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TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012

Our guest editor with Jancis Robinson, Anthony Bourdain, Harold McGee, recipes for home and more.

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Miraclein thekitchen

Ticklingmanysensesatonceisthekey.

HestonBlumenthalhasturnedfoodintotheatre,writesDaniValent—andeventhehumbletoastedsandwichisgettinginontheact.

PROFILE

ALL you really need toknow about HestonBlumenthal is abundantlyclear in his toasted cheesesandwich. It’s not the

edible ingredients — bread, cheese,ham — that perplex but the presenceof ‘‘new washing-up sponge (withoutscourer)’’ on the list of necessaries.The questing Blumenthal minddecided the humble, well-lovedtoastie would be improved if thebread were cooked longer than thefilling to create a crisp, golden shelland perfectly melted insides.

The solution? Squish a spongebetween white-bread slices to create acavity during an initial grilling. Then,remove the sponge and replace itwith set fondue cheese and ham —and onion compote and truffle oil, ifyou like — for a second-stage melt.It’s mad and it’s wonderful and it’simpossible to read the recipe, letalone make it, without giggling.

Blumenthal, 45, does plenty oflaughing in an hour-long telephonechat. But he’s serious about the path-way to fun, too, and he outlines afew of his many painstaking researchprojects in an obsessive’s deadpan.He’s at home in London with a head-

set microphone pressed to his cheek,a cup of tea in one hand and theother arm hanging like meat in asling, courtesy of a shoulder opera-tion from which he has more or lessjust woken. Despite the painkillersand the fact he winces as he bringsthe mug to his lips, Blumenthal isvoluble and animated.

‘‘I want food to be fun, excitingand delicious,’’ he says. ‘‘And I wantto transfer any pleasure I get fromcooking and eating to the diner.’’ Anextreme desire to relay pleasureunderpins the British chef’s fourrestaurants, seven books, six tele-vision series and the live show hewill bring to Australia next month.His original baby, the Fat Duck,opened in Bray, Berkshire, in 1995. Itgave the world snail porridge, bacon-and-egg ice-cream ‘‘cooked’’ withliquid nitrogen, an edible rose bushand much-copied triple-cooked chipsthat shatter glassily before collapsinginto spudly fluff.

‘‘The Duck’’, as Blumenthal callsit with casual fondness, has heldthree Michelin stars since 2004 andis consistently named in the top-three restaurants in the world. Two

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DJ13

89/E

PI

In one transaction. *Item must be from the same brand. †Second item must be of equal or lesser value. Offers subject to stock availability. Not available in conjunction with any other offer. Offers available for a limited time, unless otherwise stated. It is against the law to sell or supply alcohol to, or to obtain alcohol on behalf of, a person under the age of 18. Proof of age must be supplied upon request. AVAILABLE AT BOURKE STREET MALL FOODHALL.

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Beingself-taughtgavemeachild’snaivete.

Heston Blumenthal’s toastie (left); hisFat Duck restaurant (below).

PICTURES: BRENDAN ESPOSITO,GETTY IMAGES, ANGELA MOORE

pubs owned by Blumenthal, also inBray, serve simpler British fare. Lastyear, he opened Dinner at the Man-darin Oriental, in London, where hisinterest in historical cuisine, alsoexplored at the Duck, is allowed fullflight. Blumenthal’s initial impetusfor the historical plundering came adozen years ago when he stumbledon a description of a 14th-centurydish in which a live yet plucked,basted and mysteriously slumberingchicken is presented on a platter withroasted birds, only to awake andescape, ‘‘upsetting goblets andwhatnots’’ as it careens down thetable.

Blumenthal does not hypnotisechickens but the absurd poultryperformance is still his touchstonefor dining-room theatre. The menuat Dinner includes cockscombs, codcheek, cockles and a meaty morselthat looks like a mandarin but ischicken liver parfait in disguise. Likemuch of Blumenthal’s food, it’s a mixof trompe l’oeil and technology, sens-ory trickery and science, evocativefancies and intense industry.

Tickling many senses at once isthe key: for the Fat Duck’s ‘‘Sound ofthe Sea’’ dish, an iPod is servedalongside a seafood medley. Dinerseat to a soundtrack of crashing wavesand squawking seabirds, causingmany a nostalgic nibbler to subsideinto tears or gull-ish screeches of joy.It’s food that explores how peopleremember, think and live, as muchas it is a caressing of the tastebuds.

No one sounds more surprisedthan Blumenthal that Team Hestonnow numbers 330. ‘‘This is beyondmy wildest dreams,’’ he says. ‘‘Myambition was that maybe one day Iwould get a Michelin star.’’

That was still an upstart ambitionfor a man who had never beenemployed in a professional kitchen.Famously self-taught, Blumenthalwas impelled into restaurant life at16 when he and his parents ate atthe three-star L’Oustau de Bauman-iere, in Provence. He has talkedabout that meal a lot. He has writtenabout it many times. He could beforgiven for referring me to hiswebsite to crib the basics. Instead helaunches into a misty reverie about‘‘the crunch of the gravel, the waiterwith his handlebar moustache, thesmell of the lavender’’, reeling off the

intoxicating details that coalesced inone driving thought: ‘‘I will be partof that world.’’

Blumenthal held on to that dreamwhile he finished school, worked as aphotocopier salesman, credit control-ler and repo man, all the whileburying himself in food books andcooking like a maniac. He lapped upeverything classical and French, thenstumbled on food scientist HaroldMcGee’s writings. McGee tore downa touchstone of traditional cookingby stating that searing meat does notseal in its juices. He might as wellhave denounced gravity. Blumenthalwas rocked and energised in equalmeasure. Which other fundamentalprinciples could be challenged byscientific investigation?

‘‘I was like a kid questioningeverything,’’ he says, still gleeful. He

unpicked ice-cream, he puzzled overchips. ‘‘Every normal twentysome-thing wonders why chips go soggy,right?’’ he asks. ‘‘OK, I was a realtrainspotter. Get a life, you sadperson!’’

The questions and investigationshave continued apace and geekysympathisers, including McGee, arenow collaborators. With his squad,Blumenthal is putting the finishingtouches to a domestic sous videsystem he thinks has the potential toaffect the home kitchen as dramatic-ally as the advent of electricity.

Sous vide cooking requires amachine that vacuum-packs food in

plastic and a water bath that cooksthe bagged food at controlled temper-atures. ‘‘But there’s something elsethis machine does, a really majoruniqueness,’’ he says enticingly.‘‘We’re waiting for the patent to gothrough.’’

He is as tantalisingly tight-lippedabout the next TV series, to befilmed shortly. ‘‘It’s big, big over-the-top theatrical,’’ he promises.

Blumenthal is less cagey aboutrumours that he may open a restaur-ant in Australia. ‘‘I don’t have anyplans to but I would do it,’’ he says.

‘‘I like to open restaurants in placesI love and I do love Australia.’’ Onething he loves is our version ofMasterChef, in which he hasappeared, partly because he recog-nises himself in those amateur cookswho put it all on the line. ‘‘I do havea fondness for them,’’ he says. ‘‘A lotof people are professionally cheffingbecause they fell into it. People whocome through MasterChef are in itsolely because they want to cook.And they give up nine months oftheir life for it. That’s a whackinggreat commitment.’’

So, would he have fronted up ifthis version of the show had beenaround pre-Duck? ‘‘I don’t know if Iwould have had the guts,’’ he says.‘‘They’re continually being dumpedin these ridiculously pressurised situ-ations. Cooking for myself at homedidn’t prepare me for the pressure Iwas letting myself in for when Iopened the restaurant. If I did know,I think I would have bottled out.’’Instead he worked stupid hours,napping on piles of dirty laundry,seeing his three children and then-wife in harried snatches, pursuinghare-brained and brilliant notions,scrambling to make two implacabledeadlines a day, lunch and dinner,questioning everything.

‘‘Being self-taught gave me achild’s naivete,’’ he says. ‘‘I thought Icould have an upside-downmountain stuck on an aeroplane if Iwanted it. I honestly thoughteverything was possible.’’

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W I T H S P E C I A L G U E S T S

Liquidcentrechocolatepudding

RECIPES

THE traditional way to make a chocolatepudding with a runny centre is by baking amixture of eggs, butter, sugar, chocolateand a little flour until the outside forms acrust but the inside remains gooey.This recipe takes a different approach, put-ting a frozen chocolate ganache inside thecake mixture. This ensures that the centremelts to the perfect runny consistency atexactly the point when the exterior iscooked through.If you want to skip making the ganache,you could use a scoop of good-qualitychocolate ice-cream instead.

INGREDIENTSFor the water ganache:310g whipping cream325g dark chocolate, chopped (minimum

60 per cent cocoa)50g unsalted butter

For the pudding mix:240g dark chocolate, chopped (minimum

60 per cent cocoa)225g unsalted butter100g plain flour1⁄2 tsp salt350g eggs (about 7 large eggs)150g unrefined caster sugar

METHOD■ For the water ganache, place 110g cold

water and the cream in a saucepan overa medium heat and bring to a simmer.

■ In the meantime, place the chocolate ina bowl over a pan of simmering wateruntil it melts completely.

■ Once the chocolate has melted, put in thewater and cream mixture in three

additions, mixing thoroughly with aspatula after each. Stir in the butter.Leave to stand until it reaches roomtemperature, then stir once more.

■ Pour the ganache into a deep-sidedcontainer to a depth of 3cm. Place thetray in the freezer for 2 hours or untilfully set. Meanwhile, have ready six 5cmdiameter ramekins.

■ Using a 2cm ring cutter, cut cylinders outof the ganache, and place one in thecentre of each ramekin. Return to thefreezer.

■ To make the pudding mix, place thechocolate and the butter in a bowl overa pan of simmering water and melt com-pletely. Remove from the heat and leaveto cool. In the meantime, sieve the flourand salt together into a bowl.

■ When the chocolate is cool, add the flourand salt and mix thoroughly.

■ Using a mixer fitted with the whiskattachment, beat the eggs and sugar forabout 8-10 minutes or until light andcreamy.

■ As gently as possibly, fold a third of theegg mixture into the chocolate. Add theremaining egg mixture and fold until wellcombined.

■ Half-fill each ramekin with the mix andtap a few times on the kitchen bench toeliminate big air bubbles, then continue tofill to the top. Place the ramekins in thefreezer for 1 hour.

■ When ready to serve, preheat the oven to180C.

■ Place the ramekins in the oven. Bake for15-18 minutes until the pudding mix isfully set. Serve immediately.Serves 6

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Blumenthal’s thoughtson...Steak flippingFRY thick, room-temperature steak in a searinghot pan in plenty of oil. Flip the steak every15 seconds to ensure it gets little pulses of heatbut doesn’t overcook. ‘‘Flipping the steak allowsmore even heat to gently radiate through themeat but, funnily enough, it doesn’t take anylonger to cook,’’ he says. Rest the meat forfive minutes before serving.

Vanilla butter‘‘WE THINK vanilla smells sweet but itdoesn’t,’’ he says. ‘‘Sweet doesn’t actually havea smell. Vanilla smells of vanilla and thattriggers a memory — of sweet puddings,milkshakes, ice-creams. It’s all aboutassociation. In fact, if you chew a vanilla pod,

you’ll realise there’s nothing sweet about it.’’Heston pairs vanilla butter with white fish. ‘‘It’sreally simple, but it adds a nice richness.’’

Sous vide scrambled eggsBLITZ eggs, milk, cream, salt and meltedbutter, bag it and cook it for 15 minutes at 75C,massaging the bag every few minutes forfabulous creamy, curdy eggs.

Blind bakingUSE coins rather than beans or rice to weightthe pastry because ‘‘they’re flat and theyconduct heat’’. To avoid ruinous cracks in thepastry, ‘‘I use a neat invention of mine that Icall ‘liquid pastry’ — raw dough that has beenblitzed with an egg.’’

Cooking pulses‘‘I BECAME quite obsessed with how to cookpulses. Do you soak them, do you use warmwater, cold water, I even experimented with ...cooking beans in the can,’’ Blumenthal says. Inthe end, he decided mineral ions prevent beansfrom softening properly, thus cooking pulses inde-ionised water is the solution. Buy the waterfrom service stations or supermarkets.

Filtering stockCREATE a clear consomme by freezing stockthen putting it into a sieve lined with muslin todefrost and drain. ‘‘You get the clearest stockyou can imagine and it makes the flavour purer.’’

DANI VALENT