COOK up a storm in the new year with celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal's latest book, Further Adventures In Search Of Perfection. This inspired work was commissioned to accompany the popular BBC2 series of the same name, and as a follow-up to In Search Of Perfection, which was published in 2006.
Heston, who owns the three-Michelin starred The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, has already travelled the globe in search of the perfect' versions of such dishes as roast chicken, pizza and treacle tart.
Now the High Wycombe-born chef again packs his bags on a quest to reinvent such kitchen classics as hamburgers, fish pie, baked Alaska and trifle.
Along the way he travels to India to find out where chicken tikka masala really comes from and returns home to build his very own tandoor oven. Then he visits top chefs in Italy to discover just what really makes the best risotto - and uncovers some surprising ingredients in the process.
But what search for perfection would be complete without travelling to America, where burgers are eaten everywhere from fast-food outlets to top-class restaurants?
Each chapter comprises a light-hearted account of Heston's experiences on his travels, as well as interviews with experts and a sprinkling of Heston's own culinary and scientific knowledge.
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And not to disappoint the reader, having found perfection Heston even includes the recipe and useful hints and tips at the end of each section.
What makes Further Adventures In Search of Perfection so much more than just a cookery book is that Heston has clearly put plenty of thought into not just how the food looks and tastes, but also what it does physically and emotionally to the body.
"I've realised that culinary perfection means not only mastery of technique, but also consideration of the sensory and psychological aspects of a dish," writes the 41-year-old chef.
Alongside this, Heston, who is a well-known proponent of "molecular gastronomy", uses science to help him find new ways to cook the old favourites.
In his first book, Heston looked at ultra-slow cooking and experimented with roasting chicken at 60 degrees Celsius. In this follow-up, Heston puts chicken breasts in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner to see whether marinades really make a difference.
He also feeds oysters to a woman wearing headphones and monitors langoustine on a computer in a trawler.
It might all sound far-fetched, but science has led to Heston coming up with a smorgasbord of some of the most original dishes before.
Patrons of The Fat Duck will not be so surprised to see such trademark combinations as bacon-and-egg ice cream, snail porridge and nitrogen scrambled egg, all of which have proven extremely popular.
So if you want original and you want perfection, pick up a tip or two from Heston.
Further Adventures In Search of Perfection, by Heston Blumenthal. Bloomsbury Publishing, £20. Available now.
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