Reddit Reddit reviews The Professional Chef

We found 55 Reddit comments about The Professional Chef. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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The Professional Chef
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55 Reddit comments about The Professional Chef:

u/mthmchris · 68 pointsr/Cooking

So a few off the top of my head:

  1. The Professional Chef. Geared towards professional chefs but a great resource.

  2. On Food and Cooking. A classic. Not really a 'cookbook' per se but rather a book that discusses history and food science.

  3. The now out-of-print Williams and Sonoma Mastering Series. Specifically, their book on sauces - the others are solid but not quite as good. Those books were how I personally learned to cook. (still can find used)

  4. The Flavor Bible. Obligatory. Eventually you grow out of it a bit, but it's still a great resource to have around.

  5. Flour Water Salt Yeast. I just got this book recently this last Christmas, and I've been enjoying it quite a bit.
u/Milligan · 17 pointsr/Cooking

If you're serious about it, The Professional Chef, the textbook of the Culinary Institute of America is available. It takes you from the very basics - the first recipe is 700+ pages into the book.

u/Poop_Sandwich · 10 pointsr/cookingforbeginners

I used to teach cooking classes (don't let my username fool you). My #1 piece of advice for all inexperienced cooks is to learn how to use salt (use kosher salt, not table salt). Taste your food, add some salt, taste again. Pay attention to the changes that you notice. You can learn as many techniques and fancy tricks as you'd like, however if your palette sucks and you can't season food properly then it's all for naught.

Secondly: liberate yourself from the slavery of recipes. (Unless you're baking). Learn TECHNIQUES, not RECIPES. Understand WHY you do everything in cooking and you'll be able to cook with intuition. Having good food intuition is what makes someone a good cook, not just having a memory bank of recipes. I'd suggest picking up the Culinary Institute of America's textbook's The Professional Chef. This is the textbook for one of the best Culinary Schools in the entire world.

u/vohrtex · 9 pointsr/AskCulinary

What you're talking about is a culinary school textbook. But much of it is demonstrated in the classroom, and some things don't come through so well just verbally, you need a visual.

The problem with food is it is so eclectic. So if you're cooking Italian, your needs are different than if you're cooking Italian-American, and your needs are different if you're cooking American. Even then you're needs are different if you're Southwestern Tex-Mex, Midwestern Casserole, New England Seafood, Or Texas BBQ. Asian styles are not really comparable to European styles/tools/processes, despite cross over ingredients.

Any good chef will tell you, the more you know, the more questions you have. The beauty with food is that it is endless.

Look at the CIA textbook as a starting point: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355

But stop trying to over simplify things.

u/jecahn · 9 pointsr/AskCulinary

This is going to be the opposite of what you want to hear. But, you asked for it and I respect that. I think that there's no substitute for going about this old school and traditionally. The good news is that you can mostly do this for yourself, by yourself.

If you're disinclined (due to time or for another reason) to enroll in a culinary program get yourself either The Professional Chef or Martha Stewart's Cooking School

I know what you're thinking, "Martha Stewart? What am I? A housewife from Iowa?" Fuck that. I've been fortunate to have met and worked with Martha Stewart she's smart enough to know what she doesn't know and that particular book was actually written by a CIA alum and very closely follows the first year or so that you'd get in a program like that. It starts with knife work and then moves on to stocks and sauces. This particular book has actually been criticized as being too advance for people who have no idea what they're doing so, despite appearances, it may be perfect for you. If you want to feel more pro and go a little deeper, get the CIA text but know that it's more or less the same info and frankly, the pictures in the MSO book are really great. Plus, it looks like Amazon has them used for $6 bucks.

These resources will show you HOW to do what you want and they follow a specific, traditional track for a reason. Each thing that you learn builds on the next. You learn how to use your knife. Then, you practice your knife work while you make stocks. Then, you start to learn sauces in which to use your stocks. Etc. Etc. Etc. Almost like building flavors... It's all part of the discipline and you'll take that attention to detail into the kitchen with you and THAT'S what makes great food.

Then, get either Culinary Artistry or The Flavor Bible (Both by Page and Dornenburg. Also consider Ruhlman's Ratio (a colleague of mine won "Chopped" because she memorized all the dessert ratios in that book) and Segnit's Flavor Thesaurus. These will give you the "where" on building flavors and help you to start to express yourself creatively as you start to get your mechanics and fundamentals down.

Now, I know you want the fancy science stuff so that you can throw around smarty pants things about pH and phase transitions and heat transfer. So...go get Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking THAT is the bible. When the people who run the Ferran Adria class at Harvard have a question, it's not Myhrvold that they call up, it's Harold McGee. While Modernist Cuisine always has a long, exciting complicated solution to a problem I didn't even know I had, when I really want to know what the fuck is going on, I consult McGee and you will too, once you dig in.

Another one to consider which does a great job is the America's Test Kitchen Science of Good Cooking this will give you the fundamental "why's" or what's happening in practical situations and provides useful examples to see it for yourself.

Honestly, if someone came to me and asked if they should get MC or McGee and The Science of Good Cooking and could only pick one and never have the other, I'd recommend the McGee / ATK combo everyday of the week and twice on Tuesdays.

Good luck, dude. Go tear it up!

u/TristanTheViking · 6 pointsr/Cooking

The Professional Chef. Tons of recipes, no fluff. Definitely more textbook than cookbook though.

Also, an Amazon reviewer of the book said this

>The biggest inconvenience is that the quantities are referenced by weight so it might say 2oz of sugar and I have no idea how much that is. 

Which is just funny to me. The book has measurements in both imperial and metric for each recipe.

u/eatupkitchen · 5 pointsr/AskCulinary

I’ll recommend three books that have upped my research as a home cook; The Professional Chef by CIA, Techniques by Jacques Pepin, and Ratio by Michael Ruhlman.

Of course there are hundreds of books but I often reference these in particular for education.

u/Skodbil · 4 pointsr/Denmark

Nå folkens, der er snart gået et år siden Skodbil sidst mæskede sig i fødselsdagskage, og det betyder at successen skal gentages. Fødselsdagsgaver er for lang tid siden gået fra at være Lego og våben, til at være sokker og bøger.

Derfor skal der nu nogle gode kogebøger på listen. Jeg er ikke så meget på udkig efter opskriftsbøger, men mere ude i at ville have kogebøger som jeg rent faktisk kan lære noget af. Jeg har allerede følgende på listen, men hvis DU kender en helt vildt god bog jeg bør læse, så sig til.

Sølvskeen

The Food Lab, Kenji Lopez

Chocolate at Home

Paul Bocuse Institut Gastronomique

The Professional Chef

The Flavour Bible

Mastering Cheese

Der er med vilje ingen vinbøger på listen, for det gør jeg mig ikke specielt meget i - endnu.

u/i_benny · 4 pointsr/Coffee

If you really want to learn to cook i would suggest getting the text book than many professional chefs use while in school, something like this:
The Professional Chef https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470421355

You dont have to read it cover to cover but you should use it ad a reference to learn the fundamentals and establish a basic set of skills that you can use as you continue to learn and try new things. Like many endeavors you can save a lot of time by learning the tricks of the trade in the beginning.

Also like others said youtube is an awesome way to learn, also check out Americas Test Kitchen on PBS.

u/Timmymac1000 · 4 pointsr/AskMenOver30

It will save you an unreal amount of money. I’ve worked as a chef for going on 15 years now. If you’re interested in learning to cook and have the time you could get yourself a beginner culinary school textbook like On Cooking or The Professional Chef. It’ll teach you a ton and is chock full of beginner recipes with explanations of why everything is done the way it is.

https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Textbook-Culinary-Fundamentals-5th/dp/013715576X


https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355

u/WhyBePC · 4 pointsr/KitchenConfidential

The New Professional Chef

There is a newer version called The Professional Chef that Paul Bocuse calls "The bible for all chefs".

I agree with u/mirepoixmatt, I like the older versions a bit better. You can get an older version of the New Professional Chef for 75 cents

u/marcusturtle · 3 pointsr/Cooking

Here you go mate, there seems to be a newer edition

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0470421355/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/184-9271667-0334449

Sorry of this shows up weird, I'm on mobile

u/russell_m · 3 pointsr/AskCulinary

9th Edition Is newer, cheaper, and prime eligible.

u/Cocoavore · 3 pointsr/Cooking

I'd recommend learning how to cook, rather than learning how to make specific things.

Try The Professional Chef, which, misleadingly, is not just for professionals.

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355/

Failing that, find a good Youtube channel which covers the basics, rather than just specific meals.

I should note, recipes and actual meals do become good resources, once you can interpret why they work, etc.

u/plustwoagainsttrolls · 3 pointsr/AskCulinary

The Professional Chef. I think we were using the 6th edition while I was there, but they're up to 8th edition now.

u/GoHomeWithBonnieJean · 3 pointsr/AskCulinary

Cant beat The Culinary Institute of America The Professional Chef unabridged. The CIA does it right.

u/BringBackFannyPack · 3 pointsr/winstonsalem

Buy this book! This is the exact book they use in schools. Very in depth and super easy to understand. http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355

u/potatoes__everywhere · 3 pointsr/de

Würde "The Professional Chef" empfehlen.

Steht unheimlich viel Hintergrundwissen drin. Und auch echte gute Grundrezepte (Fonds, Saucengrundlagen etc.).

Rezepte sind auch drin, die sind, und das ist der einzige Haken, etwas schwer zu lesen, weil sie aufeinander aufbauend geschrieben sind.

Jetzt als aus dem Kopf konstruiertes Beispiel:

Braten mit Sauce: Rezept für braune Sauce benutzen.

Rezept für braune Sauce:

  • Rezept für Mirepoix benutzen
  • Rezept für Rinderfond benutzen
  • Das ganze Mischen.

    Aber insgesamt wahnsinnig viel Hintergrundinfos und Kochen wirklich von grundauf und auf anspruchsvollem Niveau.

    Wer wirklich Lust hat in der Küche auch anspruchsvoll zu kochen, dem kann ich das Buch voll empfehlen.

    Ansonsten noch "Aroma - Die Kunst des Würzens". Ist von Stiftung Warentest und geht in Teilen fast in Richtung Lebensmittelchemie (aber wirklich nur grundlegend).
    Das Buch erklärt, wie Aromen entstehen, auf welcher chemischen Basis, und wie sich Geschmack zusammensetzt bzw. wie unser Körper überhaupt Geschmack wahrnimmt.

    Dann gibt es ein großes Kompendium aller möglichen Aromen, chemisch analysiert, so dass man dann genau weiß, welche Aromen man miteinander kombinieren kann. Gibt nochmal ein sehr gutes Hintergrundwissen, wie Geschmack funktioniert.

    Außerdem lernt man wirklich interessante und neue Aromakombinationen.

    ~edit~ Deutsche Version von TPC kostet 200 irgendwas Euro. Ich weiß nicht mehr wo ich es gekauft habe (ggf. Amazon.com bestellt und mir schicken lassen), aber das ist natürlich zu viel. 50 Euro wird man aber schon dafür ausgeben können.
u/throw667 · 3 pointsr/AskCulinary

I wanted to cook but was unable to take time off to attend a school. I'd been enraged with a crap meal in an expensive countryside resto at a dinner for someone, so the next day I went up the High Street and found THIS.

I wasn't smart on cooking but I realized as I think you do that learning technique rather than reciting recipes is the way to a happier kitchen future.

After that, I eventually got an edition of THIS. It helped expand on, but not replace, the lessons from Cordon Bleu.

I went through those before this day of Internet videos and information sharing occurred; you are a beneficiary of more modern times being able to search for a solution to your problems.

I wanted to ask a question about your relationship, but hesitate. I mean, (blushing) how much stock do you put into your ability to please your husband with cooking? I only offer that as a point of consideration as a long-time married man. Restaurant-quality food at home won't make or break a marriage (although horrendous food at home can contribute to a break-up); other aspects of a marriage more than compensate for the quality of home-cooked food. Take it from a long-time married person. An offer of a PM stands, and best wishes in your journey to moving your already-good home cooking to a higher standard.

u/FriendlyEngineer · 3 pointsr/Cooking

Well, on the extreme side, "The Professional Chef" textbook I believe is the one used by the culinary institute of America. I picked one up off Amazon for $36 just for the hell of it. It's really interesting and reads more like an academic text than a cook book. It can be quite intense though.

A much more popular choice and a much easier read would be "The Food Lab" by Kenji Lopez-Alt who is a writer for serious eats. The book has plenty of recipes but does an unbelievably amazing job explaining the science and reasoning behind the choices that are made as well as various "experiments" that kenji does to answer cooking questions. It definitely teaches technique and really helps put you in the right "mindset" for cooking without a recipe.

Here are links to both.

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355

https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0393081087

u/Vox_Phasmatis · 3 pointsr/Cooking

An excellent book for you at this point would be Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques. From the description:

"Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques features everything the home cook needs to perfect: poach an egg, whisk a perfect hollandaise, knead a crispy baguette, or bake an exquisite meringue with the perfection and efficiency of a professional chef. Featured throughout the book, Pepin's classic recipes offer budding masters the opportunity to put lessons into practice with extraordinary results."

It also covers things like knife technique and other fundamentals, which you mentioned.

As far as French cooking goes, although they've been around awhile, two books that are still definitive on the subject are Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Volume One and Volume Two. All three of these books (Pepin plus these two) are foundational to learning about cooking. There are others, but these will give you a very good start, and will increase your cooking skills and knowledge exponentially.

If those aren't enough, you can also check out The Professional Chef, which is a fantastic book of recipes and techniques put out by the Culinary Institute of America. It's a bit spendy, but worth it if you want to learn. The Amazon links are provided for reference; if money is an issue you can quite easily find all these books used.

u/cdnbd · 3 pointsr/Cooking

For reference, go to Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, or this book. For flavours, I'll usually go with the Flavour Bible or the Flavour Thesaurus.

u/TiSpork · 2 pointsr/AskCulinary

I would definitely recommend getting Professional Cooking or The Professional Chef, then. Either of them will give you the solid foundation you're looking for.

Most anything coming from the Culinary Institute of America is trustworthy, as is Alton Brown and Julia Child. America's Test Kitchen (and Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country Magazines) is fantastic... they do a lot of recipe and product testing, which saves you the effort, energy & resources. They give you a recipe, but also go into a bit about WHY it worked.

u/opinionrabbit · 2 pointsr/vegan

Sounds like you're looking for a cooking school book. Not sure if there is a vegan one already.

The America's Test Kitchen Cooking School Cookbook

The Professional Chef

u/Pixielo · 2 pointsr/Chefit

Don't bother! They're too expensive, vs. just getting a job in a restaurant and working your way up. Buy the CIA's textbook, and work your way through that while you have a kitchen job. Make sure that it's for you before you spend the tens of thousands of dollars needed to get a culinary degree.

u/srnull · 2 pointsr/AskCulinary

For those who don't already know what this means, Pro Chef is referring to The Culinary Institute of America's textbook The Professional Chef.

u/SirJibba · 2 pointsr/Cooking

If you like learning from books I would highly recommend buying a used copy of a Professional Cooking book that Culinary colleges use.

New ones cost about $50-75 but older editions with 98% of the same content can get found for $20 and can be used as a culinary bible.

Amazon: The Professional Chef

u/goppeldanger · 2 pointsr/Chefit

This textbook is used by the top culinary school in the United States. It is a steal at this price. The only problem I've had is the recipes our for serving a lot of people, so you have to scale them down. It's a good skill to learn anyways. The Professional Chef https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470421355/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_JB3Lzb3P564CZ

u/AidenTai · 2 pointsr/Cooking

Assuming you're from the US and primary deal with US, English and French culinary styles, I think what you're really looking for is an in‐depth guide to the principles of cooking. Sure, it's good to have cookbooks/recipe books as well, but if you want to study theory a book on principles of gastronomy is more what you're looking for. The golden standard in US culinary schools are books by the ACI, such as: https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355/ref=sr_1_1

u/HydroDragon · 2 pointsr/AskCulinary

This book is amazing if you really want to learn the this and that of culinary arts. It's the place I learned about various starches for the first time.

u/SkeptiSys · 2 pointsr/food

I was excited by the Culinary Institute of America's The Professional Chef. http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355/ref=zg_bs_4254_20

This looks more creative and scientific. Congrats.

u/tardnoggle · 2 pointsr/AskCulinary

I also completely agree with /u/buttunz, The Professional Chef is a must have if you're planning on a career in the culinary field. What I like the most about the Cuisine Foundations text book is all the pictures of the knife cuts. It really helped me improve my knife skills.

u/PooperOfPoop · 1 pointr/Cooking

A cast-iron skillet. Soon, your awesome searing skills will be no match for your puny kitchen fan. Just make sure you look into how to care properly for the thing.

As for cookbooks, like other people in the thread mentioned, Joy of Cooking and Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything are great tomes of quality recipes. I would also recommend something along the lines of a culinary school textbook. I'm a big fan of The Professional Chef. This cookbook focuses a lot on technique and theory, but it's very thorough and still has plenty of recipes and delicious looking pictures.

u/Crevvie · 1 pointr/Cooking

My copy is at least 10 years old, but the information is still solid today. The Professional Chef.

I would also contend Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking is an excellent source for understanding basic flavors, mother sauces, etc.

u/wip30ut · 1 pointr/Cooking

what you really want are recipe inspirations with common ingredients, not necessarily techniques. There are tomes out there like the CIA's Professional Chef or Pepin's New Complete Techniques which go into minute details on very classical preparations expected at high-end restaurant kitchens, but for the avg home cook that's overkill.

I think your ultimate goal is to develop a set of protocols to guide you in creating dishes on the fly, which actually is a really difficult thing to do even for skilled cooks. The only advice i can give is to cook broadly, learning preparations for various cuisines, from Italian dishes, to Lebanese/Israeli, to Indian, Chinese and Japanese. Many ethnic/cultural cuisines have a certain flavor profiles, with specific spices and ways of combining proteins & starches. But you need to read & practice so these protocols come instinctively.

u/rockinghigh · 1 pointr/AskCulinary

I would look at this book:
Paul Bocuse: The Complete Recipes https://www.amazon.com/dp/208020095X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rkkjybM2R3694
It contains many recipes for traditional French dishes like onion soup, sole meunière, bœuf bourguignon.
As far as techniques go, I found this book to be the best:
The Professional Chef https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470421355/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_vmkjybW84N5YZ
Especially the section on stocks. It also has a lot of French recipes.

u/hiddengill · 1 pointr/Chefit

The Professional Chef (ProChef), you can also get this in ebook/ App form!

u/PoopFromMyButt · 1 pointr/Cooking

In terms of bang for your buck, this is the best one out there. Not only does it have every recipe you could want, it also covers the why and how of every basic step. Published by the Culinary Institute of America (the best culinary school in the world.)
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355

u/akx13 · 1 pointr/AskCulinary

What about Professional Chef by CIA or On Cooking by Sarah R. Labensky? I've never tried them but I've heard of them and would like to hear confirmation before spending a lot of dough on these expensive textbooks.

u/grankasaurus · 1 pointr/KitchenConfidential

>Stories and techniques are what I want.

For these reasons, this is the best cookbook I have ever owned

u/PurpleWomat · 1 pointr/Cooking

Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques is worth a look. If you want something more professional (and a lot more expensive), the Culinary Institute of America's book, The Professional Chef is very thorough.

u/Inthispapertown · 1 pointr/booksuggestions

If you can find a copy of "The Professional Chef", snatch it up! It's the textbook used by the Culinary Institute of America. It has a ton of recipes, but also explains the different methods of cooking in detail. It's broken down into chapters like dairy, seafood, meat, grains and legumes, etc. I found an older edition at a garage sale for $1. It's a great resource to have. The only thing is that recipes are sometimes made for large-scale batches, so you'd have to do a little math to break it down into a reasonable amount. Nobody needs 40 poached eggs in their home at a time.

I have this one and this one. I like the first better, it's the one I used in my culinary school. The second is the one I got at the garage sale.

u/vespolina12 · 1 pointr/AskCulinary

I used this book: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

it has a lot of step-by-step basic techniques with pictures, and some scientific explanation. it doesnt have as much personality as the books mentioned by other commenters - i think it's intended as a cooking school textbook - but it's pretty comprehensive.

u/danceswithronin · 1 pointr/AMA

I could have swore I replied to this, but I guess my comment got lost because I keep like, fifty fucking tabs open at a time. My bad.

ahem Anyway, it's hard for me to say if my taste differs much from an NT's sense of taste. I do feel like I taste things with more complexity(?), but I don't have much to compare it to. I can say that I started learning to cook and bake after reading and memorizing large portions of [The Professional Chef] (http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355) and people love my food. And I taste-test it throughout the cooking process to make sure it's good, so apparently there's nothing wrong with my sense of taste. Maillard is one of my favorite words.

I hate the taste of liquor in things. I like alcoholic drinks where the taste of alcohol is completely disguised.

My favorite food is ice cream. My least favorite food is caviar.

I'm picky about the textures of foods, and I can't eat anything that smells bad (like kimchi). My sister-in-law makes this Filipino soup with tamarind and cellophane noodles that absolutely disgusts me. The smell of it drives me from the house. (Don't tell her I said that.)

I have a very strong sense of smell, which I think makes my sense of taste stronger than the average bear, but I'm not sure. I do know that certain smells which bother other people (skunk, gasoline, burning rubber, a catalytic converter) do not bother me at all. I actually think they smell pretty good. Meanwhile, some things which people think smell good (like certain flowers and perfumes) smell awful to me. I CANNOT go near a Bath and Body Works store.

I love to try cooking new and exotic things, but I personally have very simple tastes. I could happily live the rest of my life taking in nothing but coffee with milk and sugar, iced sweet tea, iced water with lemon, plain turkey sandwiches on white, and Campbell's chicken noodle or tomato soup.

Cilantro tastes like cilantro to me. Not soap. :D

u/garc · 1 pointr/recipes

If you want to learn how to cook, as well as recipes you can grab a copy of The Professional Chef though it may be a little bit intimidating.

u/2hardtry · -6 pointsr/Chefit

I'd go for it. If the chef is in charge of hiring and is vouching for you, then she probably has already figured out that they are just going to take her word for it and leave it at that. An associate's is just a 2 year program, likely from a community college; I've worked with plenty of such graduates that don't know which end of the mop goes on the floor.

The more important question is whether you can do the job. If you have the potential but just lack the experience, then start cramming. Start reading at night to make up for your lack of education. Teach yourself; thousands of people do it every day. Go through used bookstores and look for The Professional Chef, ATK Cooking School Cookbook, How to Cook Everything, etc.

The best cooks I've worked with, whether certified or not, read cookbooks, continue to read cookbooks throughout their career, and are constantly scouring the internet for new trends and ideas.