Heston's Feast   Starring: Heston Blumenthal Acorn Media UK RRP: £19.99 AV9761 Certificate: E Available 26 April 2010

I have never been a food buff, my relationship with it has normally been one born out of necessity rather than gastronomic pleasure, so I never really did understand the explosion of books and television programs devoted to dishes which the average hard working person would have neither the time nor the inclination to make.

Heston’s Feast (2009 - 231 min) is another in that long line of culinary DVD’s, but with a twist. Anyone who knows anything about his work will appreciate that what he produces is half cooking half chemistry. Not for Heston the boring question of how long it takes to cook an egg unless it is a golden goose egg.

If this had just been another food program then its entertainment value would have been limited, but Heston is a bit of a mad genius and in each program he invites six celebrity guest to eat a themed meal which here ranges from a decent attempt to recreate the Mad Hatters Tea Party to four and twenty black birds baked in a pie as he plunders both historical and mythical recipes.

What makes the show really tick, apart from the preposterous food, is Heston himself who comes across as a genuinely nice bloke who will put almost anything in his mouth for the sake of culinary exploration, including knocking back an inadvisable amount of absinth on camera. The reactions of his guests also add to the overall fun and it never hurts seeing a few celebs put on the spot when the food is presented to them, with reactions ranging from disgust to sheer delight.

Heston's Feast is presented on a two disc set. Disc one hold the first three of the themed meals covering the Victorian, Medieval and Tudor periods, each show lasts about forty seven minutes. Disc two covers the roman period as well as the inevitable Christmas show, which even includes a recipe for dormouse lollipops and the spectacle of the guests apparently drinking deer’s blood as it flows out of the dead body.

One thing you can’t say about this series is that it makes cooking boring. It is part historical adventure and part food as pure theatre and, if like me, you still don’t understand the obsession with food, the show is entertaining enough to be worth watching in its own right.

8

Charles Packer