Food and Drink
July 18, 2007
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Heston Blumenthal Heston Blumenthal
Chef/Proprietor The Fat Duck and The Hinds Head, Bray, Berkshire

Although born in London, I was lucky enough to spend my childhood in Berkshire and am glad that my own children are growing up here also. This county is truly blessed; it is easily accessible from Heathrow and not too far from London, yet has all the benefits of country living. Bray is a beautiful rural village and I was excited to find an available property when looking for a location for The Fat Duck. Not all restaurants are lucky enough to have suppliers on their doorstep, especially with the quality of produce that we use; however, the local farm in Berkshire is one of the only bio-dynamic farms in the country, and this is where we source the majority of our vegetable produce.

My childhood memories were not weaved with gastronomy, although my mother was a very good cook. My passion for cooking was born at the age of 16. During my first family holiday to Provence I visited a restaurant called L'Oustau de Baumaniere, where I experienced gastronomic cuisine for the fist time. Amid the smell of lavender and sounds of crickets, I watched lobster sauce poured into soufflés and baby legs of lamb carved in front of excited diners. I knew then that gastronomy was the only career for me.

On returning to the UK I finished my education and found various jobs in order to fund my growing love of gastronomy. I concentrated on the classical foundation of French cuisine, teaching myself everything from ice cream making to butchery, and read everything that I could get my hands on. In fact, I learnt my French from translating cookbooks. Harold McGee's book, 'On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen', changed my life.

My knowledge of chemistry was schoolboy level at the most, but whilst ploughing through pages of technical jargon, something jumped out at me: the statement that browning meat does not seal in the juices. This questioned fundamental kitchen lore and was a key moment in my development as a chef. For the next ten years I read and absorbed all I could about basic food science whilst continuing to develop a classical foundation. Throughout this period my dream of owning my own restaurant got stronger and, in 1995, I managed to open The Fat Duck.

In 2005 our tenth anniversary we were awarded the Best Restaurant in the World by the Restaurant Magazine, which was a fantastic honour for the whole team. This attracted enormous global publicity and custom from all over the world. Many different international publications wrote about the beauties of Berkshire, and Bray has been recognised internationally as a gastronomic village. I am very proud to have contributed to the reputation of Britain and it's cuisine, and also as a local man am happy to have promoted Berkshire in any way possible.

Also in 2005 I opened The Hinds Head, the local village pub located next door to the Fat Duck serving British tavern cuisine, good old-fashioned favourites like Oxtail and Kidney Pudding and Treacle Tart. The pub itself is a beautiful Tudor building with private dining areas and open fires, so in a bid to reintroduce some of the dishes from our British past that have been lost from our menus I have been working closely with the Tudor Kitchens at Hampton Court Palace. We introduced Quaking Pudding in 2005 and in the summer of 2006 we have a few other dishes to add to the menu.

The journey has been incredible and the recognition received a great honour, but the quest never ends and the most enjoyable part is the discoveries we make every day and translating them into new and stimulating dishes.





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