The second half of my Fat Duck experience did not
cease to impress. Each new course was served with such vitality that we were
kept intrigued and curious as to what was coming up next…
"SOUND OF THE SEA"
An iPod Nano, disguised as a seashell
was placed in front of us with two ear buds peaking out. Curiously Adam and I
placed the buds in our ears, closing our eyes, to be graced with the humming
sounds of waves crashing and seagulls calling.
A culinary masterpiece then appeared resting on a glass lid, a top a
wooden box of sand, this combined with the delicate seashore noises evoked
memories of a day at the beach. Mouthfuls of king fish, octopus and mackerel were
rested on a bed of sardine and tapioca ‘sand’ and seaweed foam. This dish
playfully heightened all your senses by the aromas of the fresh seafood and seaweed;
the murmurs of seagulls and waves and the textures of the food encompass your
surroundings. A cleverly arranged foodie creation that really encouraged the
flavours of the food by playing with your senses, which I almost found a little
off-putting by having too much of a taste of the sea!
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| iPod Nano disguised as a shell |
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| The Sound of the Sea |
SALMON POACHED IN A LIQUORICE GEL
Artichoke, Vanilla Mayonnaise and Golden Trout Roe
The salmon, encased in a
thick liquorice gel parcel, sat atop a bed of pink grapefruit locules and was
cooked to the most perfect pastel pink colour, so delicate it was almost
translucent. The gel parcel itself only had a hint of liquorice flavour and was
carefully balanced by creamy vanilla mayonnaise drops and citrusy sweet juice
from the locules. The salmon was decorated with golden trout roe and
accompanied by grilled artichoke.
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| Poached Salmon in a Liquorice Gel |
UMBLE PIE
A divinely cooked saddle of
venison, perfectly cut into two medallions was nestled amongst a rich gravy
sauce. A trail of vegetables consisting of parsnip and kale rested on one side
of the plate. This dish was also served with a side of spelt truffle risotto,
which was absolutely incredible with the venison. Being a huge fan of truffle I
could have devoured more of this and I loved the way the spelt crunched like
roasted honey puffs in my mouth. This was a true main dish that I could
definitely have had more of!
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| Umble Pie |
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| Truffle Spelt Risotto |
HOT AND ICED TEA
This intriguing course served
between the main course and dessert, was a 'shot' of liquid in a clear espresso
type cup. At first glance it did in fact look like tea, however after
attempting to drink the liquid it was in fact more like warm jelly! When consumed
in full it emerged that it was in fact cold on one side and hot on the other.
It certainly was everything it said in its title. It was a bizarre sensation
but fantastically clever!
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| Hot and Iced Tea |
EGGS IN VERJUS (c.1726), VERJUS IN EGG (c.2013)
This was an exquisitely painted speckled brown egg
resting on a bed of golden straw and orange jelly, sprinkled with fennel
leaves. Cracking open the egg revealed the shell was in fact two types of
chocolate, filled with a creamy white moose with an orange centre, it
completely resembled an egg. With a crunchy texture and sugary, toffee
taste the nest of ‘straw’ was the perfect accompaniment, balanced with the
refreshingly subtle citrus orange jelly and hint of fennel.
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| Egg pre-crack |
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| Egg post-crack |
BOTRYTIS CINEREA
The name of this dessert is
actually of a fungus that affects plants and mainly wine grapes (ew gross!). I felt the
need to explain this to you as the dessert resembled a picturesque version of this! It presents
itself as a bunch of grapes, full of fruity flavours, leaves, twigs and all.
Its various textures, colours and shapes make it so excitedly enticing – you
almost don’t know where to begin to devour its contents! There were grape
sized balls of toffee, cream and fruit flavoured wine gums, complimented on a
bed of white chocolate ‘sand.’ As though in full costume, this dessert has an
air of flamboyance and prestige - a truly remarkable masterpiece.
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| Botrytis Cinera - masterpiece of dessert |
WHISK(E)Y WINE GUMS
Not being a huge fan of whiskey unlike my other half I was pleasantly surprised at these tasty morsels. They were stuck like gum (excuse the pun) to their locations of origin on a framed map. It was a brilliant display and made the whiskey tasting more interesting by seeing exactly where exactly they came from and to taste the differences of the regions.
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| Whiskey gums stuck on the frame |
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| Whiskey Wine Gums |
“LIKE A KID IN A SWEET SHOP”
The second half seemed to go a lot faster than the first. Before we knew it we were whisked off in a taxi back to the train station to get back to London embracing a sweet bag full of three precious Heston sweets. I loved the packaging – pale pink and white sptripes and individually wrapped sweets. I really was like a kid in a sweet shop! Although I was chuffed with my goodie bag, I was too full and perhaps a little tiddly to consume the sweets on the journey home. However I managed to squeeze in the home made toffee and savoured the last two sweets for the next day!
My most favourite out of the three sweets,out of the toffee and macaroon was inevitably the Queen of Hearts chocolate. It was a miniature Queen of Hearts playing card made of white chocolate and filled with a thin layer of jam. The detail of the image on the chocolate was just incredible. It was an art piece that I almost couldn't eat… almost!!
My Fat Duck Experience was so incredible and lived up to all my expectations. I was sad to leave but left with a buzzing feeling, a grin on my face and a belly full of some of the most imaginative food creations I will ever devour. Heston is a true Master of the food industry and I only hope I am lucky enough to try out more of his masterpieces in the future.
