Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Domestic Science

Yet another cookery series started on BBC TV last night. This one is a bit different from the usual run of the mill, though. It is Heston Blumenthal demonstrating his method of cooking. Last night he did bangers and mash, and treacle tart with ice cream. At least, those were the names of the two courses he did, but his methods were so impractical for ordinary mortals that we haven’t a hope in hell of being able to serve them up in our own humble homes. I mean, liquid nitrogen and dry ice? They are not items that I can buy from my local village shop, Heston…
 
Sam Wollaston, TV critic of the Guardian, gives a flavour of what the show was like. Mind you, I have to agree with Wollaston, it’s worth it just to watch Blumenthal perform his alchemy in the kitchen (and please tell me that that perfect kitchen, with its pastel tones and not a utensil out of place, was just a studio set). But I despair of ever being able to attempt any of his recipes.

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2 responses to “Domestic Science”

  1. Brian Avatar
    Brian

    Yes, the liquid nitrogen was laughable, how many ASDAs stock it anyway?  Even the dry ice would probably send most of us to the Tesco freezer section, but I found him easy on the eyes and easier to watch than most chefs.

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  2. Geoff Avatar
    Geoff

    Easy on the eyes? Well, true, he has something appealing about him. It’s a strange mixture of nerd and bruiser, I think. And I do wonder whether I’d actually like his food. Perhaps one day I’ll get a chance to taste it. But I’m reminded about the judgement of a friend of mine (whose judgement I trust) about a similar chef/restaurant. That’s the excreable El Bulli. Pretentiousness taken to an extreme level (take a look at their truly abominable Flash web site as a clue). Frankly, they should have stuck to minigolf. The world would have been a better place.

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