The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute

The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute
by Michael Ruhlman

The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute
List Price: $17.00
Our Price: $4.97
You Save: $12.03 (71%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Michael Ruhlman
Edition: Paperback
Published: 1999-10-15
ISBN: 0805061738
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Book Reviews of The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute

Book Review: Well written, dragged a bit at times, but learned so very much
Summary: 5 Stars

Well if you are not a foodie I would suggest reducing the review by 3 stars and finding something else to read, but if you are a foodie this book was excellent. A nice fairly complete telling of what it is like to go through the Culinary Institute which is something I always wanted to do but either didn't have the time nor wish to commit so much of it. I am always playing in the kitchen and I got a ton of direction from this book as to the why of what I often do without knowing it (of course if that is all you are looking for there is McGee). Even little things that I picked up were great, for example, my wife hates wet sandwich bread, here in America we eat a lot of sandwiches so this small thing is a big problem. In the book they make mention of how the CIA club sandwich always puts cheese on the bread to create a barrier, so simple but something that never dawned on me, sounds silly but now I know how to make my sandwiches and her happy at the same time, thats worth a lot more than the price of the book right there.

Summary of The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute

Journalist Michael Ruhlman talked his way into the CIA: the Culinary Institute of America, the Harvard of cooking schools. It had something to do with potatoes a grand-uncle had eaten deacades earlier, how the man could remember them so well for so long, buried as they had been in the middle of an elegant meal. Ruhlman wanted to learn how to cook potatoes like that--like an art--and the CIA seemed the place to go. The fun part of this book is that we all get to go along for the ride without having to endure the trauma of cooking school.

Ever wonder what goes on in a busy kitchen, why your meal comes late or shows up poorly cooked? The temptation is to blame the waiter, but there are a world of cooks behind those swinging doors, and Ruhlman marches you right into it. It's a world where, when everything is going right, time halts and consciousness expands. And when a few things go wrong, the earth begins to wobble on its axis. Ruhlamn has the writerly skills to make the education of a chef a visceral experience.


Now in paperback, the eye-opening book that was nominated for a 1998 James Beard Foundation award in the Writing on Food category.

In the winter of 1996, Michael Ruhlman donned hounds-tooth-check pants and a chef's jacket and entered the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, to learn the art of cooking. His vivid and energetic record of that experience, The Making of a Chef, takes us to the heart of this food-knowledge mecca. Here we meet a coterie of talented chefs, an astonishing and driven breed. Ruhlman learns fundamental skills and information about the behavior of food that make cooking anything possible. Ultimately, he propels himself and his readers through a score of kitchens and classrooms, from Asian and American regional cuisines to lunch cookery and even table waiting, in search of the elusive, unnameable elements of great cooking.

Biographies & Memoirs Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Food Books, Commodities, and Food Writing
Cookwise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed ImageCookwise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed
by Shirley Corriher
William Morrow Cookbooks; Published: 1997-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops: $30.00
The Meaning of Food ImageThe Meaning of Food
Release date: 2005-04-26; DVD
Best price: $16.33
Price in other shops: $24.99
Amuse-Bouche: Little Bites That Delight Before the Meal Begins ImageAmuse-Bouche: Little Bites That Delight Before the Meal Begins
by Rick Tramonto, Mary Goodbody
Random House; Published: 2002-10-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.99
Price in other shops: $35.00
Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen ImageJulie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
by Julie Powell
Published: 2005-09-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $23.95
Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously ImageJulie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously
by Julie Powell
Back Bay Books; Published: 2006-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.80
Price in other shops: $13.99
Garde Manger, The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen ImageGarde Manger, The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen
by The Culinary Institute of America
Wiley; Published: 2004-06-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $45.00
Price in other shops: $65.00
El Bulli 2003-2004 ImageEl Bulli 2003-2004
by Ferran Adria, Juli Soler, Albert Adria
Ecco; Published: 2006-11-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $220.47
Price in other shops: $350.00
Bulli III - 1998-2002 ImageBulli III - 1998-2002
by Adria Ferran
Rba Libros; Published: 2005-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $276.90
Price in other shops: $452.00
El Bulli 1994-1997 ImageEl Bulli 1994-1997
by Ferran Adria, Juli Soler, Albert Adria
Ecco; Published: 2006-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $213.53
Price in other shops: $350.00
The Art of Eating ImageThe Art of Eating
by M. F. K. Fisher, Joan Reardon
Wiley; Published: 2004-03-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.93
Price in other shops: $21.95
Similar Books and other products
Culinary Artistry ImageCulinary Artistry
by Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page
Wiley; Published: 1996-10-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.97
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Professional Chef ImageThe Professional Chef
by The Culinary Institute of America
Wiley; Published: 2006-08-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $38.77
Price in other shops: $70.00
The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones ImageThe Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones
by Anthony Bourdain
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2007-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops: $14.95
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen ImageOn Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
by Harold McGee
Scribner; Published: 2004-11-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops: $40.00
The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen ImageThe Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen
by Michael Ruhlman
Scribner; Published: 2007-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.54
Price in other shops: $24.00
Becoming a Chef ImageBecoming a Chef
by Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page
Wiley; Published: 2003-10-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.57
Price in other shops: $29.95
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage) ImageHeat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage)
by Bill Buford
Vintage; Published: 2007-06-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops: $14.95
Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.) ImageKitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)
by Anthony Bourdain
Harper Perennial; Published: 2007-01-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen ImageThe Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen
by Michael Ruhlman
Viking Adult; Published: 2006-05-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $27.95
The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection ImageThe Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection
by Michael Ruhlman
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $16.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories