Heston Blumenthal is probably the most influential chef in the world to still run a restaurant. The only other chef who could be mentioned in the same sentence, Ferran Adria, gave up on El Bulli, the restaurant that made his reputation, 14 years ago. Only Blumenthal is still at it, changing the rules and transforming the way we think about food.

I thought of Blumenthal for two reasons this week. The first is that he was honoured at San Sebastián’s prestigious Gastronomika conference for his enormous contribution to food.

This is a huge deal by any standards. But as foodies will tell you, in chef terms, it is almost unparalleled because the Spanish, who replaced the French as the leaders of global cuisine (and now have the Scandinavians nipping at their heels), don’t really think much of British chefs. They don’t believe Britain has made any significant contribution to global gastronomy (and they may well be right) and don’t bother too much with British restaurants.

The exception has always been Heston Blumenthal.

Though in the early years of this century, the press invented a rivalry between Adria and Blumenthal, the two men were friends and worked together to extend the boundaries of kitchen techniques.

Their styles were different though. Adria was fascinated by science in the kitchen. So was Blumenthal but, unlike Adria he was also fascinated by the relationship between food and those who ate it: Their state of mind, their memories, their moods etc.

Most chefs view a dish in isolation. Blumenthal made the daring suggestion that perhaps food tasted different depending on how you were feeling when you ate it or the memories it evoked........

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