In the video, Heston Blumenthal introduces viewers to the art of cooking the perfect roasted potatoes, inspired by a realization that many traditional cooking beliefs he held were incorrect. The exploration begins with Heston pondering over the myth that browning meat keeps in juices, sparking his interest in re-evaluating other cooking techniques, particularly concerning potatoes.

Heston's head chef Adam elaborates on the step-by-step process of making Heston's classic triple-cooked roast potatoes at the restaurant Dinner in London. The technique involves careful selection and preparation of the agria potatoes, followed by a meticulous series of boiling, chilling, and frying stages designed to achieve perfect texture—crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. sacrosanct [ˈsækrəˌsæŋkt] - (adjective) - Regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with. - Synonyms: (inviolable, untouchable, sacred)

I discovered this fact that I thought was sacrosanct in cooking.

2. ruffle up [ˈrʌfəl ʌp] - (verb) - To make uneven or creased, often used to create texture in cooking. - Synonyms: (dishevel, tousle, mess up)

We don't want to cut the potatoes too small because in the process they're going to ruffle up the edges.

3. consistent [kənˈsɪstənt] - (adjective) - Acting or done in the same way over time, especially so as to be fair or accurate. - Synonyms: (uniform, steady, stable)

As you can see, they're all a roughly consistent size.

4. heavily seasoned [ˈhɛvɪli ˈsiːznd] - (adjective phrase) - Containing a large amount of spices or salt to enhance flavor. - Synonyms: (well-spiced, strongly flavored, richly flavored)

So we've got a pan here with just some cold water and we've added salt into that, so it's quite heavily seasoned water.

5. impurities [ɪmˈpjʊrɪtiːz] - (noun) - Unwanted substances or defects in something, especially in cooking or chemistry. - Synonyms: (contaminants, pollutants, adulterants)

The cold water, as it comes up to temperature, a lot of the last impurities from the potato will rise to the top.

6. render [ˈrɛndər] - (verb) - To melt down fat to separate it from impurities. - Synonyms: (melt, liquefy, reduce)

We trim off all the excess fat, we render it down, and then we've infused that with some garlic, thyme and rosemary.

7. infuse [ɪnˈfjuz] - (verb) - To introduce a new element or quality into something, often involving soaking to flavour it. - Synonyms: (imbue, fill, steep)

...we've infused that with some garlic, thyme and rosemary.

8. par boil [pɑr ˈbɔɪl] - (verb) - To partially boil food as the first step in the cooking process before completing it by another method. - Synonyms: (half-boil, partly cook, precook)

They do kind of a par boil or five minutes in the water.

9. moisture [ˈmɔɪstʃər] - (noun) - Water or another liquid diffused in a small quantity as vapour. - Synonyms: (dampness, humidity, wetness)

All that moisture has come out.

10. neutral oil [ˈnjuːtrəl ɔɪl] - (noun phrase) - Oil that has little to no flavor, used in cooking for its high smoke point. - Synonyms: (bland oil, unscented oil, flavorless oil)

And we have a combination of a neutral oil and beef fat.

Roast potatoes with Heston Blumenthal - FT Globetrotter

I'm Heston, Heston Blumenthal, and I'm here at my restaurant, Dinner in London with Adam and the TV you can see behind me in 1992. I have read a book written by an American guy called On Food and Cooking, the science and Law of the Kitchen. And in that book he said he was talking about cooking steak. That browning the meat doesn't keep in the juices. That's like finding out Father Christmas isn't real. So once I discovered this fact that I thought was sacrosanct in cooking, I found that to be false. I thought, what other things have I been learning about the heart? Unreal.

So in the case of potatoes, I first looked at chips, the classic British fish and chips. Chips are soggy and I wondered why chips would go soggy. And while my mates are going out to the pub and half a dozen pints if kebab, and if they're lucky, they'll like have some funny drunken punch up or something. My problem is, how do you get a chip to be really light and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside? Gotta get a life lesson, really. I had the idea of doing something with the roast potato. I'd had it in my head for a few few years. I suppose I'd say my obsession began like most other people's Sunday roast. Still to this day, most people say it's either their mom's or their grandmother's. Potatoes are the best. So I had that growing up. I've loved roast potatoes since I was a kid.

When you make a roast, you've got your roast meat, green veg, carrots, cauliflower, all of those can basically be cooked in advance and say let to sit for an hour or so so you can put the potatoes. So the potatoes don't wait for anyone. When they're ready, they're ready. So you have to make everything else be ready at the same time as a potato.

Hi, my name's Adam. I'm the head chef here at dinner by Heston. Today we're going through Heston's classic triple cook roastie. So obviously we start off with the most important ingredient, which is the potato. So we use agria potatoes here in the restaurant. Well, they're a starchy potato, but they have a lower water content than other potatoes. And in the process, what we're trying to do is draw out as much moisture as possible and then end up having the really crispy potatoes. So if we start off with a potato that's got a lower water content, it's starting to do some of the job for us.

We've just peeled the potatoes. As we peel them, we leave all the rough edges. We make sure not to round them off. We keep all these sharp edges because all the edges start to crack. That gets more oil in and then they roast up and go extra crispy at the end. So all the little sharp edges are the best bit. So once we peel them, we're just going to cut them ready to boil. We don't want to cut the potatoes too small because in the process they're going to ruffle up the edges. And if we start too small, you end up with a tiny potato at the end. So you need to kind of start a little bit bigger. So this is the kind of size we're looking for. I would say a kind of a medium sized potato.

As you can see, they're all a roughly consistent size, which means that throughout the process, we don't have some that are raw and some that are overcooked. So once we've got all the potatoes cut, the next stage is obviously the boiling. So we've got a pan here with just some cold water and we've added salt into that, so it's quite heavily seasoned water. So we start the seasoning process of the potato right from the beginning.

We just put those potatoes into the cold water with the salt. And now we're turning onto a high heat. We want to bring it up to the boil as quickly as possible. Once they come up to the boil, we're just going to gently simmer them for about 15 to 20 minutes until they're almost falling apart.

Every Christmas, I get asked about Christmas dinner. So my answer is don't try to do too many things. If you're having turkey, you can cook your turkey first. Let it sit, it'll rest. If you've got green beans or cabbage or carrots, you cook them all in advance. They're just ready to be reheated. Your potatoes go in and anywhere between around about an hour to 10 hours, 20 minutes. When you think they're ready, try and get a bit of gut strength and leave them in for five to 10 minutes longer than you want to take them out.

So then they come out, everything gets reheated. So everything's been built for the potato. Any root vegetable, anything grown underground should always start in cold water. Anything that's grown above ground, you can start in boiling water. Also the cold water, as it comes up to temperature, a lot of the last impurities from the potato will rise at the top. And we're just going to skim those off. We want to make sure we do this before the potatoes start boiling. If it starts boiling, then the boil can actually roll that starch back into the water. So we want to make sure we take all that off before the full boil starts.

So now they've just come up to the boil. We're just going to turn it down to a medium high heat to start the cooking process. So we just need to make sure throughout the cooking process, we're stirring them every couple of minutes. This really helps with starting to break up the edges as they cook.

So you can see, because of all the stirring, you can start to see the cracks appear on the outside. That's what we're looking for. But we want them everywhere. We're going to keep stirring because we want more of those and we want them on every edge and every crack. I think the boiling is a crucial stage. I think a lot of people don't boil them enough. So they do kind of a par boil or five minutes in the water. That leaves a lot of the moisture.

So then when you go to roast them, all of that moisture will push its way out to the outside of the potato and it'll start making them go soggy and you'll lose that really crispy potato. Some people try and fix this by coating in flour or corn flour to try and get crispy edges. But if you just cook the potato a little bit further, you don't need to use any flour or extras.

So right now, the potatoes have already come out. We've finished with this rack ready. So with the potatoes, you can see how it's really started to ruffle up. The way to check if it's ready is if you push really hard, you should be able to really break the potato. So that means we know that it's ready to come out. So we're just going to take them out really gently. And you can see on the edges here all the cracks we have which are going to be perfect for the next stage, which is the first fry.

So now these are out, we're going to pop them in the fridge or blast chiller. All the steam you can see coming off now, we want to get rid of all of that. So then once they're chilled, we're going to put them in the fryer. So now we've got the potatoes fully cold, we're ready for the next stage, which is the first fry. So we have the fryer set here to 135 degrees. And we have a combination of a neutral oil and beef fat.

And we're going to fry these for about 13 to 14 minutes on the low temperature. All these little small bits you can put in as well because they end up going even extra crispy or they can be a little snack along the way for the chef. So then we just drop these down into the fryer, as I said, for about 13, 14 minutes. If you're doing this at home and you don't have a fryer, what you can do is just turn your oven up nice and hot, make sure you put a generous amount of the fat or oil in the tray, and you can kind of fry or roast them in the oven.

So then these have been fried for about 13 minutes. Now they're ready to come out back onto the cooling rack. We're going to go back into the fridge so they're cold, ready for the second fry. So now we have the potatoes fully cold. After the second fry, all that moisture has come out, so we're ready for the final fry. So we've turned the fryer up to 185 degrees, and we're going to put the potatoes back into the fryer for the last final fry just to get really, really crispy. And they take about five to six minutes.

So then these are the finished potatoes. In here we have a little bit of beef fat. So when we prepare the beef ready for roasting, we trim off all the excess fat, we render it down, and then we've infused that with some garlic, thyme and rosemary. And then we're just going to drizzle that on the potatoes to finish. And that gives it that really nice roast herb potato flavour. Finish with a little bit of sea salt. And then we transfer them into the bowl.

So then these are all the extra crispy edges we were looking for from all the cook. So then these are the finished triple cooked roast potatoes ready to serve up. How should a roast potato make you feel? Very happy. Light, fluffy, golden glass, like crunch. Crisp and really juicy. I'm not boring you yet, am I? Honest, I start to bore myself. It's like hesting to get a life. Maybe I should have gone out eating all those.

HESTON BLUMENTHAL, CULINARY SCIENCE, COOKING TECHNIQUES, INNOVATION, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, FINANCIAL TIMES