Historic Heston

This book is typical Heston; lots of food history and stories and recipes that most will not want to attempt but many will enjoy reading about.Visually the book is stunning, with recipes that I recognise from eating at both Dinner by Heston and the Fat Duck – not least one of the best desserts I have ever eaten, a recipe I am going to attempt (Brown Bread Ice Cream). This book to my mind is for a true food lover and admirer; someone that enjoys reading about the heritage of a recipe as much as they do actually following a recipe. The recipes are all fairly tricky but there are elements from certain recipes that do look doable.If you have eaten at either Dinner by Heston or The Fat Duck and you enjoyed it (who wouldn’t!?) you will love this book as it’s full of recipes from both which I loved reading the theory and history behind all the recipes.I have posted a recipe list below as well as uploading some images but in all, this is a book that would please either a fan of Heston’s restaurants or a fan of food and food images in general. I just happen to like both and therefore this is a lovely book for me. Recommended.RECIPE LIST===========Rice and FleshSambocadeCompostMeat FruitAlowsJoutesWassailingTart of StrawberriesTafferty TartQuaking PuddingNettle PorridgePowdered DuckBaked Lemon SuetButtered Crab LoafSalmagundyHash of SnailsEggs in VerjuiceRagoo of Pigs EarsLemon SaladBroth of LambBraised CelerySpiced PigeonBrown Bread Ice CreamSauce RobertCucumber KetchupSauce ReformTipsy CakeMock Turtle Soup

This book is an absolutely stunning work of art which oozes passion from every page. It would be unfair to list this book as a culinary masterpiece since that is only but a part of it. The book provides a good insight into the history of our nation's cuisine from 1390 to 1816, as well as some of the most beautiful photography I have ever come accross. In fact I think it is a shame that Heston and the photographer have not decided to release some (or all) of the photographs included in the book as large format prints. They would look stunning framed and hung on a kitchen or dining room wall. I own the other version of the hardcover book but am thinking of buying this version too so that I can lift some of the photos from the other book to frame. The publishers have truly done justice to the book by an excellent binding and by using quality paper which is thick and semi gloss. I hope we will see similar future releases like this from Heston.

What a simply stunning book ! I don't know if this book should be categorized as history, cookery, graphic design of modern art. This is the first book of Heston Blumenthal' that I have bought as to be honest, the complicated recipes I had seen on tv were beyond me AND my pocket. This book is far more than a cookery book. The history of food starts from 1390 and is fascinating . Many of the photo's make me want to frame them , totally redecorate my kitchen,hang them and open as an art gallery. The art work (cartoon doesn't begin to describe the illustrations) is quite amazing. This is not a recipe book, It has Heston's signature dishes from "DINNER",but with several hundred years history to explain the ingredients, traditions and even politics behind each dish. This is an incredible book. I was lucky to get it from Oxfams amazon shop, second hand, but now I have seen it I would have bought it full price.Wonderful.

It’s a good time for Heston Blumenthal. His Fat Duck restaurant in Bray has kept its maximum three Michelin stars, while his Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London has been awarded its secondAmong the recipes it contains is one for a wonderful dish served at Dinner: “Meat fruit”, a life-like tangerine with an aromatic orange zest, topped by a stem with a couple of leaves. The “peel” resists the knife and fork much as a mandarin would; but inside it turns out to be a savoury mousse of chicken livers and foie gras, flavoured with port, brandy and Madeira, while the skin is made from gelatine and mandarin purée. It’s an elaborate, delicious joke, and something like it was one of the surprise dishes served to guests at a feast for the coronation of Henry IV in 1399. I openly admit that Blumenthal is a genius, and you are very lucky that, if you have the money and the patience to reserve a table, we can order his gastronomic marvels: his science-inspired bacon and egg ice cream or snail porridge at the Fat Duck, for example..But these difficult/impossible cookery books are not exclusive to Heston. Indeed, they represent a cutting-edge publishing trend. René Redzepi, the Albanian-Danish chef of Noma has published "A Work in Progress: Journal, Recipes and Snapshots, with food you can’t expect to do at home unless you have a supply of moose fillet, reindeer tongues and black ants.Then theres Ferran Adrià, who has closed his celebrated Catalan restaurant, El Bulli, has published a mind-boggling catalogue raisonné of the dishes he invented between 1994 and 1997 and now the new Box set out in March (yes I have pre-ordered)Mugaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking by the amazing Andoni Luis Aduriz reveals all in its title.I have tried some recipes from Faviken by Magnus Nilsson and managed one or two of them – though they took several weeks. And there are many more examples.I have been asking what are these books for?On the whole, you can’t cook from them at home. Are they simply to look at? And if so, are they a kind of food pornography, intended to make us drool over or lust for their art-directed photographs of edibles?This is a bit old hat foodie porn started as long ago as the early 80's With Mossimann and a like, but fashions change, and maybe "snails slithering up a silver chafing dish do it for you in a way a color photo of a juicy steak no longer does".Perhaps these cook books are a signal that our relationship with food itself is changing. Trends in eating and cooking have traditionally followed the post-revolutionary French bourgeois cookery was influenced by the cuisine of Louis XVI’s court then the grand German Bauhaus era.Culinary fashion usually travels in a top-down direction, just as present-day British eating habits (and supermarket shelves) reflect what’s happening in restaurant kitchens. Lemon grass, root ginger, bulgur, crème fraîche, sumac, poblano chillies, balsamic vinegar and smoked paprika aren’t escapees from some foodie zoo, they’re in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s because their customers have tasted dishes that incorporate them in restaurants (or seen them used by telly chefs).This is the glory of retail. But centrifuges, vacuum packers and thermostats on every kitchen gadget? Surely these are leading home cooking straight into a cul-de-sac – it’s the culinary road to nowhere except a few restaurants. All you need at home is a sharp knife, a food processor, some sturdy kitchen scales – and a few Great books by Elizabeth David or Jane Grigson or even Mrs Beeton...But having ranted on I have to say that it is still an amazing publication and I am glad to have purchased it.

We visit Wales every July, and when we are in London, we always dine at least once at Dinner. The food is incredible and the service is even better (if that's possible!). Sadly, we didn't get to eat there in 2019 because of the fire at the Hotel that shut it down until reconstruction was complete, and then the travel restrictions of 2020 and probably again this summer, we won't be back in the UK for a while. Now that I have read this book, I can play with some of the recipes, and when we can travel again, I will have a better idea of what to select, instead of just ordering the same thing because we knew it was good. Sharing his experiences developing the recipes was fascinating. Some are so complex that there is no way I would attempt but I have a few I am going to try!

Imprescindible para grandes cocineros

Insightful

entertaining, useful and beautiful to look at! wether you like cooking or not, this is a must have on your bookshelf.

this book is beautiful. the pictures are really great. I am looking forward to just reading it from cover to cover. The price was much less than in the stores.