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The making of a chef : mastering heat at the Culinary Institute of America
Ruhlman, Michael
Adult Nonfiction 641.5973 R 2009
From Publishers' Weekly:
Ruhlman (Boys Themselves) tagged along with students at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York ("the Harvard of cooking schools") and describes the intense and frenetic life of a chef-in-training. Ultimately, it is personalities that mark Ruhlman's experience, and he does an expert job of profiling various characters: Adam Shepard, a talented but slightly sullen student who understands both the physics and the feel of food; chef Michael Coppedge, who runs the bake shop and makes bread sexy; and Philip Papineau, who oversees service at one of the CIA restaurants and provides a sociological perspective on table service. Ruhlman is an accomplished writer, and his material is fresh. While he starts by noting that he has come "to impersonate a student," he takes the challenge to heart, learning to peel carrots and make stock with the rest of the class. And when a snowstorm makes the journey to the school perilous on the day when Ruhlman is scheduled to take a "cooking practical," he gets in his car and drives in dangerous conditions because his instructor has implied that chefs are made of stronger stuff. Despite his outsider status, Ruhlman still gives an insider's take on, for example, the long-simmering debate among CIA faculty about whether brown sauce should be made using a brown roux, as many prefer, or with a blond roux, as described in the school's own textbook. The culmination of an education at the Culinary Institute is time spent working in its restaurants, and Ruhlman conveys how heady and how frightening that experience can be. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
After reading this title, boot camp and law school will seem like child's play. Ruhlman enrolled in the prestigious and expensive Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to get both material for a book and a culinary education. However, the drive and commitment required from day one, the demand for speed and precision, the pressure and perfectionism of the joball hilariously and touchingly toldimmediately erase his writer's detachment. But the tale goes beyond Ruhlman's anecdotes; he describes the curriculum with objective detail, so the reader also learns how a chef makes a flawless stock (and repairs a flawed one at a moment's notice), organizes the cooking station, prepares gourmet meals for crowds, and attains excellence and recognition. The short chart at the end shows the course work for the CIA's associate degrees. An enjoyable read, recommended for most collections and required for aspiring great chefs.Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Ruhlman, Michael
Adult Nonfiction 641.5973 R 2009
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From Publishers' Weekly:
Ruhlman (Boys Themselves) tagged along with students at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York ("the Harvard of cooking schools") and describes the intense and frenetic life of a chef-in-training. Ultimately, it is personalities that mark Ruhlman's experience, and he does an expert job of profiling various characters: Adam Shepard, a talented but slightly sullen student who understands both the physics and the feel of food; chef Michael Coppedge, who runs the bake shop and makes bread sexy; and Philip Papineau, who oversees service at one of the CIA restaurants and provides a sociological perspective on table service. Ruhlman is an accomplished writer, and his material is fresh. While he starts by noting that he has come "to impersonate a student," he takes the challenge to heart, learning to peel carrots and make stock with the rest of the class. And when a snowstorm makes the journey to the school perilous on the day when Ruhlman is scheduled to take a "cooking practical," he gets in his car and drives in dangerous conditions because his instructor has implied that chefs are made of stronger stuff. Despite his outsider status, Ruhlman still gives an insider's take on, for example, the long-simmering debate among CIA faculty about whether brown sauce should be made using a brown roux, as many prefer, or with a blond roux, as described in the school's own textbook. The culmination of an education at the Culinary Institute is time spent working in its restaurants, and Ruhlman conveys how heady and how frightening that experience can be. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
After reading this title, boot camp and law school will seem like child's play. Ruhlman enrolled in the prestigious and expensive Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to get both material for a book and a culinary education. However, the drive and commitment required from day one, the demand for speed and precision, the pressure and perfectionism of the joball hilariously and touchingly toldimmediately erase his writer's detachment. But the tale goes beyond Ruhlman's anecdotes; he describes the curriculum with objective detail, so the reader also learns how a chef makes a flawless stock (and repairs a flawed one at a moment's notice), organizes the cooking station, prepares gourmet meals for crowds, and attains excellence and recognition. The short chart at the end shows the course work for the CIA's associate degrees. An enjoyable read, recommended for most collections and required for aspiring great chefs.Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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