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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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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Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen (Culinary Institute of America) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a pretty remarkable collection of recipes. If you are foodservice pro, this book ought to be on your shelf. For the homecook, it can be useful, but with a couple of reservations.
This book has more GM recipes in one place in one book than the rest of my professional cookbooks combined. If you need a recipe, you will probably find it here. It has stuff like: galantines, chaud-froid, homemade cheese, curing your own meat, and a very useful section on aspic and gelatin, and another one on buffet presentations (especially handy if you have never worked one before).
The format is also quite nice. In the TOC, it lists every recipe, so no flipping through pages or trying to decode the index to find a recipe (would that more cookbooks do this). The beginning of each chapter has a really useful section on various techniques. Sadly, these are closer to a master class rather than a beginner's lesson.
For the home cook, much here is useful. Certainly you should be able to use stuff like vinaigrettes, salads, sandwiches, and maybe even fresh grind sausages. However, there is much here you should avoid, and you need to be able to distinguish which is which. Also, the recipes are terse, professional ones, and there is no explanatory material about tips or suggestions or anything else.


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The leading guide to the professional kitchen's cold food station, now fully revised and updated

Garde Manger is one of the most important courses culinary students take—and it's often the first kitchen station that a new chef will encounter. This definitive guide has been thoroughly revised to reflect the latest garde manger trends, techniques, and flavors, including new information on topics such as brining ratios, fermented sausages, micro greens, artisanal American cheeses, tapas menus, "action" buffet stations, and ice carving. With over 540 recipes, including 100 created new for this edition, and more than 340 all-new photographs illustrating step-by-step techniques and finished dishes, this new edition of Garde Manger is an indispensable reference for culinary students and working chefs everywhere.

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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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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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