Rating: 
Summary: Captivating
Review: I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a deep love for the process and craft of preparing food. Whether you're a professional, a devoted home cook, or one of many people contemplating a career change, I think you'll find this a compelling read. The demands of achieving a high level of competence in the culinary field require devotion and meticulousness that many outside the world of a restaurant kitchen may take for granted, but you'll never under-appreciate the professional chef again after reading this book. You'll find yourself more involved with the students in Ruhlman's class than you might imagine, given his storytelling abilities. I would also recommend his second book "The Soul of a Chef" very highly.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating behind the scenes look...
Review: at what is required to make it through and excel in America's premier culinary school - the C.I.A. This book is certainly a must read for anyone who has ever entertained notions of taking their home-chef skills a notch further into the world of professional cookery. The information and tales found within will surely scare away potential students who will certainly be in the shock of their lives when confronted with 120 degree kitchens and the uncesasing pressure to turn over 8 plates in 4 minutes (with exacting presicion and perfection, mind you) all while hot splattering grease, insults and angry elbows attempt to jostle you away from focus. Certainly 'Kitchen Confidential,' and this one makes for a holy-duo of sorts for anyone and everyone who has/is currently/knows someone attending a culinary program - if this book doesn't force you to re-think a career plan it will, at the very least, leave you with a further sense of awe and respect for those who endeavour daily in it. bon apetit!
Rating:
Summary: Superior Journalistic Look at a Facinating Subject
Review: This 1997 second book by journalist Michael Ruhlman is his first of several essays and collaborations in writing about the upper reaches of the American culinary scene. The most fascinating thing about the book is in learning with Ruhlman, as an outsider to the culinary profession, exactly how demanding a job in the culinary arts can be. What is taken as a matter of course by people like Daniel Boulud and Jaques Pepin comes as a surprise to outsider Ruhlman. The surprise is in the commitment to performance which chefs are expected to make to maintain a service to their customers.The book is a reporting on Ruhlman's taking an abbreviated version of the full curriculum at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), where only the President of the school and a few select senior instructors know of the author's real role at the school. This means that when the author did attend classes, he attended the full class, from start to finish, and was expected to perform as well as any other student. While the CIA has many of the appearances of a liberal arts college, it is much closer in practice to a trade school. One symptom of this is that the stocks produced by the basic kitchen skills classes are then used by other classes at the school and they are used by each of the four restaurants run by the school for students, faculty, and outside guests. In a sense, this is a mix of trade school and graduate school, where it is expected that no one will do work worthy of a grade less than a B-. The epiphany that reveals how serious the culinary profession is about uninterrupted service comes early in the first year when the school is hit by a serious snowstorm and the author considers whether or not he should attempt the difficult trek into the school. The great revelation is that the school and the instructor of Ruhlman's class on that occasion did not expect it to be above and beyond the call of duty to make it to class, and they would have not thought twice about lowering Ruhlman's grade had he been a true, full time student. When I left school, I was surprised at how much easier life at a job was compared to life in school. I am sure that had a lot to do with the fact that I entered a largely intellectual avocation where so much about how things are done and how long they will take can change from job to job and even lowly technicians are give some opening to contribute to setting target dates. Culinary trades are a much different kettle of fish, literally. In a professional kitchen, the line cook is totally at the mercy of who happens to walk into the restaurant that day, and how many people walk into the restaurant that day, and at what time. The challenge is to prepare so well and exercise one's skills so often that making six or eight different dishes to perfection at a sauté station becomes second nature. Since it is the job of the CIA to teach you how to do that, the classes can be very demanding. The first 30% of the book covers the introductory class on basic skills and the main character is the instructor of that class. The last 30% of the book covers time spent in two of the CIA's four practice restaurants. The middle of the book covers experiences in specialized classes for Garde Manger, baking, and other specialities. If you do not already know the serious difference between savory cooking and baking, the books chapter describing the baking class will clear this up in a big hurry. I confess that I am very fond of this type of book. To me it represents a successful presentation of material that reality TV shows can never hope to achieve. The paradigm for this kind of writing is Tracy Kidder's book 'The Soul of a New Machine', to which I would favorably compare this work. You should find it doubly interesting if, as I do, you have an interest in the how and why of the culinary arts and personalities. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for aspiring chefs!
Review: As someone who is considering attending culinary school, this is truly an informative and inspiring read. Michael Ruhlman truly takes us into the heart of the CIA to experience the hard work and dedication of their students! It's obvious that he put great effort into telling the unbiased story, which is that the life of a chef is in no ways glamorous. This is one of the few non-fiction books I have actually enjoyed reading, and where I actually felt interested in the characters. My one complaint is that the sequence of his storytelling was sometimes confusing, and he skipped over some units while spending way too much time on others. I know Skills is important but I would have liked to hear more about the Pastry units! Overall, though, a worthwhile read for anyone considering becoming a chef or even if you're just curious as to what it takes to become a chef!
Rating:
Summary: This book captures the true essence of culinary school.
Review: I loved this book it took me back to my days as a student at the Culinary School at Kendall College which was founded and started by CIA alum. I had gone back to school to change careers with the evening and part-time program Kendall offered. Being a chef is very demanding physically, emotionally, creatively and finacially. Despite my graduation almost two years ago I haven't quit my day job yet but I still have hope of breaking into the field further. The snow storm story reminded me of the time my roommate woke me up at 4:30 a.m. Because of the cold and snow her car wouldn't start and she had to get to her 5:00 a.m. pastry class come hell or high water. Yes, it did start at 5:00 a.m., how else do you have fresh sweet rolls for breakfast at 7:00 a.m.? I would have to drive her. That is the level of determination that exists. I also recall driving to class with blizzard-like conditions, after working all day and also rushing to my part-time internship in the middle of a summer heat wave to work in a kitchen that was about 110 degrees. I would recommend this book for anyone considering attending culinary school.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent insight on the CIA
Review: Being curious about becoming a chef I found this book and read it cover to cover without stopping. I found the book to be a great look inside a CA school and it answered many questions that I had as to whether or not I would be able to cut it at one of these schools. I give the book 5 stars because it was extremely informative on the aspect of the CIA and tells readers how they would progress through the school should they decide to enroll.
Rating:
Summary: Mighty tasty!
Review: Why are you here? Are you interested in this subject? Then buy it. It's 11 bucks and an absolutely magnetic read. Talk about a deal. More specifically, the author takes us through the CIA, from weeks spent in Sanitation and Skills and a plethora of other courses, to one week in the best restaurant in the Culinary Institute's portfolio. Along the way, we learn about the hard-charging personalities who become Chefs (with a capital "C"), we hear alot about different kinds of food (and what it takes to prepare them really WELL), and, above all, we become inspired to get more deeply involved with whatever we are doing in the kitchen. Even if it is just our own home kitchen. The world of great cooking is theatrical and exacting and a lot of darn hard work. There are only three ways to learn about the premier training ground for this fabulous profession: pay a ton of money and become a student there, take a tour if you are visiting in the area, or buy this book. Or, for that matter, do all three. But start with the book.
Buy it now.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for up and coming culinary students
Review: This book tells all about what it takes to be a great chef. All the long hours in the kitchen, putting soul and love into food and showing how to appeal to one of the greatest physical sensations, which is taste. I found this book to be very interesting and fun to read. I am a culinary student and also highly advise getting the following which is on amazon:
Study Guide for Baking: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations ISBN: 0974328707
Study Guide for Advanced Baking: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations ISBN: 0974328715
The last two books helped me immensely with my culinary baking classes. In fact, I got very high grades with the aid of these two books. The author seems to know the type of questions asked on school exams.
Making of a Professional Chef is definitely a book for any aspiring chef.
Rating:
Summary: A very good professional cooking book.
Review: If you are in the culinary field or studying the profession, this book will give you a lot of information necessary to making a great chef. I not quite a professional chef, but want to take the National Board test on Sanitation, because it is require in my state. I highly recommend the Study Guide for the National Servsafe Exam: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations by P. Leonardi and M. Heilman. It has very similar questions and problems that you deal with in the restaurant, like how to handle and properly store shellfish without food poisoning.
Rating:
Summary: Thinking of cooking school? READ THIS BOOK.
Review: This book is what it's like to attend culinary school. It's hot, tiring, on-your-feet-all-day work, and anyone that thinks cooking in a professional kitchen is fun and glamorous and simply putting pretty food on a nice plate needs to sit and read this book. Yes, an inordinate amount of time may be spent telling the reader dozens of details on how to make a clear consomme, but it's meant to explain the fact that something as simple as clear, richly flavored "broth" is not necessarily easy. There is an enormous amount of prep work in a kitchen before anything ever hits a warm plate. This gets close to giving the reader a good idea about the realities of working in a professional kitchen. Bravo!!
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