One of Britain’s most celebrated Chefs, Heston Blumenthal’s résumé of achievements is beyond belief. Alongside starring in numerous food-focused television shows, Heston has opened five restaurants over the past 20 years, with his Fat Duck group having garnered a total of six Michelin stars. Three of those belong to The Fat Duck, just one of the chef’s restaurants in the otherwise sleepy village of Bray (near Maidenhead).
Most recently, Heston has launched a five-strong barbecue range with Australian specialists Everdure. These range from ‘The Cube’, a small portable charcoal barbecue, through to ‘The Hub’ – a top of the range charcoal barbecue with a built-in rotisserie system and ‘Fast Flame Ignition System’ with an electric element that heats charcoal to the correct temperature in just ten minutes. Just launched in the UK, The Crown (one of Heston’s pubs in Bray) hosted a garden launch party, providing a chance for the chef to to test the barbecues for a luck crowd– serving a number of dishes including suckling pig baps, open-faced flat iron steak sandwiches and spit-roasted pineapple sundae.
What’s more, we had the chance to sit down with Heston Blumenthal for a short filmed interview, speaking to the chef about his new Everdure barbecue range, world famous signature dishes and the masculine stereotype generally associated with outdoor cooking.
Video by Daniel Masters
Interview by Jonathan Hatchman
Adhering to the spirit of barbecue, Heston has also shared a barbecued lamb shoulder recipe for readers to attempt at home, as the weather begins to improve.
Orange Glazed Lamb Shoulder Recipe
Ingredients
For the Lamb
Boned and rolled shoulder of lamb, 1
Mandarin juice, 280g
Water, 200g
Salt, 10g
Lemon thyme, 25g, chopped
Mandarins, zest of 4, finely grated
For the glaze
Lemon thyme, 5g, chopped
Lamb stock, 500g, reduced to 200g
Fresh mandarin juice, 200g
Orange marmalade, 200g
Method
For the Lamb
Place the lamb on a chopping board and open so that it is flat against the board.
Mix the rest of the ingredients, except for the orange zest, together in order to create the marinade. Rub the mix on to the inside of the lamb, making sure to cover every section of the meat.
Place in a container, cover and place in the fridge for 12 hours. Remove from marinade and sprinkle on the mandarin zest.
Re-roll and tie into long joint using butcher’s twain. Place the rod from the spit through the middle of the leg and fasten using the Cliplock Forks.
Place the charcoal in the tray of the FUSION barbeque, following the instructions in the user manual for ignition. Press the ignition button on the front of the barbeque. Place the rod back on the rotisserie poles that have been previously set to the highest setting (level 3), and press the rotisserie button also on the front of the barbeque.
Try to maintain a temperature of 60C at the surface of the meat by managing the charcoal and moving the charcoal around. Cook for approximately 3 hours or until a core temperature of 58C.
For the Glaze
Prepare the glaze by mixing all of the ingredients together. Brush the glaze regularly after the first hour of cooking, on the meat during the cooking process.
Further information on Heston Blumenthal’s Everdure barbecue range can be found at everdurebyheston.co.uk.