The Fat Duck Cookbook

For some years I have been exposed to 'molecular gastronomy' in high end restaurants. At home, I am a dedicated and exploratory cook who tries to please my family while also showing them 'something new' from time to time. I look at books like the 'Fat Duck' out of general interest but also to look behind the 'restaurant' recipes for new tools and techniques that I can translate for home cooking. Blumenthal's book can be read in this way with profit: he presents a lucid review of equipment and of kitchen chemistry (that really just expands on familiar items like pectin, gelatine, cornstarch and arrowroot), using some less familiar but equally processed substances.We hunt and have already been using an inexpensive vacuum sealer and this experience makes the equipment Blumenthal presents more approachable. Blumenthal is very understandable in his explanation of sous vide equipment and techniques, particularly their roles in preventing naturally low-fat products from drying excessively during cooking. Unlike others, he does not emphasize searing of an outside crust with a torch (you want to try that at home?); but he does regularly use a hot pan on a stovetop. One secret to actually using this book is to move away from the pretty pictures (they are breath-takingly well photographed) and to strip away the 'gourmet' proportions and fussy ingredients to focus on using the techniques on materials you want to prepare. Fish steaks and fillets can be done sous vide using his explanation of sous vide on salmon. Ideas for chicken and pork cuts are described. Adventurous eaters can move on to interesting preparations for quail and salmon. Other advanced technology is described for making fruit and vegetable purees, foams, gels and ice cream (this latter section gives a very understandable and informative explanation for controlling frozen crystal size and texture, for varying fattiness or sweetness and so on. It is unlikely that I will make any of his complete dishes but I will use some of the tools and tecniques at home.To return to storage and portioning: sous vide bags provide an ideal way to pre-cook, store and then reheat practical portions for 'empty nesters' while moving beyond commercailly packaged 'dinners.' Blumenthal's description of using a less-known substance like transglutaminase to help beef, veal and chicken 'roll-ups' to keep their shape is a big help to me. Really, this is not a stretch in chemistry or in kitchen practice from using curing salts for hams and bacon. Using a precision machine to control water temperature is also a big help if you like a reliable way to make soft boiled or hard boiled eggs or if you want to pasteurize a custard base for icecream without worrying about it 'breaking.' Books like this very stylish production give home cooks the confidence to take what they can use and to actually apply the concepts with the help of the book's step by step guidance.Other reviewers have spoken eloquently to the way Blumenthal explains his growth as a chef and the way that he uses logic and obsessive study and thought to develop original recipes and presentations. I enjoyed this aspect of the book as well. His idea of making a list of the characteristics he is looking for in a finished dish and using that list to find suitable ingredients and techniques to acheive his aim can be used by cooks at any level. I highly recommend this book for its information and for its entertainment level. It is a book that deserves to be kept before the public through continuing 'fresh' reviews.

I love this book. Not everyone will like it or be able to utilize it. Some conversions are a bit tricky, and some of the ingredients might be difficult to find where some live. That being said, this book is amazing for serious cooking.

...but not, really, a "cook book" as the recipes (lab protocols?) are extremely complex and require ingredients and equipment not likely to be stocked in your local grocery store. That being said, it's a book I'm glad I own.The first third, at least, isn't a cook book at all--it's an autobiographical history of developing as a molecular-gastronomical chef. The writing is engaging and speaks with a clear personality; you get the sense that you'd really enjoy sitting down for a chat with the chef/author. The second section is recipes, including extremely entertaining back-stories for how they were developed, from the genesis idea to the trials and tribulations of execution. I laughed out loud reading the recipe for the oysters when he described creating a soundtrack (loaded on an ipod chip which was then inserted into a conch shell) to accompany the dish, as well as the "ocean scent" perfume that was developed by a master perfumer and smeared on fan blades to waft the scent of the sea over diners. And I haven't reached the third section, so I can't comment on that at all.I am an avid home cook who regularly prepares multi-course, plated dinners for my friends and consequently have a neighborhood reputation for excess in the kitchen. I think the stories in this book might put my dabbling into perspective for my non-foodie friends.The only thing I would have liked more of, since this is a book about inspiration more than instruction, would be more actual photos of the finished dishes. Many times there are only sketches or images the evoke the sense of the dish, but not the actuality. But all-in-all it's a beautiful book that you'll be happy to own.

This book is a reflection of the genius Heston Blumenthal: a man that will go to great lengths to cook a dish or an ingredient to perfection, and in the process, lose those of us who try to follow him.The Fat Duck Cookbook is wonderful and it is inspiring to read: I particularly loved the biography of Heston Blumenthal, a self-taught culinary genius who was seduced into the art of cooking at early age and spent the rest of his life learning, experimenting and spending savings to travel to the best restaurants to learn what the best chefs were doing.For those of you that own other books by Blumenthal (I own "Family Food"), the Fat Duck Cookbook is the most complex to follow: this is due to the fact that the Fat Duck restaurant is a culinary cathedral of modernist cooking and the book represents the length and breadth to which Blumenthal and his team go to, to bring the best and most perfect dishes.Buy this book if you want to learn how one of the greatest modern chefs deciphers perfection but do not buy it as a cookbook because it is not, in any shape or form, an easy collection of recipes. It is a manifesto of a genius.

excellent book and delivered before the due date.

I purchased this book for my husband. My husband's hobby has always been cooking. 5 years ago he got interested in Modernist Cuisine. He made himself a make shift Sous Vide water bath contraption (very inexpensive way to do it) that worked. 2 years after that I purchased a Polyscience Sous Vide Professional Immersion Circulator for him from William-Sonoma which he was thrilled to have. While my husband was in London a few months ago my he told me he had a wonderful meal at Heston Blumenthal restaurant, Dinner.I thought he would enjoy looking and picking up some interesting things from The Fat Duck Cookbook.Although he has not made any meals from this book as of yet, he found the book very interesting and is looking forward to trying some of the recipes.

I knew when I bought this book that I would not be using it as a source of recipes, and any prospective purchasers should be aware of that at the outset. However the book is a deeply fascinating document of how Heston has created stunning recipes that us mere mortals can only dream of tasting. The history section is really interesting and shows just how dedicated Mr Blumenthal has been in his pursuit of the extraordinary. The recipes are beautifully explained and photographed and there is a real education to be had here. I've tried making his triple cooked chips and have certainly taken some of the information and used it. This is a marvellous book and its a worthy addition to my bookshelf.. Hope you enjoy too.

This shows why the Fat Duck is on another planet. Should be a Michelin 4* restaurant, if you can eat there please do, if you can't, this book shows what you're missing.

I have tried a number of recipes in this book some are actually achievable for normal human beings. Other than that it is a science book and you should and will enjoy the journey.A super coffee table book, recipes are written and explained in very good detail and the pictures are very appetising. This is a cook book that demands every once in a while you don your Heston glasses and inner madness to see what happens.Even if it doesn't work 100% you'll probably still find you have a damn tasty dish.

Amazing and beautiful book full of recipes you never make. But who cares when you try some of the elements of the dishes, and they are shown great in this book. I like it like Grant Achatz - Alinea. True inspiration for the foodie. Dont buy it if you wanna make food i 30 min. But If you wanna a know what a Master Chef like Heston Blumenthal is thinking when he creates dishes, menues etc. Then this is a must. a dream builder for visiting The fat duck, even if you have do overtime for a year.

I never thought I would pay over £700 for a meal for two at the Fat Duck - but I did - and left muttering "that was value for money"!!!So I wanted to find out more about how it was done - and this is it.The recipes, however, are a bit beyond my sphere of competence!!