytime, he worked at odd jobs to support his education. He has been a debt and credit collector, and he also worked as a salesman for photocopier machines. At night, his sole dedication was poured into studying French cuisine, and to perfect his skills, he would visit other famous French restaurants, studying their techniques and looking for ways on how he could translate his skills to his cooking. Aside from this, he also studied techniques on how he could highlight the ingredients of each dish that he creates. He did not stop there though as he made it a point to know what it will take to create exemplary cuisine, so he began studying about the different aspects of the culinary world by visiting wineries and suppliers, in addition to the restaurants that he visits.

It took him four years of studying the art of cooking and researching for more information on how he could better harness the flavors, but it will take one book to make him see things at a very different angle. This book entitled On Food and Cooking, written by Harold McGee, made him question traditional cooking. It made him see that having a scientific approach on how he prepares each dish was far more beneficial than simply doing what everybody else were doing.

Taking everything he learned and turning it into something that is palpable, he finally purchased a small saloon in Bray, Berkshire, England in 1995. The building was 450 years old and was locally considered as a watering hole for rowdy drinkers who were banned from other pubs and saloons. His building was not the perfect choice for his new restaurant, but he only had limited resources. Furthermore, receiving his first Michelin star was the farthest thing from his mind, and he only wanted to make it work.

He opened the Fat Duck after renovating the place to make it look presentable. The Fat Duck was just a simple café then, offering classical French cuisine, and just like any rags to riches story, he started out with many problems. With limited resources, he found himself doing most of the work.

In time, customers were trickling, and the good reviews accumulated. This gave him not only the chance to perfect his techniques, but also a chance to become more creative as the demand increased. Then came his first Michelin star in 1998. Two years after his first star, he completely renovated The Fat Duck and began to multi-course tasting menu which gave him more freedom to experiment and veer away from traditional cooking techniques. More success came his way that soon he received his second and third Michelin stars in the years 2001 and 2004. Chef Heston Blumenthal has been awarded as the Chef of the Year in 2004, and he also received several prestigious awards ever since he opened The Fat Duck.

The first blow to his career came in the early 2009s when over 400 customers started feeling ill after eating at The Fat Duck. During the investigation process, he had to close his restaurant for over two weeks. The Health Protection Agency found out that the source of the problem was a contaminated shellfish, after which lawsuits were threatened by the diners affected by the fiasco. Chef Heston Blumenthal handled the disaster in a very elegant and cool manner that he was even praised on how he handled the situation.

Right now, Chef Heston Blumenthal is not only an expert in French cuisine but in the classical British cuisine as well. He has opened another pub, the Hind’s Head, and has authored and published four books. Aside from this, he has also played host to a number of television shows. Of course, one of his crowning achievements was when The Fat Duck landed second spot in the World’s Best Restaurant, but this year only saw him on the third spot.

Heston Blumenthal’s Sherry Trifle

For the syllabub mix

For cream topping:

1 strip lemon rind (no pith)
55g sugar
125g cider
60g PX or sweet sherry

Combine all of the ingredients and leave to macerate for 24 hours.
Strain through a mesh strainer.

For the mix for soaking sponge fingers:

Green tea infusion:

(10g tea, 195g hot water, infused for five minutes)
200g PX sherry
200g sugar
30g lime juice
24 spongefingers

Combine the green tea infusion, sherry, sugar, and lime juice.
Stir to dissolve the sugar and pour over the sponge fingers. Reserve.

For the custard:

110g sugar
160g or 8 large egg yolks
375g whole milk
375g double cream
1 vanilla bean (split intwo)
A pinch of saffron

Whisk the sugar and yolks for two minutes. Place the cream, milk and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile have ready an ice bath, or bowl of ice, to strain the custard into.
Take the milk mixture off the heat and whisk over the egg yolks, adding a little at a time, and return to the heat.
Stirring with a wooden spoon constantly, cook the custard up to 80C (use a thermometer). Bring off the heat and stir. Repeat this three to five times until the custard is thick.
Once the custard is thick pass through a strainer into a metal bowl and place in the ice bath, stirring so it doesn’t form a skin.

For the filling:

16 strawberries (cut lengthwise in half)
175g syllabub mix
225g double cream
8 amaretti biscuits (slightly crushed)
shaved almonds (lightly toasted)

To assemble the trifle:

Place two soaked sponge fingers in the bottom of each individual glass, such as a tumbler. Place the strawberries, cut side facing out against the glass, on top.
Spoon custard on top of the strawberries, all of the way up the sides and chill for six hours.
For the topping whip together the syllabub and double cream to soft peaks. Spoon the syllabub on top of the trifle.
Crush two amaretto biscuits over each syllabub and sprinkle with the shaved almonds. Serve.

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