The making of a chef : mastering heat at the Culinary Institute of America

Just over a decade ago, journalist Michael Ruhlman donned a chef's jacket and houndstooth-check pants to join the students at the Culinary Institute of America, the country's oldest and most influential cooking school. But The Making of a Chef is not just about holding a knife or slicing an onion; it's also about the nature and spirit of being a professional cook and the people who enter the profession. As Ruhlman -- now an expert on the fundamentals of cooking -- recounts his growing mastery of the skills of his adopted profession, he propels himself and his readers through a score of kitchens and classrooms in search of the elusive, unnameable elements of great food. Incisively reported, with an insider's passion and attention to detail, The Making of a Chef remains the most vivid and compelling memoir of a professional culinary education on record. - Publisher. Exploring the essence of becoming a chef, this book reveals the elusive, unnameable elements of great cooking. Title Page Introduction Acknowledgments Part I - Skill Development Secret Sharer Routine Day Eight Brown Sauce The Storm The Making of Chef Pardus You Understand What I Am Saying? A System of Values Roux Decree Part II - The Formative Kitchens Introduction to Hot Foods Lunch Cookery and the Burnt Parsnip President Metz Part III - Keepers of the Food Garde Manger The Second-Term Practical Bewitched Externship Part IV - Second Year Thermal Death Point St. Andrew’s Cafe St. Andrew’s Kitchen Taste Part V - Bounty Theater of Perfection The American Bounty Restaurant Also by Michael Ruhlman Afterword: Benediction Appendix - The CIA Curriculum: Associate Degrees ABOUT THE AUTHOR Copyright Page Introduction Part 1 : Skill development. Secret sharer Routine Day eight Brown sauce The storm The making of Chef Pardus You understand what I am saying? A system of values Roux decree Part 2 : The formative kitchens. Introduction to hot foods Lunch cookery and the burnt parsnip President Metz Part 3 : Keepers of the food. Garde manger The second-term practical Bewitched Externship Part 4 : Second year. Thermal death point St. Andrew's Cafe St. Andrew's kitchen Taste Part 5 : Bounty. Theater of perfection The American Bounty Restaurant Afterword : Benediction Appendix : The CIA curriculum The bundle waiting for me on the couch had been secured with butcher's string and looked as ordinary as laundry.