Heston’s Feasts

I always knew Heston Blumenthal was wacky.

I just didn’t know how wacky until I saw him on Masterchef. I remember sitting there, amazed and bewildered as he unveiled his three Michelin star dishes one by one, including the iconic Sound of the Sea (edible sand! foam! iPod!).

After watching a sneak peak copy of Heston’s Feasts, which airs on SBS ONE next Thursday, I’ve come to the conclusion that the man is not only wacky, he’s an absolute nutter.

In each episode of Heston’s Feasts, Heston explores a period of extraordinary gastronomic innovation, recreating ‘lost’ recipes and discovering forgotten ingredients. He takes you behind the scenes and travels to remote areas to source unusual foods, where he uses his unique scientific approach to cooking to assemble his own versions of great historical and mythical feasts.

Some crazy creations featured in the series include: A chocolate waterfall that ‘unmixes’ to form chocolate water… A flying dessert complete with flying saucer… An edible house made from gingerbread, cakes and candy… Lickable amuse bouche wallpaper…

Heston’s Feasts is as much a food show as it is a science, travel and history extravaganza. You pick up lots of nifty facts about various historical periods in history and come to appreciate his one-of-a-kind genius when it comes to reinvention.

Heston is a joy to watch on camera and you can’t help but be swept up in the excitement of his child-like wonder. He doesn’t take food too seriously and puts the fun back into dining and entertaining.

Perhaps the most outlandish episode (and my favourite) is where Heston prepares a Willie Wonka feast based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, complete with Oompa Loompas!

Other episodes in this series include an Edwardian Titanic Feast, a Fairytale feast inspired by his favourite stories which thrilled and scared him as a child, and Heston goes ghoulish in an eye-popping Gothic feast that takes inspiration from iconic works of horror such as Frankenstein, Dracula and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

The second series of Heston’s Feasts will air on SBS ONE on Thursday 19 August at 8:30pm. Don’t miss it!

And here is a sneak peak if you can’t wait until then…