Snail porridge, bacon and egg ice cream are both inventions of Heston Blumenthal, the chef dubbed as a modern day Willy Wonka.
While these gastronomic inventions caused a lot of eyebrow-raising a little while ago when they first gained public attention, they just don’t have the same impact these days. Why? Perhaps it’s because there is more wild and wacky food out there to tantalise our curious tastebuds, or perhaps we’re more open-minded. As the trend for creative, ingenious food grows, so the inventions become wackier. Take a look at what we’ve unearthed.
Nitro ice-cream
We’ve all seen it on telly: chefs whipping up batches of ice-cream using liquid nitrogen – it’s practically a part of the molecular gastronomy routine. But chefs at Chin Chin Labs in Camden have taken this idea to the masses. Their parlour is hailed by The Times as being ‘the best ice-cream parlour in Britain’ and it’s there where they will make your gastronomic ice-cream to order in front of your eyes in billowing clouds of liquid nitrogen. Among the flavours available is Salted Whisky Caramel using a 12 year old single malt. Sounds like heaven…
Breathable Tea
The idea of paying to breathe in some smelly air sounds like a bit of a swizz to us, but is the brainchild of London-based Camellia’s Tea House. The vapourised tea is served as a smoky gas, which is inhaled through a straw – an alternative tea experience billed as a way to avoid burning your tongue. It’s said to deliver tea’s health benefits more effectively. What do you think…good, or just a lot of hot air?
Snake Wine
Hopefully not a beverage we’ll see on our supermarket shelves any time soon. Snake wine, popular in South-East Asia, is believed to have important restorative qualities. It can be made by steeping a snake in rice wine, or by mixing snake bodily fluids, such as blood, with the alcohol. Cheers!
Incredible Jelly
We all remember enjoying jelly and ice-cream as kids at birthday parties. Bompas and Parr have taken jelly and quite literally turned it into an artform. While the flavours they have created are unusual and mouthwatering, (think marbled cardamom blancmange, spiced plum & red wine, and Absinthe with lime) they also make glow in the dark jellies, and spectacular jelly-scapes using moulds to create jelly shaped St Paul’s Cathedral, Brighton Pavilion and Buckingham Palace. They even offer an explosion service, providing a trained explosive technician who will lay charges in your wedding cake or jelly, or food of choice, which you can detonate at the climax of your event!
