I just watched Heston Blumenthal's - chef of the famed Fat Duck Restaurant - new television show, Heston's Feasts. Future episodes will include Ancient Rome, Medieval Feast, and Tudor England. Today, however, he played the Mad Hatter and prepared his Victorian-inspired version of Alice in Wonderland's Tea Party. If your into Molecular Gastronomy and pushing the limits of food, continue on...
Blumenthal's guests fell through the rabbit hole and started with a pink colored drink. Just like the elixir in Alice in Wonderland, Blumenthal created all the flavors Alice tasted - toffee, hot buttered toast, custard, cherry tart, and turkey.
He then went on with Turtle Soup as his second course - a Victorian favorite. After traveling to New Jersey to procure a real turtle, Blumenthal decided real turtle was "too stringy" for his tastes and recreated a Mock Turtle Soup. Mock Turtle Soup became a Victorian favorite, as turtle was quite expensive back in the day. For the Mock Turtle (another character in Alice), Blumenthal went to London's famed Lidgate Butcher's as they were in existence even in Victorian times. Mock Turtle is actually head of beef, and Blumenthal cooked the entire thing, teeth and eyeballs included! After a series of freezings, a centrifuge, and other cooking methods, Blumenthal created a gelatin consomme of Mock Turtle Soup and wrapped it in gold leaf. Guests created their own Mad Hatter Tea with the consomme and poured the broth over turnip mousse Mock Turtle Egg.
The third course did not disappoint as Blumenthal created an entirely edible garden made of black olive soil, grayed potato stones, and fried crickets stuffed with tomato concentrate - for that realistic ooze when bitten into.
For the final, dessert course (or pudding course here in the UK), Blumenthal made Absinthe jelly with an erotic touch. Apparently, Victorians loved jello-type centerpieces on their tables, especially loving to watch them wobble. Blumenthal recreated the wobble with vibrating "instruments". Victorians also loved mind-altering "Green Fairy" (Absinthe) and Blumenthal paired his Green Fairy with strawberry and elderflower juices.
All in all, a fun twist on the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and Victorian history. Looking forward to what's next.
UPDATE from March 10th's Medieval Feast:
While Blumenthal's second episode of Feast was entertaining it didn't grab my attention like Alice's Tea Party. His guests seemed a bit less enthused with his creations as well.
He started with a medieval bowl of fruit, but in actuality the "fruit" was made with meat. So far not impressed, but not turned off. Let's continue on. Blumenthal's second course was admittedly a failure. He served Lamprey, a fish eaten in large quantities during medieval times, and resembling an eel. He served the Lamprey with the real uncooked head and tail as garnish and a sauce made of Lamprey blood. While I'm sure the steamed and grilled portion of the fish was tasty, the presentation was so off putting for the guests they were clearly grossed out. Blumenthal admitted he had pushed the envelope a bit far.
He had to get them back and this part of the show was a bit more interesting. He wanted to bake a Blackbird Pie (like the children's nursery rhyme), with real blackbird's flying out of it. So, he had to bake a giant pie crust. He rolled out a giant crust, using construction equipment and baked it in a local potter's oven. The weight of the dough caused the pie crust to collapse and burn in the oven. Of course, Blumenthal went back to the kitchen and made another large pie crust, using strips to solve the weight issue. Funny though on television we were only shown the final product. Where did he bake his second, perfect pie? I question the validity of the second pie crust... with the magic of television he has pulled a fast one on us!
In Medieval times, pie crust were inedible and used largely as to-go (take-away in British speak) containers. The bigger the better, and pies were known to serve frogs, snakes, birds, and even a dwarf! Blumenthal's filling was made with pigeon and with the addition of root vegetables, anchovies, pickles, and truffles was tasty by all accounts.
His last course was and an edible tablescape and definite crowd pleaser. Blumenthal had his guests take a five minute break and replaced everything from the cutlery to the candles to something sweet and edible.
My excitement for the show has deflated. Though I'm interested in his next show - A Tudor Feast, I can't promise to make the commitment that I'll be watching it...
What a fun episode! I would love to watch this show; maybe they'll re-broadcast it in US at some point. I would love to visit Fat Duck restaurant someday!
Posted by: Natasha - 5 Star Foodie | Wednesday, March 04, 2009 at 06:09 AM
I felt like I'd fallen down the rabbit hole myself! I need to re-read just to get a handle on how Chef Blumenthal accomplished all of this. Now, about the absinthe jelly "with an erotic touch" - what, exactly, were these wobbly, vibrating "instruments"? 8-)
Posted by: Tangled Noodle | Wednesday, March 04, 2009 at 02:51 PM
5 Star Foodie - Heston Blumenthal and Molecular Gastronomy is gaining quite a reputation so I hope they do broadcast it in the US.
Tangled Noodle - To the get the jelly to wobble properly, Blumenthal needed a vibrating instrument... apparently this instrument was invented and used by the Victorians to cure women of certain disease called Hysteria. The instrument is still used today, but more for one's pleasure! =)
Posted by: gastroanthropologist | Thursday, March 05, 2009 at 01:57 PM
I watched this and think it is one of the best foodie programmes out there at the moment. I love food and it's history so this was right up my street!
Posted by: Jules | Friday, March 06, 2009 at 07:32 PM
Jules - I really enjoyed the show too...looking forward to the next one - I think its medieval feasts, so definitely up your alley with the food + history!
Posted by: gastroanthropologist | Sunday, March 08, 2009 at 06:27 PM
I recorded this as my other-half was away when it was orignally shown and we watched it last night. We were both completely glued to the TV. I think that was one of the best food programmes I've ever seen. I remember first seeing Heston on TV a couple of years ago when he made ketchup injected chips. I think I was hooked after that! It just seemed so weird.
Anyway, I can't wait 'til the next episode! Boy, it doesn't take much to please me at the moment!
Posted by: Springtime | Sunday, March 08, 2009 at 10:38 PM
Springtime - I was so excited for the second episode, but I don't Heston delivered? Did you catch the Medieval Feast?
Posted by: gastroanthropologist | Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 09:14 AM
Wow, some how I misssed this post and am just getting caught up - I wish I could catch Heston and these shows sound fantastic. Did they ever figure out what was causing the illness at his restaurants?
Posted by: OysterCulture | Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 11:42 PM
Last I heard the illness was a mystery but some 400 people claimed to be sick! He's had the restaurant tested and they can't seem to figure out what it was. I missed the Tudor Feast last week but will try to view it online and share my thoughts. I should be able to catch the next one live...
I really like how Heston takes a bit of history and tradition and then pushes the boundaries. Scientist, artist, historian, and cook in one!
Posted by: gastroanthropologist | Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Ha, just happened to stumble across this post, and it occurred to me, that I saw several of these episodes while in Ireland - I was in awe at the creativity but kinda glad I did not have to sample some of the stuff. The Medieval feast was over the top!
Posted by: OysterCulture | Friday, November 20, 2009 at 04:13 AM