Cooking Dirty: A Story of Life, Sex, Love and Death in the Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)If ever you've worked in a restaurant, you know Jason Sheehan. You probably didn't work with him, but you worked with any of the tens of thousands of chefs, cooks, and other assorted prep staff cut from a similar cloth: efficiently crass, utterly obnoxious and thoroughly proficient in the kitchen. One day they were your best friend, the next you were the butt of their jokes. You hated them, but somehow manage to think fondly of them all these years later.
I relived lost memories of a few short years working in the front of the restaurant as I devoured "Cooking Dirty." I'd always wanted to be one of the kitchen guys, with that nonchalant cool that comes from too many hours of chain smoking, heavy drinking, excessive heat, sleep deprivation, and rampant womanizing. This book was pure rebellious adventure, allowing me the chance to sneak back into the Clorox-tinged scents and bright lights of the restaurant, engage in a bit of chicanery, and then return home none the messier for it. It was culinary voyeurism. I got to be on the inside, if only for a brief time.
The stories are both engaging and entertaining. Sheehan's life goes through a tumult of highs and lows, and he seems better for it all. I'm disappointed at the expected yet misplaced references to Bourdain. I'm a fan of Anthony, but Jason Sheehan's work is at once more pure and grittier. This is a chef's chef, a man's man, and a storyteller of the highest grade. I look forward to future volumes, and hope that the life of celebrity chef doesn't dull Sheehan's obvious wit or his passion for the kitchen!

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The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is outstanding! A must-have for every kitchen regardless of how experienced a cook you are. I attended the full time 6-month culinary program at the FCI a few years ago and this is almost verbatim our first quarter (6 week) curriculum. We then spent the next 3 quarters refining and practicing and expanding on all these techniques. If you don't want to sacrifice 6 months and $50,000 (an endless cuts and burns and bad hair days) to attend cooking school, then buy this book and cook every recipe over and over and you will become an excellent cook. If you master all the skills and techniques in the book, you can walk into any kitchen and hold your own as this is the foundation of classic cooking and the language of the kitchen.
Hints and tips from the Deans and Chef Instructors pepper the book for every technique with tidbits such as "...cook beans at a constant low temperature and cool them in their cooking liquid. ~ Dean Alain Sailhac" or "Do not cover a chicken after roasting or it will steam and make the meat taste reheated." ~Dean Jacques Pepin". It's like getting a personal cooking lesson from the greatest chefs of our time. The book teaches the 250 foundation techniques including stocks, sauces, soups, salads, eggs, potatoes, poultry, beef, veal, lamb, pork, fish, shellfish, marinades, stuffings, organ meats (my least favorite day in cooking school!), pastry dough, creams & custards, crepes, brioche, frozen desserts, meringues, mousses, and soufflés (my favorite day in cooking school! :)
It also explains in great detail terms in a kitchen, names of equipment and pots and pans, food safety, knifes and knife skills, and professional kitchen management. If you want to become an outstanding home cook or are considering or about to attend cooking school, I strongly recommend devouring (pun intended) this book. If you learn this book, or at least become familiar with all the techniques, then you will be leaps and bounds ahead of the game. Bon courage et bon appetit!

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In 1984, Dorothy Cann Hamilton founded The French Culinary Institute with a singular vision: She wanted to create a culinary school that combined classic French techniques with American inventiveness in a fast-paced curriculum. Since then, the FCI has gone on to become one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world, boasting a list of alumni that includes the likes of Matthew Kenney and Bobby Flay and a faculty of such luminaries as Jacques Pepin, Andrea Immer, and Jacques Torres. But perhaps the greatest achievement of the FCI is its Total Immersionsm curriculum, in which the classes prepare a student to cook in any type of kitchen for any kind of cuisine.Now, for the first time ever, all the best that the FCI has to offer can be found in a single sumptuous volume. The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine presents the six- and nine-week courses taught at the FCI that cover all 250 basic techniques of French cooking. Along with more than 650 full-color photographs, the book features more than 200 classic recipes as well as new recipes developed by some of the school's most famous graduates. Complete with insider tips and invaluable advice from the FCI, this will be an indispensable addition to the library of serious home cooks everywhere.

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Dirty Dishes: A Restaurateur's Story of Passion, Pain, and Pasta Review

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(More customer reviews)Having enjoyed many of Pino Luongo's restaurants -- Il Cantonori, Le Madri, Coco Pazzo, Tuscan Square, and Centolire -- it's a delight to meet the man behind the menus. The story is one of success and failure and more success. It seems particularly timely for New Yorkers -- that someone would start with nothing (Luongo immigrated to NY from Italy without so much as a word of English) build an empire (16 restaurants at one point!) and come to realize that the simple things are life's greatest rewards. Whether you love to cook, eat or simply read --- you will enjoy this story.

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The Professional Chef's Art of Garde Manger Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a complete professional's guide to understanding and putting into practice the art of garde manger. This was my textbook in culinary school for garde manger class, and it covers all the essentials from sausage making, cold salads, and hot hors d'oeuvres to platter design, edible and nonedible garnishes and decorations, and classical buffet presentations. It may not be suitable for the casual cook, but as a professional guide to the garde manger, it is very thorough.

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Professional chefs and culinary students have long relied on this classic culinary text to provide a thoughtful and comprehensive guide to cold and hot food preparation. The exciting Fifth Edition of this unique guide includes:
Updates on the role of the garde manger chef to reflect the growing trend toward healthy eating.
Lavish color photographs in a 16-page full-color insert.
Exciting salads and vegetarian pates and terrines.

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The Professional Personal Chef: The Business of Doing Business as a Personal Chef (Book only) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was a little disappointed to see that the first 100 pages or so is a basic primer on starting a business. There are better books for that, my favorite is Small Time Operator. The rest of the text is more of what you would expect, but I think it could go much more in depth. I would like to see the author leave the basic business info, such as whether to incorporate, run as a sole proprietor, etc., to other books and expound on the daily issues of a personal chef. All in all a good basic primer, but I think something more is needed for someone really considering starting a business in this field.

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The definitive guide to a successful career as a professional personal chef
The job of professional personal chef is one of the fastest growing careers in foodservice. People are choosing to become personal chefs in order to have a culinary career on their own terms, with a self-determined schedule and freedom from restaurant strictures. Not only do personal chefs have the chance to work with food in a more creative, personalized way, they are also able to approach their careers with a more entrepreneurial business sense.
Written by Candy Wallace, the founder and Executive Director of the American Personal and Private Chef Association (APPCA) and Greg Forte, CEC, CCE, AAC, The Professional Personal Chef offers the definitive guide for starting and growing a successful professional personal chef business. It covers the skills and competencies required for the American Culinary Federation's Personal Certified Chef certification, and lays out a practical road map for this challenging but rewarding career.
Filled with resources rich in detail, this useful and engaging text covers:
The evolution of the professional personal chef career path
The benefits and disadvantages of various forms of business ownership
Operating legally
Writing an effective business plan
Creating a vision statement, mission statement, and elevator speech for your personal chef business
Managing and securing finances
Identifying target markets and revenue streams
Developing marketing and sales plans and quality customer service
A day in the life of a personal chef

In each chapter, learning outcomes, key terms, and review questions reinforce the key concepts. From the Field features present interviews and real world experiences from working personal chefs.
A complete instructor support package providing business resources, syllabi, and project suggestions is posted on a companion Web site at www.wiley.com, and also offers sample business plans, recipes for menus, forms, and other useful documents.
Culinary arts instructors seeking a classroom text, as well as individual culinary professionals and amateurs interested in starting or growing a personal chef business, will find The Professional Personal Chef the essential A-to-Z guide to this exciting career.

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The Professional Chef Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been cooking for quite some time now, and I am always digging for newer and better recipes and even different variations. This book had much more than I had ever thought that it would. It has a chapter dedicated to nutrition, kitchen safety, equipment, and all sorts of examples as well as photo's for everything, including cuts of meats, fish, poultry, etc.
It also thoroughly covers all sorts of food preparation, and the recipes!!! The recipes look just wonderful. It covers everything from simple broths, breads, sandwiches to different types of pastry. It is a great book for the beginner, as well as the experienced cook.
I have already tried a few of the recipes, and they are truely wonderful, and have been well tested. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook and bake..
One word of caution... Most of the recipes are geared to cooking of large quantities, for 10 portions or better. Breads for 8-10 loaves, and so on, so be prepared to modify your quantities.

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Leadership Lessons From a Chef: Finding Time to Be Great Review

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(More customer reviews)Unless you are in the restaurant industry, comprehending what it takes to be successful is quite difficult. Certainly there is a need to run an operation profitably, and that in itself can be a monumental task, but before profit comes a focused, well run kitchen. When it operates efficently, watching a kitchen in the heat of service can be very similar to focusing on an orchestra under the direction of a competent conductor. When it operates poorly, the kitchen resembles a cross between Dante's Inferno and the gates of hell.
A well built team of serious culinary professionals, focused on food and service will always lead to a financially successful business. At the head of this team you will always find a confident, well-versed, competent, compassionate, quality driven leader.
Chef Carroll, a highly accomplished culinarian shows us how he has been able to make his mark as one of the finest cooks in the country while systematically running some of the finest clubs in America.
This book is truly inspirational, easy to understand, well-organized and a perfect addition to every serious culinary professionals library.

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"Chef Charles Carroll has answered our prayers and delivered a book, a bible, a life's journal shared by a real chef in today's modern kitchen."?Chef John Folse, CEC, AAC"From time to time, I buy motivational books for my managing partners and chefs, and this book is my all-time favorite gift. What Chef Carroll has to say is the real thing."?Johnny Carrabba, founder, Carrabba's RestaurantA unique guide to leadership in the culinary arena, by a chef for chefsLeadership Lessons from a Chef is about creating excellence in the professional kitchen. Here the difference between good and great comes down to the details, and attention to these details comes from the right attitude reaching across all staff. A good culinary manager, according to author and award-winning Certified Executive Chef Charles Carroll, skillfully cultivates this attitude for success, and so leads the way toward kitchen excellence.
Using stories and examples drawn from his many years' experience, Chef Carroll gives you a leader's tour through the working kitchen. Offering proven wisdom in plainspoken terms instead of abstract management theories, the practical tools and ideas found in this groundbreaking book can be used immediately to motivate and develop an effective team environment among kitchen staffs.Leadership Lessons from a Chef features: Chef Carroll's formula for managing kitchen staffs?SEF: Scheduling, Empowering, and Follow up?and how the formula works in practice Take-away boxes that reinforce key points Chapters that progress logically, helping you evaluate and refine your goals, develop a mission and principles, and implement these in a motivational and positive way Helpful forms for both greater efficiency and esprit de corps Inspiring quotations, as well as life and work tips from Chef Carroll
Whether you're a student just starting your culinary education, or an executive chef seeking to take your operation to a whole new level of excellence, Leadership Lessons from a Chef is an indispensable resource for all stages of your culinary career.

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Purchasing for Chefs: A Concise Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)the book is good if you are taking cooking classes or are in the restaurant business. As for Amazon,nothing to complain about

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Now in the new Second Edition, Purchasing for Chefs is a comprehensive yet concise treatment of the purchasing principles that teaches students and chefs the basic principles of how to purchase goods and services in order to run their businesses effectively. It contains sections on "Purchasing Technology" that explains purchasing lingo beyond the scope of the book as well as illustrating different tools used in purchasing. This book is written in a unique conversational style that makes purchasing an accessible subject.

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Becoming a Chef Review

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(More customer reviews)AS a professional of 10 years now(currently working with Wolfgang Puck), this book should be a must read before you commit to being a chef.
It gives a realistic look into what working in the high end kitchens in the World is REALLY like.(The long hours, heat, working sick, tempers,low pay, etc.) What you see on cooking shows is staged and is not a indication of the day to day grind that a kitchen hits you with. Most people have NO IDEA what they are getting themselves into!
I suggest to anyone who is considering taking on the challenge of earning the title "Professional Chef"-REad this book, get a job in kitchen before you spend money on cooking school to see if you like it, and ask yourself-do you love food, or do you just think it would be a glory filled way to fame?


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The updated edition of the book Julia Child called "a 'must' for aspiring chefs"-the James Beard Award-winning guide to one of today's hottest careersWith more and more chefs achieving celebrity status, interest in the exciting world of today's leading chefs is higher than ever. Essential reading for anyone who loves food, Becoming a Chef gives an entertaining and informative insider's look at this dynamic profession, going behind the scenes to look into some of the most celebrated restaurant kitchens across the nation. More than 60 leading chefs-including some of the newest up-and-coming-discuss the inspiration, effort, and quirks of fate that turned would-be painters, anthropologists, and football players into culinary artists.Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page (both of New York, NY) are the authors of the bestselling titles Culinary Artistry, Dining Out, Chef's Night Out. Dornenburg has cooked professionally at Arcadia, Judson Grill, and March in New York City and Biba and the East Coast Grill in Boston. Page, the recipient of the 1997 Melitta Bentz Award for Women's Achievement, is a graduate of the Harvard Business School.

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On the Line Review

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(More customer reviews)ATTENTION: if you are a big fan of 30 Minute Meals or Semi-homemade Cooking, this is not a book for you. If you only go to chain restaurants that call each location a "store," this is not a book for you. If you're the sort of person for whom food is akin to fuel and you don't view eating as an aesthetic experience, this is not a book for you.
Who IS this book for, then?
1) Armchair chefs
Fans of inside-the-restaurant-business books, such as Kitchen Confidential (Bourdain) and The Soul of a Chef (Ruhlman), will enjoy reading about the history and personalities behind Le Bernardin. On The Line is written in a very matter of fact style though, so don't expect anything like the gonzo rants of Bourdain or the hushed and reverential tone of Ruhlman.
2) Anybody interested in how a top-end restaurant operates
Most of On The Line is devoted to an in-depth discussion of the daily operations at Le Bernardin. Comprehensive descriptions of each kitchen station, detailed run downs of how dishes are prepared during service, and a fascinating overview of the business side are highlights of the book. And unlike most books written by chefs, the focus is on the entire restaurant staff, not just the chef, which helps reinforce how running a restaurant is truly a team effort.
3) Accomplished or ambitious home cooks
While On The Line includes a selection of recipes, they are aspirational in that they are scaled down renditions of highly refined and luxurious restaurant cooking. As in The French Laundry Cookbook, one needs access to premium ingredients and a solid repertoire of cooking skills to replicate the dishes successfully.
Bottom line: On The Line is a fascinating and realistic look into the world of running a top restaurant, with the bonus of recipes for actual dishes served at Le Bernardin. Don't expect any flashy writing or chef worship talk though. Four stars, with the caveat that this isn't a book for beginning cooks or those who don't enjoy eating at destination restaurants.
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Complementary books:
Garlic and Sapphires (Reichl)--the high end restaurant experience from a restaurant reviewer's perspective.
Down and Out in Paris and London (Orwell)--a funny and shocking exposé of what really goes on in hotel and restaurant kitchens, but NOT from the chef's point of view!

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Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals, Study Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently took a class and this was the textbook that we used, also I wanted to raise the ratings from the 1 star ratings of people who were unhappy with 3rd party sellers and lowered the average for this book unnecessarily.
It's full of information about what nutrients do what, and has a lot on calories and how many servings of each nutrient you need for a certain number of calories. For example, you need 2 cups of vegetable per day for a certain amount of calories. I actually lost 20 pounds by following the guidelines for 2000 and 1500 calorie diets. It also goes into detail about food allergies, and even has some recipes in the back to make healthier versions of traditional recipes.

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Updated and revised to address current concerns about nutrition throughout the life cycle, Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals, Seventh Edition successfully covers core nutritional topics such as carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and dietary needs from a culinary perspective. Bursting with a full-color design and plenty of photographs and illustrations, Drummond and Brefere link nutritional concepts with healthy cooking techniques and recipes. Each book comes with a nutritional software CD-ROM that enables readers to create recipes, modify recipes, and analyze the nutritional content of recipes. Chefs, restaurateurs, dieticians, and other foodservice professionals will find this book an invaluable reference and guide to meeting the nutritional needs of all their customers.

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Practical Cookery Book and Dynamic Learning DVD (Book & CD) Review

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(More customer reviews)You wont go wrong with this, It provides a solid foundation for any one wishing to develop their skills, The examples will have you creating the most wonderful dishes to the highest standard. And perhaps the most important thing, You will gain a deep understanding of the basics that are common to all techniques, with this comes the ability to create menus that become a gift to the pallet

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Following extensive consultation and feedback from hospitality and catering teachers the new edition of Practical Cookery will feel reassuringly familiar but has been thoroughly updated and underpinned by a host of new resources. Included with the book is a feature-packed DVD powered by Hodder Arnolds new e-learning platform, Dynamic Learning. DVD features include: * More than 50 videos of key techniques demonstrated by John Campbell * Interactive knowledge quizzes * Diagrams, charts and photos for portfolio use.

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The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional Review

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(More customer reviews)I am in the hotel industry and don't know how I survived all these years without this book! It assists me when I talk to customers so that I can easily explain items and show pictures to them. The only problem is that I need to get another copy so that I have one at home and one in the office. I think that anyone who likes to bake or is a "foodie" needs to BUY THE BOOK!The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional

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With more than 4,800 terms and definitions from around the world plus ten appendices filled with helpful resources, The Pastry Chef's Companion combines the best features of a dictionary and an encyclopedia. In addition to the current terminology of every component of pastry, baking, and confectionary arts, this book provides important information about the origin and historical background of many of the terms. Moreover, it offers coverage of flavor trends, industry practices, key success factors, a resources list, illustrations, and phonetic pronunciations.

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Cooking Essentials for the New Professional Chef Student Workbook Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is required for the Culinary school that I attend and I have found it extremely helpful. As its title implies, it is for the serious student and a good reference book to keep because it identifies foods, explains proper handling, storage, and preparation tecnique, and also includes recipes. If you just want to throw together a recipe, buy a Betty Crocker cookbook. If you want to do it the professional way, buy this book.

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The Fat Duck Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)Heston has an (scientific) obsession for making the best tasting and best looking food possible. This obsession is likely to make him legendary.
This is a cookbook for a small minority of customers. You must have an interest in molecular gastronomy methods. You must have a budget that allows you to eat at expensive restaurants. You must like odd people that don't conform to all the norms of society.
Other reviewers have pointed out the recipes are extremely complicated. A lot of details are given, but you should be prepared to shell out a couple of thousands of dollars on (used) equipment before you can get started. The book has some pictures of the dishes, but could do with more descriptive pictures.
However, this is just not a glossy book to boost the ego of its author. I find the discussion around taste, chemistry and visuals relating to each recipe very interesting. You really get a look into Heston's thought process. I don't think Heston has used a ghost writer. I would imagine this can inspire both professional chefs as well as amateur cooks, if so inclined. One place to start experimenting might be with the whisky gums, which don't require any expensive equipment.
Heston's general approach is to perfect a dish. You can set out to do something similar given your budget constraint. If you don't have a professional vacuum sealer maybe try with cheap 100 dollar device, and see what happens. Or my might use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air of the bag. The only thing you need is time!
There is one other audience for this book and that is people interested in the creative process in general. The long biographical essay describes an obsessive person setting out to do something creative. It is written in a fascinating manner, if and only if you are interested in the creative process. Actually this section could serve as ispiration for some young people to follow their intuition rather than go for a very safe career. For this type of reader, I can also recommend Adria's "A day at Elbulli".
I would recommend this edition of the book. It is a normal hardcover edition. There is also a superexpensive big edition. I would not recommend that unless you want to have a thick tome to impress. The cheaper edition is hardcover too, so more than enough for most people.

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Back by popular demand, a lower-priced version of the must-have book from the genius behind the Fat Duck, the restaurant named best in the world by Restaurant magazine. The cookbook hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a "showstopper” and by Jeffrey Steingarten of Vogue as "the most glorious spectacle of the season…like no other book I have seen in the past twenty years” is now available in a reduced-price edition. With a reduced trim size but an identical interior, this lavishly illustrated, stunningly designed, and gorgeously photographed masterpiece takes you inside the head of maverick restaurateur Heston Blumenthal. Separated into three sections (History; Recipes; Science), the book chronicles Blumenthal’s improbable rise to fame and, for the first time, offers a mouth-watering and eye-popping selection of recipes from his award-winning restaurant. He also explains the science behind his culinary masterpieces, the technology and implements that make his alchemical dishes come to life. Designed by acclaimed artist Dave McKean—and filled with photographs by Dominic Davies—this artfully rendered celebration of one of the world’s most innovative and renowned chefs is a foodie’s dream.

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