This week Heston Blumenthal has a special problem: the perfect spaghetti bolognese has to be, for most people, the one their mother cooked them as a child. It's the blend of comfort-food flavours you associate with famished tea-times and greasy chins, so Blumenthal's attempt to come up with one, definitive version seems doomed. Like he cares. Our fearless gastronaut uses all his weird alchemy (star anise, thai fish sauce, tomato ketchup) to assemble a spag bol that, if not perfect, looks gorgeous. Along the way we learn why rough pasta is better than smooth; and marvel at the patience of a man who can cook his sauce for six hours then tell us coolly that it "just needs another couple of hours on a gentle heat". Fast food this is not. But watching Blumental is like watching a sorcerer: it feels like a privilege.
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Ready to Watch In Search of Perfection, Season 1, Episode 7?