Celebrity chef to cook first ‘test-tube burger’

But the beefburger he could be serving up in eight months’ time will surpass even his most outlandish efforts.

The “test-tube burger” will be the first beef patty ever created in the laboratory.

Its price tag – 250,000 euros (£207,535) – reflects just how exclusive this culinary experience will be.

The burger’s true “chef” is Dutch stem cell scientist Dr Mark Post, from the University of Maastricht.

After experiments which progressed from mouse meat to pork, he is now ready to produce an artificial burger that looks, feels and tastes like the real thing. It will make a grand public entrance in October.

The current plan is for Blumenthal to cook it for a mystery guest, to be chosen by the research project’s anonymous funder.

The minced meat will have been grown from bovine muscle and fat stem cells cultured in Dr Post’s laboratory.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver, Canada, Dr Post said: “In October we’re going to provide a proof-of-concept showing that with in-vitro methods, out of stem cells we can make a product that looks like and feels and hopefully tastes like meat.”