Product Description

In this beautiful, smaller format edition of the bestselling Big Fat Duck Cookbook, we hear the full story of the meteoric rise of Heston Blumenthal and The Fat Duck, birthplace of snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream, and encounter the passion, perfection and weird science behind the man and the restaurant. Heston Blumenthal is widely acknowledged to be a genius, and The Fat Duck has twice been voted the Best Restaurant in the World by a peer group of top chefs. But he is entirely self-taught, and the story of his restaurant has broken every rule in the book. His success has been borne out of his pure obsession, endless invention and a childish curiosity into how things work - whether it's how smell affects taste, what different flavours mean to us on a biological level, or how temperature is distributed in the centre of a souffle. In the first section of The Fat Duck Cookbook, we learn the history of the restaurant, from its humble beginnings to its third Michelin star (the day Heston received the news of this he had been wondering how exactly he would be able to pay his staff that month). Next we meet 50 of his signature recipes - sardine on toast sorbet, salmon poached with liquorice, hot and iced tea, chocolate wine - which, while challenging for anyone not equipped with ice baths, dehydrators, vacuum pumps and nitrogen on tap, will inspire home cooks and chefs alike. Finally, we hear from the experts whose scientific know-how has contributed to Heston's topsy-turvy world. With an introduction by Harold McGee, incredible colour photographs throughout and illustrations by Dave McKean, The Fat Duck Cookbook is not only the nearest thing to an autobiography from the world's most fascinating chef, but also a stunning, colourful and joyous work of art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1621 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 532 pages

Review
`A thing of beauty ... for anyone fascinated by the provenance, chemistry and appearance of food, it's a virtual feast' -- Independent

Review
'fascinating... full of philosophy, autobiography, cooking techniques, essays on the science of cooking. And the recipes!'

Review
'Astonishing... 516 pages of fabulously photographed, jewel-like dishes... you can sample at home the food on the menu at the restaurant that is repeatedly judged the best in Britain.'

Customer Reviews

The Magnificent Fat Duck
The Fat Duck Cookbook is a magnificent book in every respect. It is a big book, beautifully produced with truly superb photography and a delightful, slightly quirky, layout, (where else would you find the index as a spreadsheet in the middle of the book and the dedication right at the back?).
It is so much more than just a cookbook; it is Heston Blumenthal's story.
Part one is History (his story?), part two is Recipes and part three is Science. It is entertaining and easy to read; it is informative to the point of education and, to use Jay Raynor's comment, the wonderfully enticing pictures of food are "pure Gastro-porn".
I am a simple soul. I am a reasonable cook in the sense that guests seem to appreciate my efforts and I have sufficent skill to survive without starving. The idea of taking food preparation and presentation to the heights of celebrity chefdom has been a bit of a lazy aspiration. I suspect that the chance of me ever actually dining at the Fat Duck is pure fantasy - I probably will not live long enough for a table to become vacant nor find a banker prepared to give me a sufficent mortgage - but that is what dreams are for.
The Fat Duck Cookbook affords me the opportunity to dabble in the shadow of a Master but more than that I predict that it has a place in history as popular and as topical as Mrs Beetons Cookbook but on a par with Escoffier. I hope to keep my 'first edition' in pristine condition as it will surely increase in value. I wonder if I can get HB to sign it ;-)

Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous
This is simply the most beautiful cookbook on the market.
It is a truely huge volume and comes in a case. As you would expect from Heston in a cook who shows no compromise the book is of an equally high quality. The books hard cover is beautifully finished and embossed in silver with the Fat Duck Restaurant motifs. The pages are the thickest paper bordering on card and embossed with silver. Mutiple bookmarks add to the extravagant feel of this tomb. There are beautiful abstract drawings throughout the book which at times make it feel more like a work of art than a cookbook and perhaps that is the point. There is of course alot of detail about Hestons life and inspiration not just recipes in this book.
The recipes on which he has built his reputation are all here and laid bare in all there frightening complexity. Snail Porridge, Bacon and Egg Ice cream and Gold, Frankisence and Myrrh all lovingly detailed.
The problem with this book of course is that for most home cooks it is a step too far in complexity. I have managed to cook recipes from Essence: Recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage, The French Laundry Cookbook and Recipes from a 3 Star Chef without too much problem but the shear complexity of Hestons recipes is in another league.
The problems are two fold. Firstly obtaining some ingredients will be tricky. Liquid nitrogen for example will not be readily available to most of us.
Ingredients aside however the main problem for me is the number of components to each dish. It is not an exageration to say that most dishes have in excess of 15 components to them. Some as many as 20. That is not ingredients that is parts. i.e. 15 separate bits to make, each of which has multiple ingredients. Clearly it is impossible for 1 or even 2 chefs to do this regardless of skill. A brigade is really needed. If you therefore want to recreate his recipes at home you are going to have to leave some bits out. I am therefore a little disappointed but this is not really disappointment in the book for Heston has told me in fantastic detail how to recreate his recipes I just am unable to faithfully do it!
Despite this I love the book but it has served to make me realise that regardless of skill there are some things which you can't cook at home but as this is the second best restaurant in the world I really shouldn't be surprised!

Sublime
Having hesitated with the first deluxe edition (The Big Fat Duck Cookbook) due to the heavy pricetag, I was all too eager to buy this copy at a lower price. To be honest, it feels like I've stolen it when you compare the quality and price to other 'normal' cookbooks on the market. The book is divided into three parts; History, Recipes and Science.

It is this thoroughness and attention to detail which I think is often overlooked in the reviews of the other edition which proclaim it as a 'coffee table' book, which at least appreciates the artistry! Sure enough, it would be very eye catching and enjoyable as a read for guests and at this price I suppose this could be enough, but for those interested in more, it certainly has it.

The history section is an autobiography by Heston on his career with contributions such as the Foreword. It is littered throughout with custom illustrations which I personally find well contrasted and unlike some other books you do not feel like the pages are wasted when there is no text.

The largest section is the recipes which are mostly illustrated with a photo, further intensely colourful illustrations and a full commentary on any details not in the recipe such as its origin, technical intricacies and further anecdotal spiel, all of which I personally find complimentary to the whole book. Many have complained that the dishes require a team of people and extravagant equipment to cook, which is true for all of them if you wish to do it in a day. However, I think a small number of the recipes would be possible in the home as in some cases components can be set aside for considerable time leaving the core until just before serving. That being said, I have yet to cook from it but I have my eye on a few of the simpler ones to start. Unfortunately, some would ultimately be impossible to recreate fully without thousands of pounds worth of specialist chemical equipment.

The last section on science is more like an appendix of the 'equipment, ingredient and techniques' used at Heston's restaurant. Following this is a comprehensive watered down contribution from various academics associated with the field on subject areas such as taste perception, ingredient properties and flavour release.

Even if someone somehow mistakenly bought this cookbook at this price thinking it would have classic recipes for the kitchen, I cannot see how they would be disappointed with what they had bought instead. Time to find a liquid nitrogen home delivery service...!