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The Big Fat Duck Cookbook | 
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| Author: Heston Blumenthal
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Category: Book
List Price: £100.00
Buy New: £70.00
You Save: £30.00 (30%)
New (9) Used (1) from £63.00
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 247
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 532
Shipping Weight (lbs): 11.6
Dimensions (in): 16.7 x 12.8 x 3.1
ISBN: 0747583692
EAN: 9780747583691
ASIN: 0747583692
Publication Date: October 20, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 9 to 13 days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Food Porn of the highest order! November 28, 2008
The book itself is simply beautiful to look at, full of scarfe-esque artwork. The first 100 or so pages tell the story of how the Fat Duck came into being, the next 300 are full of Fat Duck Recipes, explained in intricate detail, and photographed beautifully, and finally there is a section on the science of cooking. Do not think of this as a cookbook - unless you have a kitchen that can be measured in acres, with cookware and staff to match. Even the simplest recipe would take a day working in a normal kitchen, and although I am tempted, I haven't yet tried one. Think of this more as an insight into one of the best restaurants in the world, and a glimpse into the amazing mind of its proprietor.
Art in Itself! November 16, 2008
This isn't a cook book in fact, the title itself is a play on words. This is a work of art, truly sublime and a piece of gastronomic history. Well worth the wait (weight) Heston in both volume and time! It will be a true Godley family heirloom and be passed from generation to generation. Absolutely wonderful, you have surpassed yourself, yet again.
The visual illustrations and the sheer design of the book are just breath-taking. No compromise, your integrity as always intact and compounded further by this amazing publication.
Thanks again. I am off to make a souffle from a flip flop and a varnished chair leg ( that was a joke)....cheers! JANEY
No ordinary cook book November 13, 2008
The Fat Duck Cook Book is not just for cooks. It is a beautiful book in its own right. There are some lovely illustrations and will be a treasure in years to come.
A Pretty Ugly Duckling October 26, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
The parallels between Heston Blumenthal's new baby and Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 adventure (a better translation of the Danish 'eventyr' than `fairy tale') may not be obvious at first. But both authors' works are autobiographical, and in both we're presented with a story that speaks of struggle and self-education leading to great success in a tone that's meant to sound mildly surprised, but actually invites congratulation in a mildly toe-curling way.
Then there are the parallels in appearance. Andersen's story is a morality tale about taking the trouble to look beneath the surface towards truth in order to discover quality. The `duckling' is born into a farmyard of creatures who are all more beautiful than he, and more at home in that environment than he is.
Blumenthal's book has a tasteful cover of sorts (though it's so big and so fat that it's slightly cumbersome, elephantine in grey and pearlised ivory) though the ironised impossibility of the feather decoration on the slip case immediately challenges you to put aside expectations that the book will be `stylish'--anyone with a tidy mind will find that if one side of the slip case is `up', its reverse is inescapably `down', and the book's contents are just as challenging as the cover.
The heavily saturated colours of the illustrations inside the book, and the Scarfe-like illustrations by Dave McKean, poke a firm finger in the eye of anyone whose experience of expensive cookery books leads them to hope for something elegant. Comparing 'The Big Fat Duck Cookbook' with the fabulously tasteful productions of the Adrias (listed under their restaurant, El Bulli's name)--and make no mistake, this is clearly and deliberately designed to be compared with them--first impressions are not entirely favourable. Why is this such a big, fat, ugly duck?
There's no mistaking the answer: where other cookbooks have elegance and style, this one has substance, and in spades. The historical and philosophical introduction by Heston Blumenthal is as well written as the explanatory chapters of his 'In Search of Perfection' twins (which is to say, very well written indeed) and the recipes are a model of clarity and precision. For once, we have a chef who doesn't talk down to his audience, but who values their interest in, and enjoyment of, his food, and who relishes the idea that home cooks might get enormous pleasure from climbing the foothills of this kind of cooking before they come and enjoy the peaks he and his enormous brigade can mount at The Fat Duck.
The volume closes with a substantial anthology of scientific articles by a starry gathering of those who've contributed, each in their own way, to the development of Blumenthal's cuisine. As with the recipes, what we see here is `the real thing', not watered down stuff for amateurs but genuinely challenging and interesting material, an opportunity for cooks to develop their own creativity and to respond in their own way to new materials, techniques and ideas.
In my view, 'The Big Fat Duck Cookbook' is a huge contribution to the literature of cooking, indeed to literature. Even if it looks like an ugly duckling, the exceptional quality of the contents show it's actually a swan, and a pretty impressive one at that.
Mr. J. De Bres Misses the point October 19, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
The whole point is that Heston's style is overblown, impractical and expensive. It is also inquisitive, investigative, testing, tasting, trying and challenging to the old doctrines. If you didn't want that you should have bought Delia's cheats book.
This book is for anyone who will happily spend time, effort and money in the pursuit of discovering the best and then ultimately introduce the findings into their cooking.
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