Well, this is it. I never intended to write a final post on how this blog changed me personally, and what I’m going to do next, and am sticking to that feeling. So, goodbye.
Ok, that may be a bit harsh, but when starting and keeping up this blog I tried to stay away from (not saying I was successful all the time) hundreds of exclamation marks, a super friendly attitude that seems to exist only on blogs, feelings of the day and endless personal paragraphs on ingredients at the beginning of posts. If I would have to summarize why I started this blog it comes down to a ‘big fuck you’. A fuck you to the endless cooking shows and cookbooks making everything ‘easier’. Those shows where someone chops half an onion and 1 second later has cut 10 of them. Or someone using pan after pan and then not show the enormous clean up afterwards. It’s all so easy! Yes that’s an exclamation mark. My life would indeed be very easy if I could edit it to will and remove, like Hitchcock said, the dull bits. I cook simple food most of the time, but what’s wrong with more challenging stuff from time to time and the Roux brothers guiding you through your attempts.
Lastly, my blog is a fuck you to the word ‘impossible’.
Now it may seem I’m some angry guy, but next to a pissed off reaction to a part of the contemporary food world, I started this blog out of love. The moment The Big Fat Duck Cookbook arrived at my doorstep I had a crush on it. I still lovingly caress it from time to time. It has so much soul, I just had to cook from it. For me it’s the exact opposite of the Alinea cookbook for example, which I find derived of any type of personality.
When I translated my love for the book in actual cooking I thought why not document my attempts, so someone else may have some help seeing my results. I hope it did.
Now that the book is finished I’ve been getting a lot of questions what’s up next. I can safely say I will not start another cookbook blog. I loved cooking from the Fat Duck Cookbook, but am sort of relieved the days of a permanent Fat Duck space at the back of my mind are over. Days of just messing around with food are here again. Lately I’ve been cooking from the Momofuku cookbook, a book I love for the same reason I love The Fat Duck Cookbook, it possesses tons of soul, in an attempt to get more familiar with the flavors of China, Japan and South Korea. I no longer want to be clueless when standing in a Japanese produce store and wonder what all those brightly colored packages contain. So, my plan was as simple as when I just started cooking. Grab a book (am not ashamed to admit they were from a certain Mister Oliver the first time around), pick out recipes and just make stuff. So far I made pork buns, rice cakes, kimchi, all the stuff for a bowl of ramen minus the actual noodles, XO sauce and more.
So, I’m just going to continue cooking and who knows what will come of it.
With the final words I want to thank my family and friends that helped me in my endeavor. Thanks! Also a thank you to all of you commenting on the posts.
Later.
I just wanted to write to say a big, fat thank you for doing this — I’ve not felt the urge to comment up until now, but it seems worth tipping my hat and raising a glass to you now that your undertaking has come to a wildly successful end! Long may people take on such ‘impossible’ challenges and emerge victorious.
Cheers!
I’m currently in the middle of making the millionaire’s shortbread from the recipe book, so you can also add ‘inspire others to have a go as well’ to your list of achievements.
Thank you!
Haven’t commented before but I enjoyed the blog very much. Appreciate your efforts and sharing them with the blogosphere very much.
Now is the time to look forward and open a bottle of bubbly for all your efforts!
Thanks for the ride!
Hi Auldo,
Thank you for the many pleasant hours of inspiring reading. As long as the blog is online, I’ll definitely consult it occasionally as a reference. I’ve dedicated today’s red cabbage gazpacho with mustard ice cream to you 🙂
Using recipes from the original source is the only way to be sure they haven’t been adapted or “watered down”; Reading that you’re getting into Asian flavours, as a token of my appreciation, feel free to drop me a note if you ever need (translations of) authentic recipes from Indonesian or Malaysian cuisine. Having lived in Indonesia for several years, I speak the language and it is my “native” cooking style, and as such I am familiar with many of the usual, as well as some of the more “obscure” dishes and ingredients.
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Hi Ian, Mandy, Henri and Marc, thanks for the comments. Glad you all enjoyed the blog and it is an inspiration (one of the reasons I started it). How’s the shortbread working out Mandy? Are you trying to temper chocolate?
Marc, I might just take you up on that. Indonesian and Suriname food ignited my interest in ‘world cuisines’ and while I made some famous dishes from the latter (pom, curried chicken, fried rice), I never tried Indonesian dishes (although fried rice could be considered Indonesian).
Hey Auldo , well done mate , ive enjoyed it all from beginning to end….and the old saying goes ” The shows not over until the fat lady sings “…..So dont go bowing out on us yet , you have a fan base now to keep happy.
Oh and Ashley palmer watts is on twitter so you may get a contact email off him if you ask.Hes seen the blog and said it was fascinating.
I really will miss reading your posts Auldo. It was fun, very informational and will remain an invaluable reference. Like Cumbriafoodie said, you have a fan base now man! You should consider keeping on blogging. It does not necessarily have to be a cook-the-book type blog.
He Elie and Alan, thanks for the words. I meant to say I didn’t feel like starting up a similar blog like this one (changed the post a bit), but also don’t feel the urge to start a different blog. Can’t I just read yours?
Oh and Alan, I found an e-mail address of Ashley online somewhere and think I’ll just say f it and contact any address with the fat duck in it.
As I’ve said before all I have is admiration for the time and effort you put into this blog. Well done, I hope Heston knows about this site 🙂
Wow – I’ve made the millionaire’s shortbread, from start to finish. I bought a scale that measured in half-grams, and a sugar thermometer, and two pieces of wood that let me roll things out to the right thickness.
It needs an entire post and, in all honesty, it would simply replicate your experiences.
The chocolate I practised with, and it tempered perfectly. My shortbreads have lovely glossy crisp tops, but they’re not even because how the hell do you get chocolate to set evenly on an A4 sheet of plastic? Warm the plastic first so that it runs about a bit… maybe?
Nevertheless, my practice seems to have turned into practice: it tempered.
The caramel layer was a bitch/bastard. You choose. Either way, I ended up smearing the caramel onto the biscuits with a palette knife. The end result was odd, but tasted the same.
In the end: why can’t we cook the biscuit, smear the caramel on it, then pour chocolate on, then cut it? Why, God, why!?!
Great fun. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I feel your pain concerning the caramel. I really wonder how they do it at The Fat Duck.
Besides this small annoyance (small?, haha) it turned out great reading your comment. Tempered chocolate, I’m thoroughly impressed. Good stuff.
Hi Mandy,
> how the hell do you get chocolate to set evenly on an A4 sheet of plastic?
Do you mean to get it to spread to an even thickness before setting? Shaking/vibrating the moulds made a huge difference for the dairy-free advent calendar of my son.
See this image:
Note how the chocolates in the lower moulds have a much flatter backs than those in the upper ones- that’s because I only found out half way. Whether shaking would work for you, of course, would depend on whether the plastic you’re using is stiff enough (which of course was the case with the advent calendar moulds). Somehow having edges around your A4 sheet would probably make quite a difference too.
Excellent work. Excellent. Truly. Going through the archives, reading everything you’ve done, I’ve liked your attitude the whole way through. You (and the Nose to Tail guy) inspired me, of course, to attempt to knock over Larousse. Without you, no crazy Larousse Gastronomique project.
And I agree, totally, with the advocacy of slow food. Books shouldn’t scare you. Food shouldn’t. It’s all a great big delicious adventure.
The Larousse bible. Damn. How many recipes do you have to go through?
The intro to the book says 3800. But I suspect that I don’t have to cook that many to get through every unique (there are a few double ups) recipe printed in bold (my definition of a recipe). Too, a lot of the recipes are for shit like mirepoix.
1.
All the best for the Future!
2.
Hope this Blog stays online forever (i would donate)
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Love cooking – i do – and i beleve – you do 🙂
i am considering making a blog my self, but fear the work a side the cooking 😉
Highest Regards and Thanks allot for your’e effort
Albino Tuosto
Thans man. I’ll keep the blog up for some time. Donations are not necessary, but I wouldn’t say no to a sponsored trip to The Fat Duck. 🙂
In fact now that you mention donations…
Okay then, if you ever decide you want to release the blog as a book, I’ll donate an ISBN.
You deserve great praise for the job you did in documenting this undertaking. Will you be tackling any other projects and documenting them in a similar manner? Please. 🙂
Thanks my friend! Thougt about doing another book, but love cooking my own dishes and the free weekends, haha.
Would also take more than an emoticon to persuade me to tackle another book. 😉
I’ve just discovered this project when the party’s over (so to speak) and have spent most of the day reading your fascinating posts plus the often highly informative comments. What a wonderful body of work this is and your research and documentation of the process and especially of the ingredients would be a welcome addition to the original book. I do hope HB is aware of thebigfatundertaking.
Hi Diane, thanks for the compliments, appreciate it. I was in London in February and managed to maneuver myself in the kitchen of Dinner and got to talk to Ashley and in the end also Heston.
I’m planning a trip to The Fat Duck and am pulling favors to spend a day in the kitchen and do a proper interview with the man himself.