Customer Reviews

Heston's Fantastical Feasts

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Odds are good that if you're reading this review, you already know a little bit about Heston Blumenthal and his obsession with food. Odds are also good that you're pretty enthusiastic about the topic as well. If not, this book is not for you. If "foodie" or "culinary enthusiast" is way too mild to describe your absolute passion for all things food related, then this book might appeal. If you can relate to the experience of spending hours seeking out an obscure ingredient or spending days cooking many versions of the same dish, just to find the perfect expression of flavor, then this book is something to seriously consider.

Heston Blumenthal goes totally over the top in trying to create dining experiences, feasts that evoke a time, place and emotional response. He goes to Transylvania to learn about blood cookery for a Halloween feast, and he makes lickable wallpaper to evoke a sense of childlike wonder. The dishes are ridiculous, impossible and outrageous. They call for techniques and ingredients that are impossible for the home cook, using freeze dryers and a PacoJet and camel meat and poisonous mushrooms and gallons of blood and... and...

It's an extravaganza of culinary insanity, but it's absolutely amazing to read about the creation of these dishes. Blumenthal explores the emotional connection to food, trying to provide a different kind of eating experience for his feasters. Yes, there are very detailed recipes, but that is not why you should buy this book. It's about the way people relate to food, how they can go somewhere they've never been or travel back to a time that they have fond memories of.

There are really no words to describe the genius & imagination behind Heston Blumental's creations. The book is a glimpse into his brain and how it works. I was almost tempted to lick a page to see if maybe it was really an elaborate masterpiece of his passed off as a book. This book is definitely for someone who is either a HUGE FOODIE or a HB fan. Someone with just a passing interest in food would probably not get much use from it.

Within you will find history, food knowledge, HB's past, recipes & how HB makes 1+1=100. Although the mini-chapters are kind of thrown here and there and don't really make much sense order wise I was never bored and did not want to put the book down. This book is a foodies DREAM. It is filled with regional facts on dishes and ingredients, time period information, culinary trips/adventures around the world, how to's and the finished dishes complete with pictures of some of the "works of art." From a Hansel & Gretel edible house you can fit inside, to a hike through the woods searching for poisonous mushrooms, to cooking with Play-Doh & making a Lobster Bisque with a coffee machine, the whimsy of each dish captures those enjoying them with every sense activated. I don't personally think I will ever make any of the recipes as they are very intricate and require some things that are not readily available but he certainly makes them seem quite doable to someone with the know how and equipment needed.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and hope he shares more of his insights soon!!!

A very impressive read. Heston never ceases to amaze me. Presentation of the book is as fantastic as his food looks.