Known for his cutting edge experiments,
er, cooking at one of the world's top restaurants, The Fat Duck, chef Heston Blumenthal is
not a man to shy away from a challenge. When he bought a pub, the
Hinds Head, he thought he would have to leave his chemistry set in the car and cook more traditional
pub fare. While some of the dishes are quite ordinary, what the diners didn't realize is that Blumenthal has a more
unusual definition of "tradition" than most.
Instead of simply looking for classic favorites to serve at his pub, like fish and chips, he looked through medieval cookbooks as a jumping off place. Dishes like "quaking pudding" from the 15th century were cooked up, along with "chocolate wine" from the early 1700s. The most disturbing recipe, which seems to be what engouraged his curiosity for the old-fashioned cooking, is as follows, recounted by Blumenthal:
