Heston Blumenthal
OBE

Heston Blumenthal, London, June 2010
Born	(1966-05-27) 27 May 1966 (age 46) London, England, United Kingdom
Education	Self-taught
Current restaurant(s) The Fat Duck The Hind's Head Dinner by Heston Blumenthal The Crown at Bray
Television show(s) Kitchen Chemistry In Search of Perfection Big Chef Takes on Little Chef Heston's Feasts How To Cook Like Heston
Official website
http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/

Heston Marc Blumenthal, OBE ( /ˈbluːmənθɔːl/;^[1] born 27 May 1966 in London, raised in Buckinghamshire)^[2] is an English chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire which has been voted Best Restaurant in the UK and received a perfect score of 10/10 every year since 2007 by The Good Food Guide. Additionally, it was voted best restaurant in the world in 2005 by Restaurant magazine.^[3] Since that date, it was awarded 2nd place in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, 3rd in 2010 and 5th in 2011.^[4]

Biography[link]

Heston Blumenthal attended the Latymer Upper School^[5] in London for one year^{[citation needed]} before transferring to Lacey Green Church of England School until 12.^{[citation needed]} Blumenthal completed his studies at age 18^{[citation needed]} at John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe.^[6]

Blumenthal is entirely self-taught. His first paid job as a curry chef was when he opened his own restaurant, The Fat Duck. Prior to this, his only experience in a professional kitchen was a one week long work experience at Marco Pierre White's restaurant and 10 days' unpaid experience in Raymond Blanc's kitchen.^{[citation needed]}

According to an interview with The Observer in 2004, he has been cooking "seriously" since the mid-1990s.^{[Full citation needed]} In 1992, three years before opening The Fat Duck, he created his first ever dish, the now famous and often imitated, triple cooked chips. In 2002 he invested in the Riverside Brasserie with former Arsenal FC footballer Lee Dixon and Alfie Hitchcock, but two years later he sold his shares in the business to his former head chef, Garrey Dawson.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, The Fat Duck was awarded its third Michelin star. Blumenthal is only one of three British chefs to receive 3 Michelin stars.

Restaurants[link]

The Fat Duck

The Fat Duck is Blumenthal’s first restaurant which he opened in 1995 in Bray, Berkshire. It has won many awards and has consistently been rated as one of the top restaurants in the world. Blumenthal is a proponent of multi-sensory dining, which is evident in many of his dishes at The Fat Duck.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Heston’s first restaurant outside of Bray, opened at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London in January 2011 to great accolades from critics and diners alike. The Times food critic, Giles Coren, called it the “best restaurant in the whole wide world”. Blumenthal and his team worked with historians to develop the restaurant’s dishes which are inspired by historic British recipes.

Hinds Head

The Hinds Head is in Bray, a short distance from The Fat Duck. Blumenthal acquired the Hinds Head in 2004. It is located in a 15th century former tavern and serves traditional seasonal cuisine and historic British dishes. It has received many awards for its food. In 2011, it was named the Michelin Pub Guide’s “Pub of the Year”.

The Crown at Bray

The Crown at Bray is a Blumenthal’s version of a British village pub. Blumenthal acquired it in June 2010. It is located in a 16th century former inn and serves traditional pub food.

Books[link]

Blumenthal has had numerous books published. His first book was Family Food: A new approach to cooking in 2000. His second book was Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection in 2006 (in which he attempts to find the best way of preparing classic dishes, including fish and chips and Black Forest gateau). Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In Search of Perfection was published in 2007 and The Big Fat Duck Cook Book in 2008 published by Bloomsbury. "Heston Blumenthal at Home" was published in late 2011 and is currently in the top 10 in the food and drink category on Amazon's bestseller's list.

The Big Fat Duck Cookbook is a 532 page cookbook written by Blumenthal and published in 2008 . The book is divided into 3 parts. The first part contains an essay by Blumenthal recounting his history and that of The Fat Duck. The story is interspersed with semi-abstract illustrations by artist Dave McKean, relating to the story. The second part contains recipes, all of which were at one point on the menu at The Fat Duck, as well as a short story explaining the inspiration behind each dish. The third part is devoted to the science of cooking, with essays contributed by his collaborators.

Writing[link]

Blumenthal has written columns for The Guardian, T2, The Times and GQ. Along with the scientists on the faculty of Reading University, he co-wrote an academic paper on the taste and flavour of tomatoes called “Differences in Glutamic Acid and 5'-Ribonucleotide Contents between Flesh and Pulp of Tomatoes and the Relationship with Umami Taste” ^[7]

Television shows[link]

In 2005 he produced a series of six half-hour television programmes called Kitchen Chemistry with Heston Blumenthal which were transmitted on Discovery Science along with a book Kitchen Chemistry, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and distributed to six thousand schools in the UK and Ireland. To date, it is the most successful book ever produced by the Society. He was ranked third chef by caterersearch.com in that year.^[8]

This was followed by two BBC series called Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection and Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In Search of Perfection. These series had higher production values, and followed Blumenthal's research and varied re-creation of classics of British cuisine and World Cuisine. The first series had seven episodes and included bangers and mash, fish and chips and spaghetti Bolognese; the second ran to eight episodes, and featured chicken tikka masala, hamburgers and Peking duck.

In the "Chili Con Carne" episode of the series In Search of Perfection he said that he was unable to participate in the MRI study of chili's effect on the brain as he had a metal plate inserted in his back after hurting it falling off a roof at the age of ten.^[9]

In the Christmas special of the second series of In Search of Perfection, Blumenthal milked a reindeer in Siberia to make ice cream and harvested Frankincense in Oman.^[10]

Blumenthal signed a two-year deal with Channel 4 in March 2008, joining the channel's roster of celebrity chefs which already included Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay. In January 2009 a three-part series of television programmes on Channel 4 covered his efforts to revamp the menu at a Little Chef motorway restaurant on the A303 road at Popham^[11] in the hope that his recipe ideas would be introduced in all 193 outlets.^[12] A follow-up programme was broadcast in October 2009. Following Blumenthal's revamp of the menu, the Popham Little Chef earned and entry in the Good Food Guide. The Little Chef group extended Blumenthal's menu to 12 branches and are now planning a major expansion across the sites.

In March 2009 Blumenthal began a short series of hour long programmes, called Heston's Feasts, showing Victorian, Medieval, Tudor, Christmas (including dormouse and venison) and Roman themed dinner banquets with various celebrities as guests. A second series of this was commissioned and began a few days after Easter 2010. In this series he created, among others, a Charlie and The Chocolate Factory-style feast,^[13] a Fairytale feast and an Edwardian style feast based on the last meal eaten on the Titanic.

From 22 February 2011, Channel 4 began airing Heston's new show, titled Heston's Mission Impossible, in which Heston targets lackluster food served in various industries and aims to update the food to things people enjoy to eat. So far broadcast are Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Cineworld, British Airways and The Royal Navy (aboard the HMS Turbulent).^[14]

Blumenthal has appeared on two episodes of Masterchef Australia, in series 2 and in series 3 called (Pressure Test 4)—Craig, Michael, Shannon and Rachel faced a Heston Blumenthal creation: a seemingly simple burger with chips and milkshake.

On 4 January 2012, Blumenthal's new television program, How To Cook Like Heston, premiered on Channel 4. The programme is aimed at home cooks, and features some of the more approachable techniques employed by Blumenthal.

Cooking methods[link]

Blumenthal is a proponent of modern cooking; he opened his own research and development kitchen in early 2004. It could be said that he is a molecular gastronomist, though he dislikes the term, believing it makes the practice sound "complicated" and "elitist."^[15] He holds multiple honorary degrees in recognition of his scientific approach to cooking.^[16][17]

One of his signature techniques is the use of a vacuum jar to increase expansion of bubbles during food preparation. This is used in such dishes as an aerated chocolate soufflé–like dessert. The reduction in air pressure inside the jar causes bubbles to grow to a larger size. He has experimented with amplification to enhance the sounds, such as the crunch, created while eating various foods.

Blumenthal is a proponent of low temperature, ultra–slow cooking, whereby a joint of meat is cooked for up to 24 hours so as to contain the fat content while preventing collagen molecules from re-forming within the meat. In his In Search of Perfection series, he cooks a Bresse chicken at 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Ultra-slow cooking does not melt the fat or release many juices, making the creation of gravy impossible, but Blumenthal says that gravy is unnecessary as the meat itself is sufficiently moist.

Blumenthal is also a proponent of the sous-vide cooking technique. Sous-vide, which means under vacuum in French, is a technique that entails cooking something that has been vacuum sealed in a plastic bag. The sealed bag is placed in a thermostatically controlled water bath and held at a relatively low temperature for long periods of time. In the case of beef steak cooked using the sous-vide method, the steak is held at around 60 °C (140 °F) for a minimum of thirty minutes. The steak is then removed from the bag and is then seared in a very hot pan. Searing the outside of the steak not only improves the flavour and texture of the meat, it also kills the harmful bacteria on the outside of the steak that survived the water bath.

Signature Dishes[link]

Blumenthal's signature dishes include snail porridge, bacon and egg ice cream and parsnip cereal, mock turtle soup (which combines a multi-sensory experience with historical references), Meat Fruit and his Sweet Shop petit fours.^[18]

He has pioneered the use of sound as part of the dining experience with his Sound of the Sea dish where diners listen to a recording of the seaside - crashing waves with occasional sounds of distant seagulls, children's laughter and the horn of a ship, while they eat a dish of king fish, konbu cured halibut, balloting of mackerel with 5 different seaweeds, sea jelly beans and monks beard served on "sand" made from tapioca starch, toasted Japanese breadcrumbs, miso paste and dried seaweeds.^{[citation needed]}

Blumenthal is also known for his use of scented dry ice.^{[citation needed]}

Blumenthal and his restaurant "The Fat Duck" have been credited as instigators of the bacon dessert "craze". He was preparing sweet and savoury bacon-and-egg ice cream as early as 2004, and news "about the intriguingly odd confection quickly spread through the food world."^[19]

Historic influences[link]

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Blumenthal is known for using British history in his dishes, television work, and books. He first became interested in British culinary history in 2000 when he was writing his book “Family Food”. The first dish he created based on a historic recipe was Quaking Pudding, which is on the menu at the Hinds Head.

British culinary history formed the basis for Blumenthal’s Feast Series. One of Blumenthal’s signature dishes at his restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, is Meat Fruit which he first developed for the Feast Medieval episode. Blumenthal said in the programme,” When I first started looking at historic recipes, particularly recipes from medieval times, there was one dish that really attracted my attention, just because it was completely mad: Meat fruit. Literally, you took some meat and literally turned it into fruit. People in the Middle Ages believed fruit and vegetable were considered to have diseases unless cooked. With a typically wicked sense of humor, medieval chefs played on this fear by forming and painting meat to make it look like raw fruit. The idea being to shock and delight their diners.”

Blumenthal has worked extensively with historian Ivan Day and then those at Hampton Court Palace to research British culinary history.

Blumenthal is writing and researching a book based entirely on historic recipes.

Collaborations[link]

Blumenthal has collaborated with scientists, including:

• Professor Peter Barham, Professorial Teaching Fellow in Physics at Bristol University and author of the book The Science of Cooking
• Professor Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford, with whom he collaborated in experiments with the use of headphones during eating
• Professor Andy Taylor at the University of Nottingham with whom Blumenthal has sponsored a PhD studentship
• Professors Don Mottram and Margot Gosney of the University of Reading, which in 2006 awarded Blumenthal an honorary degree.^[20]

Heston is also a mentor for the British Airways Great Britons Programme,^[21] and will mentor an up and coming chef to produce a dish served on board flights in the run up to the London 2012 Games.

Honorary Degrees and Recognition[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Blumenthal holds multiple honorary degrees in recognition of his scientific approach to cooking.

In January 2006, he was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty The Queen in the New Years Honours List for his services to British Gastronomy.

In July 2006, Blumenthal was presented with an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Reading University in recognition of his unique scientific approach to food and long-standing relationship with the University’s School of Food Biosciences. Also in July 2006, Blumenthal was the first chef to be awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Blumenthal received an honorary Master of Science from Bristol University in 2007.

Blumenthal is the first ever professional chef in the United Kingdom to be offered a Coat of Arms.[citation needed]

Awards[link]

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Personal awards[link]

• GQ Chef of the Year - GQ Man of the Year Awards 2010, 2011
• Trophy Gourmand - Austria 2010
• GQ Personality of the year - GQ Glenfiddich Awards 2007
• Chefs Chef - San Pellegrino Worlds 50 Best Restaurant Awards April 2007
• Honorary Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship for “… distinguished person whose activities have been of significant development to the chemical community..” - July 2006
• Honorary Doctor of Science degree awarded by Reading University for recognition for his unique scientific approach to food and long-standing relationship with the University’s School of Food Biosciences.
• Summer graduation ceremony - July 2006
• Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen - January 2006 New Years Honours List
• GQ Magazine Chef of the Year - GQ Magazine Man of the Year awards 2004
• Chef of the Year - Good Food Guide, 2001
• Catey Awards Restaurateur of the year Award - Caterer & Hotelkeeper Magazine 2003
• Best Restaurant of the Year Award - Decanter Magazine, 1998
• Food & Wine Personality of the Year Award - GQ Magazine, Glenfiddich Awards 2004
• AA Guide chef’s chef of the year Award - AA Guide Publications 2002

Television and book awards[link]

• BAFTA nomination in the Features category for "FEAST" - British Academy Television Awards 2010
• The Features and Lifestyle Award for Heston's Victorian Feast - The Royal Television Society Awards 2009
• Food Book of the Year for The Big Fat Duck Cookbook - Guild of Food Writers Awards 2009
• Winner of Design and Production Award for The Big Fat Duck Cookbook - British Book Industry Awards 2009
• Winner of Photography Award for The Big Fat Duck Cookbook - James Beard Foundation Awards 2009
• Winner of Design Award for The Big Fat Duck Cookbook - International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards 2009
• BAFTA nomination in the Features category for “Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection”- British Academy Television Awards 2008
• Best Cookbook of the year Worldwide for Family Food “a new approach to cooking” - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2004
• Best Children Cookbook for Family Food “a new approach to cooking” - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2004
• Best Production “Heston Blumenthal – In Search of Perfection” BBC2 - GQ Glenfiddich Awards 2007

Restaurant awards[link]

• Third Best Restaurant in the World - San Pellegrino Worlds 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2010
• Second Best Restaurant in the World - San Pellegrino Worlds 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2009,2008,2007,2006
• Best Restaurant in the UK and 10/10 score - Good Food Guide 2008, 2009,2010,2011, 2012
• Conde Nast Traveller Innovation Award for “Chocolate Wine” 2008
• Best Overall Service - Restaurant Magazine Front of House Awards 2007
• Best Restaurant in the UK - Good Food Guide 2007
• Grand Prix de L’Art de la Cuisine - International Academy of Gastronomy 2007
• Gault Millau, 19/20 rating
• Gault Millau Guide January 2005
• 3 Michelin Stars - Michelin Travel Publications 2004
• Square Meal/BMW Best out of Town Restaurant - Square Meal Magazine, BMW Awards 2004
• Tatler Magazine Best Out of Town Restaurant - Tatler Magazine Awards 2004
• Catey Awards Chef of the Year - Catering & Hotelkeeper Magazine 2004
• Second Best restaurant in the World Award - Restaurant Magazine Worlds 50 Best Restaurant awards 2004
• Restaurant Magazine Best European Restaurant Award - Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2004
• Restaurant Magazine highest New Entry Award - Worlds Best 50 Restaurants Awards 2004
• Best Restaurant Award - Observer Food Monthly Awards 2004
• Good Food Guide accreditation 9/10 - 2004
• 2 Michelin Stars - Michelin Travel Publications 2001
• 5 AA rosettes - AA Publications 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
• AA wine list of the year - AA Publications 2002
• AA Sherry List of the year - AA Sherry Publications 2002
• AA Restaurant of Year Award - AA Publications 2001
• Best of the year in Modern European category - Hotel and Restaurant Magazine, 2000
• 1 Michelin Star - Michelin Travel Publications 1998

Bibliography[link]

• Family Food: A New Approach to Cooking (2002)
• In Search of Perfection (2006)
• Further Adventures in Search of Perfection (2007)
• The Fat Duck Cookbook (2008)
• Total Perfection:In Search of Total Perfection (2009)
• Heston's Fantastical Feasts (2010)
• Heston Blumenthal At Home (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website of the Fat Duck restaurant
• Blumenthal's biography
• Heston Blumenthal's column in The Times
• Heston Blumenthal recipes at www.bbc.co.uk

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Coordinates: 51°29′07″N 0°22′44″W / 51.4852°N 0.3788°W / 51.4852; -0.3788

Heston
Heston  Heston shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ125775
London borough	Hounslow
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HOUNSLOW
Postcode district	TW5
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Feltham and Heston
London Assembly	South West
List of places: UK • England • London

Heston is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It is a suburban development area, based on a former farming village 10.8 miles (17.4 km) west south-west of Charing Cross.

History[link]

The village of Heston lies towards the north of Hounslow, and has been settled since Saxon times. A charter of Henry II gives the name as Hestune, meaning "enclosed settlement", which is justified by its location in what was the Warren of Staines, between the ancient Roman road to Bath, and the Uxbridge Road to Oxford.

Prior to 1229, Heston was part of the parish of Gistleworth (Isleworth) before being taken by Henry III, who subsequently granted it to the Earl of Cornwall. Following Henry's death in 1316, Heston was owned by the Crown, and later to the wardens of St Giles Hospital, prior to being surrendered to Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Elizabeth I granted Heston to Sir Thomas Gresham, and, after eating some bread made from locally grown wheat, insisted on a supply for her own personal use.

The separation from Isleworth in the 14th century gave the locals a sense of independence from their southern neighbours, with whom they frequently quarrelled. The practice of “beating the bounds” was practised annually when the inhabitants went in procession around the parish boundaries, to show locals the extent of their lands. A contemporary account of such a procession describes an occasion when the parishioners of Heston came across some from Isleworth, and the ensuing "quarrel" saw men from Heston throwing the others across a ditch.

Churches[link]

St Leonard's Church (Church of England) dates from the 14th century, though there are records of a priest in Heston in the 7th century. The church tower survived the necessary rebuilding works in the 19th century, as did the lychgate. The grave of Private Frederick John White, who was flogged to death at Hounslow Barracks in 1846, can be found in the graveyard. The outcry at the manner of his death brought about a reduction in the maximum number of lashings that could be given as punishment, and eventually the banning of the practice altogether.

Naturalist Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was laid to rest at St Leonard's Church.

Our Lady Queen of Apostles is the Catholic Church in the area. Built in the 20th century, it is smaller than St Leonard's, though has a larger congregation, and is popular among families who send their children to the local Rosary RC Junior School. Notably, all the altar-servers from Our Lady Queen of Apostles are specially chosen by the parish priest from the Rosary RC Junior School. As of 2006, with the replacement of the parish priest Father Michael Tuck, for the first time in the parish's history, females may be chosen to be altar-servers.

Schools[link]

There are five primary schools in Heston: Berkley, the Rosary Catholic school, Westbrook Primary, Springwell Junior School, Heston Primary School and Heston Community School. Heston Community school is also a secondary and sixth form school.

Transport and locale[link]

Heston Aerodrome[link]

Heston Aerodrome was operational between 1929 and 1947. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew from Heston to Germany three times in two weeks for talks with Adolf Hitler, and he returned to Heston from the Munich Conference with the paper referred to in his later "Peace for our time" speech from 10 Downing Street.^[1]

Housing and industrial estates have been built on some of the area that was Heston Aerodrome, and the M4 motorway with its large service area (Heston services) cuts across the former aerodrome site east-west, but a substantial area to the north of the M4 is host to the Airlinks 18-hole golf course. Many of the roads in the area have aviation-related names: Alcock Road (Alcock and Brown), Brabazon Road (Brabazon), Bleriot Road (Louis Blériot), Cobham Road (Sir Alan Cobham), De Havilland Road (de Havilland), Norman Crescent (Nigel Norman), Phoenix Way (Heston Phoenix), Sopwith Road (Thomas Sopwith), Spitfire Way (Supermarine Spitfire), Whittle Road (Frank Whittle), and Wright Road (the Wright brothers).^[1]

Road network[link]

The Great West Road was completed in 1925, and the farming and market garden land around the village was snapped up for housing developments.^[1]

Nearest places[link]

• Hounslow
• North Hyde
• Norwood Green
• OsterleyEd

Nearest tube station[link]

• Hounslow West tube station
• Osterley tube station

Notable people[link]

• Oarsman Don Allum (1937-1992), first man to row the Atlantic Ocean in both directions, lived in Heston
• Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, of rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow, grew up in Heston
• Anthony Collins (1676-1729), philosopher friend of John Locke, was born in Heston
• Composer Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) was born in Heston
• Guitarist Jimmy Page, of rock band Led Zeppelin, was born in Heston
• Horticulturist Ellen Willmott (1858-1934) was born in Heston.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Sherwood, Tim. 1999. Coming in to Land: A Short History of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston Aerodromes 1911-1946. Heritage Publications (Hounslow Library) ISBN 1-899144-30-7

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