Topic: Interesting insights from Heston Blumenthal on a few things near and dear...

[ast]

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone else had picked up a copy of HB's book, Further Adventures in Search of Perfection, or had maybe seen the show.  I have to admit, until some of you were talking about him on other threads, I had no idea he even existed or who he was.  Since then, I got intrigued and noticed this book on the shelf while I was killing some time between meetings today.

It's fantastically interesting, but there's three topics that are relevant to us regarding making better BIR food:

1) He explores Chicken Tikka and CTM, providing his own take on both it and naan (the naan may be just the recipe I was looking for since it doesn't use yeast at all).

2) He gets up close and personal with the characteristics of rice while exploring different takes on risotto, including how much the mechanics of the processing of the grain influences the way it finally cooks.

3) He has some interesting observations of different tastes and characteristics of dried chillies and chilli powders in the chapter on chilli con carne.

Has anyone else seen this book?

I went ahead and bought it, because I found that I just didn't want to put it down.  I can try and summarize some of the info about each of the above, but not sure how interested people would be.  Also not sure about transcribing the recipes as there's a lot of text involved, and I'm not the copyright holder.

Cheers,

ast

[parker21]

hi ast i watched both series and yes the guy is just like his name suggests.... but the guy is like the inquisitive boy that asks why?! was not that impressesd by the ctm episode but then again i was hoping like most of the peeps on this site for a bir ctm and not his take on the authentic butter chicken that he reproduced and called it ctm.imho. but it is fascinating to watch the lengths he goes to reproduce what he remembers albeit from his childhood. the smells and sensations which he remembers and recreates it. i have got the ctm episode on dvd could try to copy and send to you if you pm me with your address.

regards
gary

[ast]

Hi Gary,

I guess the part that I thought would be the most relevant wasn't so much the end recipe (obviously not going to be a BIR one), but his insights on the tastes and characteristics he felt were essential to the tikka process as well as the effect of different approaches to the marinade (e.g. the differing effects with vs. without the yoghurt).

For example (and this is from memory), he was talking about the radiant heat producing a different charring on the chicken than the type you get from flames.  He felt that the charring from direct flame contact was what imparted a bitter taste vs. a more pleasant taste from the radiant cooking of both the tandoor and his mock-tandoor with briquettes he details in the cooking process for his version.  I thought this might be relevant in capturing the BIR Tikka taste, since they would use a tandoor with radiant heat vs. any of the grilling techniques we were likely to use at home.

To me, I find the way he thinks and explores the different effects of things to be where the real insights lie rather than the recipes.  They're almost the by-product, but the "good stuff" is in the exposition before each of the recipes are presented.

Even some of the cooking processes he explored in making the risotto reminded me of some of the things I was asking on my "what difference does this make" thread that nobody seemed interested in... 

In one case, he explored the effects of adding the correct amount of stock all at once vs. in stages and reducing it, or in adding it to the rice in a way that I don't remember.  To me, this smacks of my earlier question of what does the ladle-by-ladle reduction of the curry base in your final curry preparation really do to the taste of the resulting curry.

He found that there was a difference in the effect for the risotto, so maybe it's really worth seeing what the difference is regarding the curry base so we can collectively say "this is a better way because..."

What I don't yet know is how much of what's in the book's exposition is actually present in the TV show.  It seems more reflective vs. documentary, so maybe parts of it weren't on TV.

There were some other comments about the best time to add onions to the dish to reduce the chance that they would overpower or add bitterness, and that frying rice in oil briefly (as well as using rice at least 1 year old) helped to ensure it didn't puff up too much and turn mushy--qualities that would ruin a pillau rice as quickly as it would a risotto.

Maybe I'm just making connections that aren't really there; one of the main reasons I thought I'd bring it up to the masses. ;D

Thanks for the response,

ast

[George]

Yes, we discussed it as exhaustively as anyone seemed interested in doing, when the programme was broadcast. I posted the CTM recipe here but have not yet tried it. All his recipes are so absurdly complex - my guess is that it's partly to help one think it might be worth paying 100 pounds + for a main course at one of his restaurants. Until I've tried the CTM recipe, I'm not yet convinced. I read the book, too, but he dashed off to Delhi too quickly in my opinion, presumably because the producers couldn't find a BIR prepared to spill the beans over CTM. After all CTM is British. Butter chicken from Delhi may be of a some interest as background but his focus was there, which was misguided IMHO. 

Regards
George

[ast]

Hi George,

Fair enough.  This was before my time on the list, so I didn't see it.  I did do a search on the title of the book before I started the thread, but nothing came back.  Guess I should've just used his name.

Cheers,

ast