perfection · 2006-11-02 21:33

There’s been far too much technology talk here recently, time to get to the important stuff: food. I’m not generally a fanboy; but if there’s anyone I tip my hat to, it’s Heston Blumenthal. He’s one of the vanguard of contemporary cooking, characterised both by the use of science and a deep understanding of the processes behind good food, but also humble, slightly thoughtful, almost bookish, cut with a sense of wonder, even childish glee – shared with contemporaries such as Ferran Adrià, and their muses, Hervé This and Peter Barham. Heck, Heston’s even wearing glasses in his new BBC2 show, Perfection (first episode now available from errr all good Internets).

Most people probably wouldn’t recognise Heston Blumenthal – he’s pretty camera-shy, with just one TV series (Kitchen Chemistry, often repeated on Discovery) and cameos in Full On Food. Likewise, there has just been one cookery book, surprisingly about Family Food. But many people in the UK would have heard about his creations – whether due to his restaurant being named best in the world last year by Gourmet magazine, or for some of his notorious recipes, such as snail porridge or egg and bacon ice cream.

What’s striking in Perfection is that he’s taking classic dishes, and making them better. The preparation is just possible in a home kitchen, but pretty much every step is different or against standard preparation. Bangers are boiled first before being flash fried; mash is made from baked potatoes (differing from the pommes puree method in Family Food, as perfected by Joël Robuchon), ice cream is made with liquid nitrogen (or the ‘home’ version, dry ice).

There’s another difference, closer to my work. The start of every dish is defining its essence – and to do that he goes to the street, to talk to people about their food, and their food memories and emotions. These form the clues that lead the iterative definition of the recipe back in the lab. Judgments are made by expert gut feel for what is right and wrong (for the treacle tart, he abandons all thought of using real sugar for the treacle, likewise with the bangers, the thought that sausages should be 100% meat is dismissed for having the wrong texture when eaten). The final result looks similar to what you would expect, but is notably better: better by design.

I haven’t yet managed to get to the Fat Duck, but earlier in the year, I went to the Hind’s Head, Heston Blumenthal’s pub, serving traditional English food made perfect… and it was awesome.

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