The Big Fat Duck Cookbook

I recently blogged about the Alinea cookbook, and then in a Q&A with both Grant Achatz and Heston Blumenthal I discovered that there is another great cook book coming up this fall: The Big Fat Duck Cookbook! It’s quite amazing that these two books will be released within weeks of each other this fall.

This is what the publisher promises us:

In the first section of The Big Fat Duck Cookbook, we learn the history of the restaurant, from its humble beginnings to its third Michelin star (the day Heston received the news of this he had been wondering how exactly he would be able to pay his staff that month). Next we meet 50 of his signature recipes – sardine on toast sorbet, salmon poached with liquorice, hot and iced tea, chocolate wine – which, while challenging for anyone not equipped with ice baths, dehydrators, vacuum pumps and nitrogen on tap, will inspire home cooks and chefs alike. Finally, we hear from the experts whose scientific know-how has contributed to Heston’s topsy-turvy world, on subjects as diverse as synaesthesia, creaminess and flavour expectation.

With an introduction by Harold McGee, incredible colour photographs throughout, illustrations by Dave McKean, multiple ribbons, real cloth binding and a gorgeous slip case, The Big Fat Duck Cookbook is not only the nearest thing to an autobiography from the world’s most fascinating chef, but also a stunning, colourful and joyous work of art.

Compared to the Alinea cookbook this one is one is more expensive and has fewer recipes. But hey – who buys cookbooks based on the price/recipe anyway?
😉

5 Comments

  1. Hey,

    This is a revelation. I am also looking forward to Johnny Iuzzini cookbook titled Dessert Four Play this fall. He produces progressive desserts for Jean-Georges Restaurant.

  2. I have heard that if you preorder alenia on amazon you get a website with all of his recipies. Anyone head of anything like that. Also I heard that with the big fat duck some of the recipies are written in invisible ink and after you open it and it breathes some air after a certin time you can see the recipies. Anyone heard of either of these things???????

    Cheffffff

  3. No, I heard that you had to cryovack the book using an commercial-grade vacuum sealer and sous-vide it for at least 24 hours at exactly 60 degrees C, preferably with a thermal immersion circulator, in order for the hidden recipes to appear.

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