Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America
Author: Michael Ruhlman
"Well reported and heartfelt, Ruhlman communicates the passion that draws the acolyte to this precise and frantic profession."—The New York Times Book Review
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.
Library Journal
Beginning with Skills One, where Chef Pardus guides his charges through the complexities of creating a perfect stock, journalist Ruhlman provides an insider's view of the exacting program that many consider to be the best formal training a chef can partake of in this country. In his condensed tour of duty at the attractive, suberbly equipped upstate New York campus of the CIA, Ruhlman spends six months sampling the arduous 81-week regimen the institute employs to both educate and toughen students for the competitive, frantic environment of cooking in fine restaurants. Discerning character sketches introduce the diverse group as the author explores the passion for fine food that makes them pursue this difficult calling. An examination of the curriculum and its philosophical framework is provided along with profiles of the master chefs who deliver this demanding training. The program ends in the institute's restaurants, where recently acquired skills and knowledge are put to the test as students perform everything from menu planning to serving actual customers. Although Jeff Riggenbach's reading is too pedestrian for the occasional comic moments, this audio is recommended for larger cooking collections.--Linda Bredengerd, Hanley Lib., Univ. of Pittsburgh, Bradford, PA
School Library Journal
YA The Culinary Institute of America is known as "the Harvard of cooking schools" and many of this country's best-known chefs are graduates. Ruhlman enrolled as a student with the intention of writing this book, which begins as a chronicle of the intense, high-pressure grind of classes and cooking. However, it turns into an engrossing personal account as, his every effort critiqued, the author determines to become a student and not just impersonate one. YAs will enjoy Ruhlman's anecdotes about his instructors and his classmatessome of whom are still in their teens. The appendix offers a chart showing the course work for associate degrees. This will appeal to anyone aspiring to a career as a chef as well as to those interested in food preparation, presentation, and the restaurant industry in America.Patricia Noonan, Prince William Public Library, VA
Interesting book: Pro Excel 2007 VBA or Windows XP Pocket Reference
Summertime Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family
Author: Sara Perry
It's summer and the kids are home...for three whole months! What better time to relax together, whipping up delicious treats in the kitchen or dabbling in fun crafts indoors and out. Parents will find plenty of ideas and inspiration for magical summer days in Summertime Treats, the handbook to keeping families cool and creative during the best months of the year. From an afternoon with the kids making Shake-Rattle-and-Roll Ice Cream and Big Bug Bungalows to a fabulous Fourth of July Star-Spangled Celebration and a Memorial Day Tailgate Picnic, author Sara Perry suggests wonderful ways to please every member of the family including parents and other grown-ups. Fully illustrated with photographs throughout and chock-full of tempting snacks, summer drinks, fun projects, and clever ideas, this antidote to the allure of the television lets parents and kids of all ages have a great time cooking and making things together. Summertime Treats is second in a series that began with Halloween Treats (0-8118-2197-8), books that blend whimsy and elegance in ways both adults and children will appreciate.
R Rhodes
I remember so many things about my childhood summers. I would get into my uniform — a bathing suit — early in the morning and stay in it until the late hours of the evening. My days revolved around swimming pool activities: swimming, diving, Marco Polo games, and water volleyball. Even when I wasn't waterlogged, I often found myself playing by the pool deck — backgammon, four-square, and rummy.
Occasionally, however, my mother would throw my summer routine for a loop by saying, "Today we are not going to the pool," referring to the club we belonged to. "We are going to have activity day." Usually I balked at the idea, but once we started our activities, I was immediately at ease, having a good time partaking in making homemade lemonade and fun crafts.
Sara Perry must understand the need for summer projects to break up the sameness of July and August days. Her book, Summertime Treats , is filled with recipes and ideas that will cool you and your family down on the hottest afternoon and keep you occupied on the rainiest morning.
The crafts in this book are easy to do, and even the most unartistic and uncreative parent can help her child complete a project to perfection with the help of the detailed directions and inspirational photographs. One of my favorites in the book is the Ants-in-the-Grass Citronella Candle. You begin with a citronella candle (you know, the kind that keeps the bugs away when you burn it outdoors), about 30 blades of grass, and some plastic ants that can be purchased in any toy or craft store. Using a double boiler, you melt paraffin wax and then dip the grass into the wax, which you then secure on to the candle. After the grass is positioned vertically, looking as though it's growing, you secure the ants in various positions atop the grass with hot glue.
Other fun — and equally easy — projects in Summertime Treats are Sponge-Painted Patio Pots, Cookie-Cutter Soaps, and Vacation Place Mats. The beauty of these activities is that they can be divided over a few days: On a warm day, some of the materials that need to be obtained from the outdoors can be collected, while on an indoor day, the project can be undertaken.
But there is more to summer than sitting around making crafts. After all, if your kids wanted to do crafts all day long, you would probably send them to a summer day camp. The next section of the book is devoted to thirst quenchers that kids of all ages — including 73-year-old kids — will love. Consider the lime fizz recipe that combines lime juice, syrup, and sparkling water. Yum. The perfect companion drink for the backyard barbecue.
If summertime means entertaining to you, then you will love the great recipes in Summertime Treats , which occupy the last two sections of the book. As a child, I remember standing next to my mom as she prepared salads and snacks for guests in the warmer seasons, helping her in whatever ways I could. Kids love doing that, and with Perry's ideas, your gang certainly will be able to help out in the kitchen, too. Recipes for Black Bean and Corn Salsa Salad; Iceberg Wedges with Blue Cheese Dressing; and Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Salad are fine ways to start off a tailgate picnic party. Continue the meal with the Super Sub Sandwich, Grilled Flank Steak, or the Mixed Summer Grill (a marinade that's perfect for anything that you are throwing on the grill). Finally, no meal is complete without some summer desserts. Chocolate Spanish Peanut Cookies, Fresh Fruit Cookie Pie, and Silver S'Mores are just a sampling from Summertime Treats .
If these projects and recipes don't make you want to speed up the clock and fast-forward to Memorial Day weekend — the unofficial first day of summer — then I don't know what will. This summer take a break from your beach reading and call your kids in from the pool. The quality time spent making frames or mixing iced tea are the days you and your children are certain to remember for years to come.
— Soozan Baxter
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