Reddit reviews The Professional Chef

I usually only use cookbooks that are also textbooks for culinary art students. The CIA has a textbook that is phenomenal. I used to own a textbook from the western culinary institute in Portland, which is now a cordon bleu school and I dont know what they use. Those books will teach you the basics of fine cooking. Ratio is also a great book because it gives you the tools to create your own recipes using what real culinary professionals use: ratios of basic ingredients to create the desired dish.

But the creme de la creme of culinary arts books is this crazy encyclopedia of ingredients called On food and cooking: the science and lore of the kitchen. It is invaluable. It should not be the first book you buy (if youre a newbie) but it should be your most well thumbed.

For a sauce pan what you want is something with straight sides. Sautee pans have are a good substitute, but often have bases that have too wide a diameter for perfect sauces. Fine saucepots are made of copper for even heat transfer. Stainless steel is also a good substitute. What you have there is something of a hybrid between a skillet and a saucepot. Its more like a chicken fryer or something. At the restaurant we use stainless steel skillets for absolutely everything to order: sauces, fried oysters, what have you. But when you get down to the finest you need to fine a real saucepot: 2-3 qts will do, straight sides, made of copper. teach a man to fish

I dont really know how to teach you the varied tricks and such. It is something that I pick up by listening to the varied cooks and chefs I work with. What I would advise you is to watch cooking shows and read recipes and pay a lot of attention to what they are doing. Half of the things I know I dont know why I do them, just that they produce superior results. Or, consequently I would have a hot pan thrown at me if I did not do them. And I mean these are just ridiculous nuances of cooking. I was reading The Art of French Cooking and learned that you should not mix your egg yolks and sugar too early when making creme brulee because it will produce and inferior cooking and look like it has become curdled. That is a drop in the bucket to perfect creme brulee making, but it is part of the process.

I wish I could be more help, but the best advice I could give you to become the cook you want to be is go to school. Or barring that (it is a ridiculous expense) get a job cooking. Neither of those things are very efficient, but it is the best way to learn those little things.

Nothing is better than the Professional Chef from the Culinary Institute of America in my opinion

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0764557343/ref=pd_sim_b_5

My exgf gave me the CIA's The Professional Chef for my birthday one year.

It's amazing. It walks you through terms, technique, how to select produce, what the yield is for various ingredients, and of course has tons of restaurant quality recipes.

The only problem is you have to do a lot of math to scale down the recipes for just a few people.

The Professional Chef and http://rouxbe.com are fantastic.

In that case, buy this book - http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0764557343/ref=pd_sim_b_5 - and practice. Buy a bag of potatoes and onions and work on your knife skills. Learn the ratios for each of the mother sauces - Bechamel, espagnole, Hollandaise, tomato, and veloute. YouTube is an awesome resource if you are a visual learner. The key to becoming a great line cook is practice. If you don't have time to practice at work, gather some friends or family and cook for them once a week. Instead of having everyone bring a dish to pass, have them bring an ingredient (or two). I've been doing this for several years now and it has helped me branch out and learn new techniques and experiment with different types of cuisine. Have fun and good luck!

In my experience the two biggest differences between Cook and Chef are managing costs and managing people. It’s like the difference between being an older sibling vs being a parent. The food is almost irrelevant in these two respects.

You can get the CIA’s main textbook at Amazon super cheap. That will give a broad overview and teach you about costing items. There are a ton of great books on managing people. I like Zingerman’s.

That being said, the buck stops at the Chef. The Chef better be able to answer any questions about the food quickly and efficiently. You still need to know more than your cooks.

I just took a step back from Head Chef/Owner to Sous Chef at a catering company. I am learning so much more as a sous after having been the boss than I did before becoming the boss. The journey is not always so linear.

Good luck! You will always get out what you put in. It’s on you.

Here are some links to the books I mentioned:

The Professional Chef https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764557343/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8GI9AbHWF5FRH

A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Being a Better Leader (Zingerman's Guide to Good Leading) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0964895692/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_tQI9Ab17KX68J

The Culinary Institute of America's The Professional Chef

Here's a link to the older version which a lot of people are saying is better. It's used but apparently it's in good condition.

The Professional Chef https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764557343/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_AkBMub16KHGXH

This one. It was a lot more expensive when I bought it too.

>I'm looking for a book that will teach you which spices are good together, what kind of foods compliment each other (textural-wise, taste-wise, etc).

I've used Culinary Artistry for that exact function. The criticisms I've seen of this book tend towards the "if you didn't know that, then you're a simpleton" type, and I pretty much ignore those. Make no mistake, it is absolutely not a cookbook or a chef school textbook. For the later, please turn to The Professional Chef.

Culinary Institute of America's Professional Chef is a godsent. I purchased mine in December of last year and have learned so much from it since then.

I've been cooking for almost a decade (self taught), and this book has vastly expanded my knowledge in just a few months. Plus the layouts are so pretty.

edit- spelling and syntax

I like the book that culinary students get at the CIA. While my knowledge has come from work experience, i do like to go back and look at this 'bible' for any technique or basics pointers. The beauty of not being traditionally trained is that there is no cookie-cutter way to do something, you can just improvise.

I have this book in the 7th edition and love it.

The Professional Chef

Hope this helps!

The Culinary Institute of America's text book The Professional Chef is very good at getting you through the basics, and you can find older editions for pretty cheap. For example: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0764557343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463500041&sr=8-1&keywords=the+professional+chef+8th+edition