Average Reviews:
(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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