The time period for the first episode was Victorian Britain and Blumenthal used Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ as the inspiration behind his dishes.  The Victorian feast started with a deceptive uniformly pink drink, composed of different layers of flavour-infused milk (cherry pie, custard, hot buttered toast, pineapple, toffee and turkey). This was followed by mock turtle soup (made from the head of a calf) and an entirely edible garden, before culminating with a giant and suggestively wobbling absinthe jelly.

The garden was particularly impressive and contained edible rocks, soil, plants and insects. As part of his research for using insects as food, Blumenthal consulted a Victorian book, ‘Why Not Eat Insects?’ by Vincent Holt. He followed this up with a visit to a famous British entomologist, Dr George McGavin.

McGavin talked to Blumenthal about edible insects and offered him a variety of insect-based foods, including fried crickets and meal worms. Blumenthal then used fried locusts and meal worms, filled with a tomato paste, as part of his edible garden. Even the apprehensive guests tried the cooked insects and seemed surprised that they were not disgusting.

You can watch the episode on the Channel 4 website and read a post-recording interview with Dr George McGavin.

If you are interested in getting a copy of ‘Why Not Eat Insects’ you can find it on Amazon.