The greatest British dishes, as reinvented by Heston Blumenthal, chef and proprietor of the three-Michelin-starred The Fat Duck—presented in a gloriously lavish package.

An updated biography of the man behind the brilliant cuisine of three-Michelin-starred the Fat Duck--voted Best Restaurant in the World by fellow chefs Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is a gastronomic alchemist who sees the kitchen as a laboratory where he loves to experiment with new ways to tantalize diners' taste buds. The story of his life is every bit as colorful and attention-grabbing as his famous snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream. This biography traces his journey from a life-changing childhood holiday in France, through to his brief apprenticeship in Raymond Blanc's restaurant where he stood up to a kitchen bully. It then follows him as, constantly pushing the boundaries of his work, he reached the top of his profession and was knighted by the Queen. Here is the full inspirational story of the enthusiastic, self-taught genius who turned the world of cuisine on its head.

Heston Blumenthal has made his name creating such original dishes as Snail Porridge and Nitrogen Scrambled Egg & Bacon Ice Cream at his internationally acclaimed restaurant, The Fat Duck. In this book, a single-volume edition of the bestselling Perfection books, Heston focuses his creative talent on reinventing some of our most well-known (and most abused) dishes. He travels around the world in search of definitive versions of sixteen classic dishes: Roast Chicken & Roast Potatoes, Pizza, Hamburger,Bangers & Mash, Fish Pie, Steak, Spaghetti Bolognese, Risotto, Fish & Chips, Chilli Con Carne, Chicken Tikka Masala, Peking duck, Black Forest Gateau, Treacle Tart & Ice Cream, Trifle and Baked Alaska. Among the many adventures on his quest, he travels to Delhi and makes an MRI scan of the marinated chicken in his Tikki Masala; he discovers the secret to the ultimate crispy duck in Peking and experiments at home by inflating a Gressingham on a foot pump; he walks the Dickensian streets of Lambeth and learns how to capture the essence of a fish and chip shop in a perfume bottle, and he explores the Willy Wonka-esque Tate & Lyle factory and tastes some seventy-year-old syrup that proves an inspiration for the flavour of his treacle tart. Total Perfection is an original, inspiring and fascinating voyage around the culinary globe.

Heston returns with more classic recipes.

Acclaimed restaurateur Heston Blumenthal reinvents kitchen classics, such as Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash and Spag Bol, in his inimitable way.

THIS IS A BOOK FOR ALL THE FAMILY TO USE. IT WILL ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO HAVE A GO AT COOKING WITH THEIR PARENTS. IT WILL PROVIDE TIPS AND ADVICE ON HOW BEST TOFEED YOUR CHILDREN NOW, ESPICALLY WITH THE ABUNDANCE OF READILY AVAILABLE JUNK FOOD AROUND, AND HOW TO START ENJOYING FAMILY MEAL TIMES AROUND THE DINING TABLES INSTEAD OF IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION. THE AUTHOR WILL COVER THE PROBLEMS OF THE BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMILY UNIT AT MEALTIMES, HE WILL LOOK AT SUPERMARKETS V SMALLER SPECIALIST SHOPS AND HE WILL UNDERLINE THE PLEASURES THAT CAN BE HAD FROM SITTING DOWN TO A FAMILY MEAL TOGETHER.

In the remote village of Buckland, a mob chants of witchcraft. It is 1625, and John and his mother are running for their lives. Taking refuge among the trees of Buccla's Wood, John's mother opens her book and begins to tell her son of an ancient Feast kept in secret down the generations. Little does he know that one day, to keep hold of all that he holds most dear, he most realize his mother's vision - he must serve the Saturnall Feast.

There have been famous chefs for centuries. But it was not until the second half of the twentieth century that the modern celebrity chef business really began to flourish, thanks largely to advances in media such as television which allowed ever-greater numbers of people to tune in. Food Media charts the growth of this enormous entertainment industry, and also how, under the threat of the obesity "epidemic," some of its stars have taken on new authority as social activists, while others continue to provide delicious distractions from a world of potentially unsafe food. The narrative that joins these chapters moves from private to public consumption, and from celebrating food fantasies to fueling anxieties about food realities, with the questionable role of interference in people's everyday food choices gaining ground along the way. Covering celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Rachael Ray, and popular trends like foodies, food porn and fetishism, Food Media describes how the intersections between celebrity culture and food media have come to influence how many people think about feeding themselves and their families - and how often that task is complicated when it need not be.

The cookbook hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a "showstopper" and by Jeffrey Steingarten of Vogue as "the most glorious spectacle of the season...like no other book I have seen in the past twenty years" is now available in a reduced-price edition. With a reduced trim size but an identical interior, this lavishly illustrated, stunningly designed, and gorgeously photographed masterpiece takes you inside the head of maverick restaurateur Heston Blumenthal. Separated into three sections (History; Recipes; Science), the book chronicles Blumenthal's improbable rise to fame and, for the first time, offers a mouth-watering and eye-popping selection of recipes from his award-winning restaurant. He also explains the science behind his culinary masterpieces, the technology and implements that make his alchemical dishes come to life. Designed by acclaimed artist Dave McKean-and filled with photographs by Dominic Davies-this artfully rendered celebration of one of the world's most innovative and renowned chefs is a foodie's dream.

In this day and age of celebrity chefs and food porn, the recipes and illustrations from historical cookbooks can appear quaint, bizarre, revolting, or downright absurd. From the frugal to the fantastical, The Curious Cookbook features the most unusual and fascinating recipes from historical cookbooks dating from the Middle Ages to the Second World War. While all of the featured recipes can be recreated, they also offer fascinating insights into the cultural, economic, and regional aspects of the eras. The Forme of Cury, published in 1390 and the oldest known English-language cookbook, details how to cook whale, crane, heron, seal, and porpoise. An early eighteenth-century cookery shares the Queen's recipe for "cosmetick water to collar eels"; The Boke of Kokery provides all of the details for recreating "soltete," an elaborate Bible-themed sugar sculpture first made for the 1443 ordination of the Archbishop of Canterbury; The Hard Time Cookery from 1941 explains how to make mayonnaise without eggs, using "1 tin sweetened milk, an equal amount of vinegar, 1 tbsp salad oil, 1 tbsp made mustard, salt." Never before have examples from so many rare and exotic cookbooks been available in a single volume, promising entertaining and informative recipes for cooks, as well as history buffs.