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Heston Blumenthal has launched a new Sunday roast – with a special honour for the often overlooked potato.
Customers who want to book the meal at the chef’s Dinner with Heston restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge, London, will have to reserve a potato rather than a time slot. The website asks customers to book a slot between 1pm and 3pm to ensure that potatoes are soft and fresh.
Blumenthal and head chef Adam Tooby-Desmond are going a step further by making the spud the central focus of the entire meal, and naming the dish “Sunday Roast Potato Time”.
“Roast potatoes is one of those dishes where most people say ‘my mum or my grandmother’s were the best’,” Blumenthal told The Telegraph.
“And one of the reasons is that what you do at home for a roast is hard to do in a commercial kitchen. At home you can do all the veg beforehand and reheat it last minute, roast the meat and let it sit for a good hour.
“The potatoes, however, only have the smallest of windows. When they’re ready, they’re ready. If you have to hold them for half an hour, they’re not the same.
“The crust starts to get a bit chewy. Doing them in batches was the only way I could think of getting them like you’d get them at home.”
The dinner comes with a choice of chicken, beef, or roast cauliflower. The three course meal is priced at £98, with customers wanting a wine pairing looking to spend £148.
Blumenthal also gave his insights into what makes the perfect roast potato, which he feels is not dissimilar to the recipe for the perfect chip. In his restaurants, the chef uses Agria potatoes, but he also recommends Albert Bartlett Rooster, Burgundy Red or Maris Pipers.
“I want the centre to be moist and fluffy and the outside to have that glass-like crunch,” he said.
“If your water content is too high, your potatoes aren’t going to crisp. If your dry content is too high, the potatoes get crumbly and fall apart. Some potatoes are not fit for purpose. Things like this make people think they can’t cook.”
Earlier this year, the chef revealed he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He had previously shared he had been diagnosed with ADHD in 2017, calling it his “superpower”.
“My most artistic, innovative and exciting work is because I am neurodivergent, which I describe as my superpower,” he said.
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