The Fat Duck
The Fat Duck ( " The Fat Duck " ) is an excellent three Michelin stars restaurant by chef Heston Blumenthal in Bray, Berkshire, England. Hallmark of the restaurant menus are made up of many small courses, with which he tries to surprise the guests' senses through unusual combinations of taste, aroma, mouthfeel and both visual impression and related associations.
Award as the Best Restaurant in the World
Heston Blumenthal was with his restaurant " The Fat Duck" 2004 is one of three in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which were awarded in the Michelin Guide three-star review, which was renewed to this day every year. In 2005 it was nominated for " best restaurant in the world " by Restaurant Magazine.
The menus
In the creation of his dishes to Chef Heston Blumenthal is guided by a more science-oriented approach. Thus, the individual taste and especially the odorants of the possible ingredients analyzed and compared according to the principle, the same fits to like ' combined. This need not match all the flavor and fragrance components of the materials, it is sufficient that the individual components present in the two materials. The classic example of this combination of components is the " chocolate muffin with blue cheese ".
In addition to taste and smell the mouthfeel plays a prominent role for Blumenthal. As an example the sorbet " sardines on toast " and the " ice cream with scrambled eggs and ham taste " are mentioned, but really there are in each of his dishes in terms of mouth feel at least a little special.
Like every excellent restaurant plays an important role in " The Fat Duck", the look of the dishes. Here, however, tried to separate by clever dissonances between taste and other sensory stimuli, the expectations of the sensory perception of food of their taste and mouthfeel. Thus we find among the entrees of the restaurant a jelly of orange and beetroot, the red jelly made from blood oranges and the orange jelly made from orange beets.
For precise control of cooking temperatures, a steamer Blumenthal uses in his kitchen one Vakuumdampfgarer, in which the temperature of the steam can be controlled by adjusting the vacuum. Thus, according to the low- temperature cooking, for example, the normally tough connective tissue into gelatin are transferred, which meat is tenderized, without losing its flavor.
As another example of special cooking methods, the development of a strong alcoholic beer batter is called: To keep the teigumschlossenen fish fillets juicy, he has developed a dough with vodka. For one, the new dough to enclose the fish better, on the other hand, the alcohol evaporates even at lower temperatures than water ( 78 degrees Celsius compared to 100 degrees so that both begins the cooking process and the Abbackvorgang the dough at lower temperatures.
A synthesis of special Garmethodik and flavor combination is found in the " Poached salmon in Lakritzgelmantel ". Here, a small piece of salmon is completely enclosed with a black gel coat with licorice flavor. On heating, the gel coat prevents the crossing of fluid in the salmon, as well as the leakage of grease and water from the salmon. Rather, it is cooked by the conclusion of the Lachsstückchens this in their own steam. Only when eating the licorice flavors combine with the fish and it comes at a very special taste experience.
Heston Blumenthal illuminated all individual aspects in the creation of courts and systematically searches for new ways especially with unusual results. To say that this is solely to molecular gastronomy, falls short.
Example programs
In Lakritzgelmantel steamed salmon served with artichokes and vanilla mayonnaise and olive oil.
Mango puree on a Douglas - fir mousse.
Hot iced tea in the cold vessel.
'Sound of the Sea': kelp oyster foam and meal - sand, served to ocean and washed down with a glass of sake.
' Snail Porridge ': Fennel Peeled, finely chopped snail meat and ham on a bed of cooked oatmeal in Schneckensud with garlic and parsley.
Ice cream with scrambled eggs and ham taste on a toast from cream -Pain Perdu.
In an oyster shell servierter jello from oyster and passion fruit on lavender flowers.
Violets tart and apple pie caramel in edible ' candy wrapper '.
Lollipop with carrot and orange flavor.
Literature on the courts
While Heston Blumenthal in his TV and book series In Search for Perfection ( In Search of Perfection ) tries to explain his approach in the search for new dishes for his restaurant, can be found in the middle section of The Fat Duck Cookbook detailed recipes for each course, the were served at The Fat Duck. In addition to the craftsmanship will also address the idea behind the courts.
Incident Winter 2009
On 25 February 2009, the local health authority reported four cases of stomach upset and diarrhea, which ' occurred within 48 hours after a visit to the restaurant, The Fat Duck. Then Blumenthal joined the restaurant from 27 February 2009 to 12 March 2009.
The investigation showed that the health authority diseased during the period from early January to late February, a total of 529 guests and 15 employees. In these patients, Norovirus infection of different strains are determined. Source of infection was contaminated with norovirus crustaceans. Due to the number of required steps for the production of food and the low cooking temperatures the risk of Noroviruskontamination in the offered by Heston Blumenthal molecular gastronomy is higher than in normal restaurants. After the competent authority had informed the employees about these hazards, the restaurant could reopen.