Heston's Historical Feasts
Good old Heston Blumenthal, scientific chef. He's not all po-faced about it though - his culinary experiments are quite fun and usually bonkers so his latest series is a perfect vehicle. Basically, in a programme which I think pairs well with Supersizers Go..., the intrepid chef picks a period of history, does some library research into the strange things they ate, travels somewhere to learn more about a particular meat, and finally puts his own theatrical spin on things to create a course for his celebrities to feast upon.
So far I have been tempted by a different course from each programme, so my I guess my personal Feast from All Time would comprise:
Starter - the Drink Me potion (Victorian)
The ingredients in Alice's mind-expanding 'Drink Me' drink are toffee, hot buttered toast, cherry pie, custard, pineapple and, erm, turkey. As Heston correctly points out five of these are solid foods and don't immediately lend themselves to drink form. So will Heston whiz them in a blender? Of course not! Instead he infuses each foodstuff in a vat of milk to leech out its essence. Then it's simply a matter of adding gelling agents and colouring and designing a bespoke glass to ensure the flavours hit the palate one at a time - well, you wouldn't want your toffee running into your turkey would you?
Entree - Calf Brain Custard (Roman)
This one hasn't been shown yet. Will the dish fit in my feast? Update 25/03/09: er, not really that keen on this one. The idea is a bit grim and it features 'garam' which is a fishy thing. Though if I was actually presented with it, chances are I'd agree with Danny Wallace.
After cooking the calves' brains Heston deep fries them into delicate little balls and places them aside the calves' brain custard before sending them out to the guests. "It all counts for nothing if people who are eating this actually don't enjoy it," gasps Heston with bated breath. But he needn't have worried as the guests are in raptures. "What a clever trick Blumenthal's played on me," raves Danny Wallace. "Give him a thing that looks like something you'd get in a pub and I'll wolf down a brain. I've never been so surprised by food."
Main - Cockentrice (Tudor)
Tudor chefs served their roasts covered with fur and feathers that they would whip off at the table to reveal the cooked meat. Heston's going to go one further. He enlists the help of taxidermist, Derek Frampton, to create a fur coat worthy of his culinary crossbreed. Inside the beast Heston places a roast of chicken, lamb, pork and turkey held together with protein derived from belly of a tuna - mmm… The cockatrice roars its way into the dining room, astounding the celebrities. "That's unbelievable," says Alex Zane, wonderment written all over his face. "It looks like a swan has died bumming a boar."
Dessert - Edible Tableware (Mediaeval)
The high point of any medieval banquet was an expensive sculpture where elaborate shapes would be carved out of sugar. Combining this idea with the concept of medieval magic has given Heston some inspiration for dessert. "I'm filling my knives with a ginger and chocolate ganache," giggles Heston with glee. "It doesn't matter how old we are, we still like to have fun." As well as chocolate cutlery, there are edible napkins and white chocolate candles filled with caramel. There's even a convincing looking pork pie made from ice cream.
The blurbs for each dish are taken from the website and are not my copy.
So far I have been tempted by a different course from each programme, so my I guess my personal Feast from All Time would comprise:
The ingredients in Alice's mind-expanding 'Drink Me' drink are toffee, hot buttered toast, cherry pie, custard, pineapple and, erm, turkey. As Heston correctly points out five of these are solid foods and don't immediately lend themselves to drink form. So will Heston whiz them in a blender? Of course not! Instead he infuses each foodstuff in a vat of milk to leech out its essence. Then it's simply a matter of adding gelling agents and colouring and designing a bespoke glass to ensure the flavours hit the palate one at a time - well, you wouldn't want your toffee running into your turkey would you?
This one hasn't been shown yet. Will the dish fit in my feast? Update 25/03/09: er, not really that keen on this one. The idea is a bit grim and it features 'garam' which is a fishy thing. Though if I was actually presented with it, chances are I'd agree with Danny Wallace.
After cooking the calves' brains Heston deep fries them into delicate little balls and places them aside the calves' brain custard before sending them out to the guests. "It all counts for nothing if people who are eating this actually don't enjoy it," gasps Heston with bated breath. But he needn't have worried as the guests are in raptures. "What a clever trick Blumenthal's played on me," raves Danny Wallace. "Give him a thing that looks like something you'd get in a pub and I'll wolf down a brain. I've never been so surprised by food."
Tudor chefs served their roasts covered with fur and feathers that they would whip off at the table to reveal the cooked meat. Heston's going to go one further. He enlists the help of taxidermist, Derek Frampton, to create a fur coat worthy of his culinary crossbreed. Inside the beast Heston places a roast of chicken, lamb, pork and turkey held together with protein derived from belly of a tuna - mmm… The cockatrice roars its way into the dining room, astounding the celebrities. "That's unbelievable," says Alex Zane, wonderment written all over his face. "It looks like a swan has died bumming a boar."
The high point of any medieval banquet was an expensive sculpture where elaborate shapes would be carved out of sugar. Combining this idea with the concept of medieval magic has given Heston some inspiration for dessert. "I'm filling my knives with a ginger and chocolate ganache," giggles Heston with glee. "It doesn't matter how old we are, we still like to have fun." As well as chocolate cutlery, there are edible napkins and white chocolate candles filled with caramel. There's even a convincing looking pork pie made from ice cream.
The blurbs for each dish are taken from the website and are not my copy.