Meet Heston Blumenthal
Heston Blumenthal will be taking part in our search to find the next great junior TV chef. Find out a bit more about him here.
Full name: Heston Blumenthal
Born: 1966 in West London
Lives: Berkshire
Career: Perhaps best know as being the chef who mixes science with cooking, Heston Blumenthal has become one of the UK's top celebrity chefs.
Read the transcript from our
live web chat.
Did you know?
* His restaurant is called The Fat Duck - it has been hailed as the best restaurant in the world!
* Heston recently hosted his own BBC Two programme 'In Search of Perfection', where he set out to find the best way to cook some of our favourite dishes, from fish and chips to spaghetti bolognese.
* He has hit the headlines with his weird and wonderful dishes like snail porridge and bacon and egg ice cream.
* He was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by The Queen in the 2006 New Year's Honours List.
Q & A
1. How old were you when you started cooking?
I was a teenager really as I hadn't much interest any younger.
2. When did you decide you wanted to become a chef?
When I was sixteen, my father took the family to a restaurant in Provence, nestled beneath the fortified medieval town of Les Baux, which had become one of the great restaurants of France since its doors opened in the late 1940's. Our experience there was nothing short of brilliant.
Under the shade of almond trees and the foot of a towering cliff of Bauxite, the crickets were in full voice and the smell of lavender filled the air; the many waiting staff went about their business under the star-speckled sky; the terrace was a hive of activity; and the Sommelier, sporting a handle bar moustache and leather apron, directed diners around the encyclopaedic wine list. Behind him, the chariot-sized cheese trolley was docking at a table, showcasing its wares.
Lobster sauce poured into soufflés and baby legs of lamb were carved at tableside, and at this moment, I realised there was quite simply, no other career in the world that I wanted to pursue!
3. Have you had special training?
I didn't have any training but taught myself with French cook books.
4. What's your favourite dish/food?
Sunday lunch with the family.
5. Is there any food you can't stand?
No, I like everything. I love tasting new dishes or trying new flavours while travelling on holiday.
6. What's your favourite meal of the day?
Breakfast- sets me up with energy for the day.
7. Do you have a favourite ingredient?
No, I like getting ideas from the flavour of ingredients like picking a carrot fresh from the garden.
8. What couldn't you live without?
Experimenting and tasting new flavours and foods.
9. Do other people cook for you or do you only like your own?
At home my wife and kids love cooking together for all of us. On holiday we all like to barbeque and taste new flavours.
10. What do your kids like to eat?
They love spaghetti carbonara. My youngest kid, Joy, loves cauliflower cheese so much that she had the dish with candles instead of cake for her birthday this year.
11. Chips or mash?
Chips - triple cooked, served in my pub.
12. Do you ever just feel like beans on toast?
Yes and when I do I love it.
