That's How It Happened

This is what "Grain mustard ice cream with red cabbage gazpacho" looked like when I ate at The Fat Duck in June. Heston Blumenthal does write up lots of his recipes, but this one isn't available yet. Determined to reverse engineer the recipe myself, I quickly discovered that some determined Knorr home economist has done the hard work with this plausible gazpacho recipe. I've adapted it slightly below. The accompanying ice cream suggestion is poor though. I decided to make my own ice cream using Heston's own Guinness mustard recipe.

Serves 2
For the mustard:
One jar black mustard seeds (approx 50g)
50mls Guinness
50mls red wine vinegar
Allspice/seasoning as available

Mix all ingredients in a jar, seal and store overnight. By the morning the seeds will have swollen up to reach the surface of the Guinness/vinegar mix. At this stage you can blend it until it reaches your ideal colour and consistency.

For the Gazpacho:
1/3rd of a red cabbage
1/4 of a cucumber
1 smoked garlic clove
Red chilli, pepper, salt to taste.
One slug olive oil
150mls vegetable stock
I tbsp red wine vinegar
100ml apple juice
½ tsp paprika
I slice of crumbed white bread

Add all the ingredients in a blender, and puree as finely as possible. Hot smoked garlic is preferable to uncooked garlic, as it has a much milder flavour. Pass the whole sodden mess through a tamis, Thomas Keller style, until it forms a thin soup. Chill in fridge.

For the ice cream:
200ml double cream
20g caster sugar
100mls whole milk
3 egg yolks
20mls honey (home-made where possible)
3 tablespoons whole grain mustard (see below)

Heat the milk and cream until it starts to bubble, then pour onto the egg yolks and whisk. Transfer the egg/cream/milk back into the still warm pan and continue to whisk, add the sugar and honey, and continue to stir until melted and thickening. Now transfer while still warm into a cold ice cream maker, and set it running. Add the mustard after the ice cream starts to freeze, so you can judge the flavour accurately.

This is the result, which despite my poor photography, was a close match for the original, both in taste and appearance. The mustard/gazpacho combination works brilliantly. I think when we had it at the Fat Duck, the ice cream was resting on a tiny bed of chopped green cabbage, but that may just have been a seasonal variation.