Love Bites & The Fat Duck: Part Two

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! 

iPod Nano disguised as a shell

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. 

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!

Umble Pie

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!  

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. 

Egg pre-crack

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.

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. 

Whiskey gums stuck on the frame

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.