Foodie news…

Suck on a tampon and enhance the flavour of food…says Heston

We all relish the flavour in our food, whether its rich, sweet, sour or intense, we want to enhance it as much as possible to achieve the ultimate satisfaction before swallowing. During a meal, there are a variety of methods used to cleanse the palate in preparation for the flavours bought to us by the next course – there is nothing like a refreshing sorbet to awaken the taste-buds, or simply taking a sip of water or a more generous one of wine. However, if you’re name is Heston Blumenthal, you are going to come up with something a little more ‘off the wall’ that has yet to become subject to experimentation. If any of you have recently witnessed him boiling an egg using a condom on his programme, ‘Fantastical Foods’, you will agree - he is always willing to go that extra mile.

And for his next trick, Heston has embarked on an idea I can almost guarantee nobody would have thought of previously, let alone tried- some may say there’s a reason for that and others will call him a “genius”. To cleanse the palate and enhance flavour, he likes to stick a tampon in his mouth…there you have it and yes ladies, I am being deadly serious - “the thing” we use at that dreaded “time of the month”, which some men mistake as a sweet - Heston uses as a flavour enhancer. He states ‘if you drain the moisture in your mouth you experience richness, creaminess and sweetness more intensely ... and there is really nothing much more absorbent than a tampon’.

As much as his notion causes many of us to cringe, mostly at the thought of experimenting with this ourselves, I can at the same time understand his logic and commend his extreme attempt to educate us on ‘how we perceive taste and flavour.’ However, I am thankful he has decided to leave this off the menu at his award-winning restaurant, The Fat Duck and in doing so, has avoided the foreseeable risk of awkward table presence between diners sat with a piece of string hanging from their mouths awaiting a sudden burst of flavour.

Nevertheless, some will still label him a genius - the Einstein of the culinary world and as the famous saying goes, “don’t knock something until you’ve tried it” AND THEN decide! Comments below…

Catch ‘Heston’s Fantastical Foods next Monday, Channel 4 at 9pm (NB: it’s past the children’s bedtime for a reason…the last thing you want is your child to think the right way to boil an egg is by using the thing in the blue foil found in Daddy’s drawer!)

Writers Note: This week’s offers at Waitrose: Tampax Pearl, 2 for £4 http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-110642-Tampax+Pearl+Tampons+%2525252D+Super (do we call this a coincidence? I wonder if Delia will allow him to do a recipe card?!)