Is This A Cookbook?: Adventures in the Kitchen

by Heston Blumenthal, Dave McKean (Illustrator)

Overview

Is this a cookbook?

Well, it's full of Heston's typically brilliant, delicious and inventive recipes, including green gazpacho, beetroot and pea salad, quinoa with vegetables, Moroccan pasties, hemp panna cotta, banana and parsley smoothie, tomato and coffee muffins, parsnip granola, rice ice cream, sherry vinegar posset, cricket ketchup and thyme and orange kombucha, not forgetting popcorn chicken with real popcorn. Every recipe is simple, straightforward and totally do-able. This is Heston at his most accessible.

But there's so much more. Each of the 70 recipes is accompanied by Heston's thoughts, stories, insights and hacks, turning each cooking session into a journey that'll excite and inspire and reveal a whole world of culinary possibilities and fresh perspectives. Brought to life by the incredible illustrations by Dave McKean, Heston's long-term collaborator and widely acknowledged as one of the greatest illustrators at work today, it's the next best thing to having Heston as your sous-chef.

So why not get in the kitchen and have an adventure?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526621528
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	11/24/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	239 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Internationally famous for his award-winning, 3-Michelin-starred restaurant, The Fat Duck, Heston Blumenthal is considered to be one of the best chefs of his generation. Although self-taught, he has pushed the boundaries of the traditional kitchen and completely changed the way people approach cooking, introducing a new spirit of creativity, playfulness and experimentation, coupled with a deep sense of nostalgia and abiding interest in the history of British gastronomy. His food can be explored not just at The Fat Duck but also at the 2-star Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, the 1-star Hind's Head, the Perfectionist's Café at Heathrow, and the Resonance bar in Dubai and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Dubai.

He is the author of seven cookbooks, including Heston at Home, The Big Fat Duck Cookbook and Historical Heston. Heston is an Honorary Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts. He has been awarded an honorary MSc by Bristol University, and honorary doctorates by Reading University and the University of London. In 2006 he was awarded an O.B.E. by Her Majesty the Queen for his services to British Gastronomy.

@thehestonblumenthalteam
Entirely self-taught, Heston Blumenthal is the most progressive chef of his generation. In 2004 he won the coveted three Michelin stars in near-record time for his restaurant The Fat Duck, which has twice been voted the Best Restaurant in the World by an international panel of 500 experts. In 2006 he was awarded an OBE.
Dave McKean is a long-time artistic collaborator of award-winning author Neil Gaiman. He has illustrated and designed several children's books, eight with Neil, Coraline, The Wolves in the Walls,The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, Varjak Paw with S. F. Said (winner of the Smarties Gold award in 2004), Mirrormask, The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch, Signal to Noise and Crazy Hair. He is also a film-maker. Dave lives in Kent.

Table of Contents

Heston's breakfast bar
The mindful sandwich
Heston's salad bar
7 soups for 7 moods
Not just cricket – except it is
Fakeaways
Dinner and sides
The fermentation station
Desserts
Sauces, dips and condiments

Index
Acknowledgements
About the author

Editorial Reviews

11/07/2022

Blumenthal (Further Adventures in Search of Perfection: Reinventing Kitchen Classics), a Michelin-starred British chef and restaurateur, champions “noticing things, finding connections, responding emotionally, taking everything in and turning it into experiences” in this offbeat journal-cum-cookbook. Recipes are listed on the left side of the page while Blumenthal’s observations and cooking tips appear on the right (“These beans bring a bit of a firmer texture to the salad,” Blumenthal writes next to the recipe for pan bagnat). The 70 entries evoke childlike playfulness, as with the recipe for a banana and parsley smoothie, which includes a note that bananas make people fart. The sandwich section showcases such savory dishes as a kimcheese toastie, a rich melt that delivers heat, creaminess, and a pickled tang. Dinners are simple but filling and include taco variations, recognizable curry dishes, and classic fish and chips. A delicate hemp milk panna cotta with rhubarb compote, meanwhile, will make a sweet finish for any meal. McKean’s sepia-toned ink drawings that appear throughout will put readers in mind of John Tenniel’s Alice in Wonderland images. This heady ode to the joy of intuitive cooking is a tasty head trip. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Dreamlike... His sorta-cookbook stirs up inspiration and helps us think about flavor-and the experience of eating-differently. It's trippy like that... It'd make an unexpected and great gift for curious, science-minded cooks, or pro chefs who like to get a little weird.” —Bon Appetit, "Best Cookbooks of 2022"

"An intriguing title from the three-time James Beard Award-winning, Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal. This is a wonderfully unique option for fans of the chef and those who dare to try something unconventional." - The Daily Hive, "Best Cookbooks of 2022"

“Notoriously progressive chef Heston Blumenthal turns each into a creative cooking journey colorfully guided by illustrator Dave McKean. It is a cookbook. But also more.” —Epicurious

“This will delight folks looking to dabble in gastronomy without five-star efforts. . . Dave McKean, Blumenthal's longtime collaborator, provides quirky illustrations that reflect the playfulness of the recipes. . . Cookbook readers will enjoy how the narrative seems plucked from Blumenthal's mind with little thoughts and tips deposited between recipes in illustrations. . . Perfect as an introduction to gastronomy, Blumenthal's quirky and readable book will delight fans and create new ones.” —Library Journal

“[The recipes] evoke childlike playfulness … McKean's trippy sepia-toned ink drawings that appear throughout will put readers in mind of John Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland images. This heady ode to the joy of intuitive cooking is a tasty head trip.” —Publishers Weekly

"Heston Blumenthal shares more of his life philosophy, in which the mechanics of cooking are only one part of a larger, fulfilling experience . . . Is This a Cookbook? is not just a reference book. It's a book to sit with, read cover to cover and then revisit for whenever inspiration is needed—or a reminder to slow down and fully experience life." - Shelf Awareness

“Dazzling . . . There's culinary sorcery at every turn.” —Time Out New York, on HISTORIC HESTON

“[A] book that defies description . . . A headfirst dive down the rabbit hole, with Blumenthal as the Mad Hatter.” —The New York Times Book Review, on HISTORIC HESTON

“[A] showstopper.” —Los Angeles Times, on THE BIG FAT DUCK BOOKBOOK

“Like no other book I have seen in the last twenty years... monumentally important.” —Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue, on THE FAT DUCK COOKBOOK

From the Publisher

11/01/2022

Prolific cookbook author and British celebrity chef Blumenthal (Heston Blumenthal at Home; The Fat Duck Cookbook) is back to challenge taste buds. However, home chefs need not shy away as the recipes are more likely to provoke the palate than culinary skills. This will delight folks looking to dabble in gastronomy without five-star efforts. Dishes are distinctly UK-inspired and can be whimsical and comforting to the right reader, such as ham and pea soup in a sandwich. Dave McKean, Blumenthal's longtime collaborator, provides quirky illustrations that reflect the playfulness of the recipes. Food photography is also included to spark creativity, and hunger. Cookbook readers will enjoy how the narrative seems plucked from Blumenthal's mind with little thoughts and tips deposited between recipes in illustrations. Recommended for collections looking for a bit of cheeky fun and cookbook readers who enjoyed the likes of Midnight Chicken. VERDICT Perfect as an introduction to gastronomy, Blumenthal's quirky and readable book will delight fans and create new ones. —Sarah Tansley

Library Journal