Eating Out - Molecular Memories of a Meal on the Edge

Lunch at The Fat Duck.

    I’ve wanted to venture there for years.  I’d spoken to friends who’d been.  I’d read books about it and visited the websites.  And what place is this, you ask?  This place, dear reader, is nothing less than the cutting edge of cookery, the Formula 1 of fine food, the front line of food preparation and the cauldron where mutations are incorporated into the DNA of haute cuisine.  This is the world of molecular gastronomy.

    Although the term has been around for over 25 years, it is only in the last 10 years that molecular gastronomy has made its mark on the restaurant world.  Among the practitioners of molecular gastronomy, Ferran Adrià, Pierre Gagnaire and Heston Blumenthal are certainly the most famous.  On a recent trip to London we decided to pay Mr. Blumenthal a visit.

    First a word to the wise:  If I have given you the impression that our visit to Mr. Blumenthal’s restaurant, The Fat Duck, was impromptu, I do apologize.  Understand this: it is probably easier to arrange a heart transplant for yourself than to get a reservation at The Fat Duck. Calling 2 months ahead, we managed to snag a lunch reservation…and only because there had been a cancellation. 

   

The Fat Duck is situated in the quiet pastoral town of Bray, home of the Singing Vicar.   Bray is about 45 km west of London center so we wisely booked a room at a nearby inn in anticipation of unreasonable consumption.  Having foregone the English country breakfast and opted instead for a croissant and coffee, we found ourselves hungry and nose-to-the-door at 12 noon on the dot.

    The restaurant, once a pub, is amazingly unassuming.  One is greeted by young, cheerful staff who caution you to mind the low beams.  Although the décor is a pleasant mix of traditional and modern, it soon fades into insignificance as one gets down to the more serious business about transpire on the 1 square meter of linen facing your seated self.  The Fat Duck was voted the best restaurant in the world by the much respected Restaurant Magazine in 2005 (it placed 2nd this year just behind el Bulli) and is a 3 star Michelin.

    We have found, over the years, that when visiting a food shrine at the top of its game, opting for the tasting menu is not only de rigueur, but also a mark of respect for the chef.  So it is that after a cursory look at the à la carte over a glass of bubbles, we made our wishes known to the waiter.  Having taken our order and asked the now standard questions about food allergies, he skipped away only to return moments later carrying 2 envelopes.  These were of the finest vellum, sealed with wax and containing copies of the tasting menu we were about to have.  “They are indeed on top of their game.” I thought.  Whenever we have had an elaborate tasting menu, we’ve asked for a copy to better remember the feast. Some establishments are glad to comply but others do so reluctantly.  But here, they were one step ahead.  Good start.

    Without further ado then, here is the task that we were about to take on…for lunch.  (We train for these things you know.)

NITRO-GREEN TEA AND LIME MOUSSE (2001)
OYSTER, PASSION FRUIT JELLY, LAVENDER
POMMERY GRAIN MUSTARD ICE CREAM, RED CABBAGE GAZPACHO
JELLY OF QUAIL, LANGOUSTINE CREAM, PARFAIT OF FOIE GRAS
OAK MOSS AND TRUFFLE TOAST
(Homage to Alain Chapel)

2004 Collio Bianco, Klin, Primosic, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia
(Italy)

SNAIL PORRIDGE
Jabugo Ham, Shaved Fennel

2006 Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine de Beaurenard
(France)

ROAST FOIE GRAS "BENZALDEHYDE"
Almond Fluid Gel, Cherry, Chamomile

2004 Pinot Gris, Rolly Gassmann, Alsace

"SOUND OF THE SEA"

Manzanilla, Solear, Barbadillo, Jerez
(Spain)

SALMON POACHED IN LIQUORICE GEL
Asparagus, Vanilla Mayonnaise and “Manni” Olive Oil

2001 Quinta da Leda, Casa Ferreirinha, Douro Valley
(Portugal)

BALLOTINE OF ANJOU PIGEON
Black Pudding “Made to Order”, Pickling Brine and Spiced Juices

2003 Tokara, Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Petit Verdot, Stellenbosch
(South Africa)

HOT AND ICED TEA (2005)

MRS MARSHALL’S MARGARET CORNET

PINE SHERBET FOUNTAIN (PRE-HIT)

MANGO AND DOUGLAS FIR PUREE

Bavarois of Lychee and Mango, Blackcurrant Sorbet

2005 Breganze Torcolato, Maculan, Veneto
(Italy)

PARSNIP CEREAL

NITRO-SCRAMBLED EGG AND BACON ICE CREAM (2006)
Pain Perdu, Tea Jelly

2006 Jurançon, Uroulat, Charles Hours, South West
(France)

PETITS FOURS
Carrot and Orange Lolly, Mandarin Aerated Chocolate, Violet tartlet,

Apple Pie Caramel “Edible Wrapper”

   

   

I kid you not.

    But you have to understand we were hungry.  Seriously.

    I find it very difficult to do such a meal justice with mere words so I’ve got some photos (all off the web since Josée forgot the camera) for you.  However, even the photos don’t quite do it.  The meal we were about to partake in was designed to take full advantage of all the senses.  For some dishes, sound is used to amplify the taste experience. Some courses play with your brain, say Hot And Iced Tea, before they do a number on your palate.  Yet others are the gastronomic version of trompe l’oeuil.  With that said, here is a closer look at some of the dishes. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

•    Nitro-Green Tea and Lime Mousse – This is the first in a long line of surprises that awaits you.     The young lady wheels a trolley to your table.  On the trolley is an insulated container of liquid nitrogen (-196°C) into which she drops a scoop of a white creamy mixture of lime, green tea, vodka, egg white and sugar.  Three seconds later, the “flash frozen” concoction is placed in front of you and you are instructed to plop it into your mouth immediately.  At the same time, essence of green tea is atomized over the table.  The result: a veritable explosion of taste and temperature sensation in your mouth.  The outside cracks and melts on contact and this is followed by the rush of room temperature vodka, lime and tea taste. What a start!

•    Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream, Red Cabbage Gaspacho – Mr. Blumenthal, you’re hurting my head!  Mustard ice cream?  OUT OF THIS WORLD!  Somehow the very recognizable but not overpowering taste of mustard together with the delicate texture provided by the grains results in a fascinating taste sensation.  The red cabbage gazpacho is velvety and compliments the ice cream perfectly.
•    Oak Moss and Truffle Toast – Here is where your table turns into a veritable stage, a theater of the senses.   A wooden tray of oak moss is placed on the table.  You are handed a small plastic sleeve and are instructed to place the thin film of oak resin within onto your tongue.  All of a sudden, you feel you licking the forest floor…in a pleasant kind of way.  A pretty teapot contains fir tea which is then poured over the moss tray and within seconds, the whole table is covered in a thick scented fog (dry ice under the moss of course).  You are now deep in the forest.  Pop the black truffle toast in your mouth and you start to get it; truffle and oak and moss and fir are closely related and share many of the same chemical compounds. The sight and smells do nothing but amplify the taste of the truffle.  This course also includes the jelly of quail, the langoustine cream and the parfait of foie gras.  Spectacular!

•    Snail Porridge – This is one of the dishes that put Fat Duck on the map, and the dish we were looking forward to most.  Again, the chef is playing with your brain.  What does porridge have to do with snails; chalk and cheese, right?  Here’s what Blumenthal has to say about the dish: “Part of our expectation of food is conditioned by language - we eat porridge for breakfast, often with something sweet, such as sugar, honey or jam, yet porridge itself is not sweet. It is a grain, just as rice is, and the idea with this dish is simply to use oats as you would rice. This is best served as a starter.”  So, once you untangle your brain, the dish makes much more sense; think snails on risotto.  The oats are made in snail stock (500g chicken wings (optional)

Snails (as many, or as few, as you wish)

1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced, 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced, 

1 fennel bulb, finely sliced, 

1 stick celery, finely sliced, 

100g button mushrooms, finely sliced, 

2 cloves garlic, 

Bouquet garni of bay, thyme and rosemary) and then combined with snail butter (25g whole garlic cloves, peeled, 

40g button mushrooms, 

40g shallots, 

200g unsalted butter, at room temperature, 

25g Dijon mustard

, 20g ground almonds

, 5g salt, 

100g flat-leaf parsley, chopped, 

40g Parma ham).  The finely chopped snails, Jabugo ham and fennel sit comfortably atop the porridge. The whole is as delightful as it is quirky.
•    Sound of the Sea – This is the last one I’ll describe.   It’s so hard to decide on a favorite but lets just say that Josée and I loved this dish so much that at one point, we looked up at each other and realized that we were both glassy-eyed…I kid you not, this dish affected us so much we nearly cried.  Latin emotion I guess.  Here’s how it goes:  waiter brings each of us a conch shell containing an iPod Nano.  We are instructed to don the ear buds and await his return.  My first thought: gimmicky. However, we play along and are soon transported by the sounds of the sea: gentle surf, wind and seagulls. Waiter returns and places the plates in front of us.  He informs us that everything on the plate is edible, recommends we keep the iPods on as we’re eating and promises to return half way through to tell us what we’re eating.  Here’s what seems to be on the plate: go to the beach and carefully lift off a sample from that part where the surf foams onto the sand and debris forms a sort of scum line of sea weed and other marine life.  Carefully lift said sample to include surf foam, scum line and sand and gently deposit it on a plate.  Then, start eating.  I started with a mouthful of sand.  Looks like sand both in color and texture including a degree of crunchiness.  Absolutely delicious! (Not exactly sure how he concocts his “sand” but I’ve been told the base is tapioca and the crunchiness is achieved with fried baby eels).  The “scum line” included very tasty seaweed, razor clams, oysters and muscles.  The foam tasted oyster.  Eaten with the sounds of the sea, this dish absolutely transported us; a gastronomic experience that must be tried to be believed.

    I could go on but I’m getting a bit hungry.  However, I hope I’ve at least given you an idea of what The Fat Duck experience is like.  This restaurant is not for the casual food lover, I fear, but rather for the serious gastronome who is not afraid of venturing to the front lines.  It is a Mecca for those of us who have become a bit jaded with the traditional “classics”.  It is, perhaps, a glimpse into the future of fine food.

    Price for this 4 hour, 17-course lunch including champagne, 8 wines and grats:  …if you have to ask…

Joseph Froncioni

Comments

[Magdi]

Hey Joe, I enjoyed the reading. for those of us who can't afford it this is the next best thing to being there. You are a culinary poet!

[Mike W]

You know that warm, relaxed feeling you get whenever you slip into a warm bath or receive a scalp massage? I got that from reading about this food. This is truly food porn. What I wouldn't give for a full rundown of the complete tasting menu.

[oliver t griswold]

wow. this is inspired. thanks for posting!

[Patrice]

I LOVE food! I mean I really LOVE food! The size of my ass shows how much I LOVE food! I watch the Food Network, I buy Bon Apetite. Did I mention how much I LOVE food? I've read about molecular gastronomy, and it just keeps reminding me about college level biology and chemistry labs, so it takes all the fun out of food. That's why I could never get into bacon ice cream et al. After reading your article I am not sure if I am hungry or I've lost my apetite ;-)