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Summary: For the creative gourmet, as well as the pro
Review: If cooking is a creative process for you (as opposed to just following instructions), or you would like it to be, you'll love this textbook. The Professional Chef will help you expand your cooking fundamentals and teach you things that you'll use even when you're not cooking from it.What I love about this book is that it's not just recipes. My boyfriend's mother hates it for the same reason. Its chapters are structured by type of food and/or meal courses, and each one highlights general techniques for cooking and prepration, going through one recipe in detail and listing a bunch of others at the end. There's priceless info on general techniques (What are the different ways you can thicken a sauce or soup, and how do they differ?) and great reference info (What does spice x look like in its whole form?). As mentioned in other reviews, this is intended as a textbook for professionals in training at the Culinary Institute of America (a.k.a. "the Harvard of cooking schools"). So in addition to techniques and recipies, it contains info about food safety, nutrition, restaurant budgets, and other areas which are not necessarily applicable to the average home chef. But the slightly obsessed or very serious home chef will love reading about all of it. The bottom line is that it's a well done book, and if the title appeals to you, you'll enjoy it. The amazon price is an added bonus ...
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Summary: Rename this Cooking 101...
Review: It may be for the professional, but it's filled with basics for everyone. At least with this cookbook you end up with an excellent meal...but you will have to work for it. If you have that motivation level, buy the book.
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Summary: For the Novice to the Professional.
Review: I received this book for my birthday. This is the bible of cook books. It has anything and everything you need to learn and sharpen your cooking skills. A must have in the kitchen.
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Summary: Something for everyone..........
Review: The Professional Chef is a wonderful resource. It is full of information from basic to more involved,such as kitchen hygiene, basic through complicated techniques, kitchen equipment and wonderful recipes. It is helpful for beginning and experienced cooks, at home or in the industry! The answers to question after question have easily been found in this 1000 page book. The recipes range from basic to advanced, giving you the opportunity to expand your abilities with ease and confidence, at your own pace. To merely think of it as a reference book would be a disservice, it is much more than that , and the big bonus, it is fun!!
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Summary: If you ever wanted to learn to cook...
Review: I am not a professional chef, I simply like to cook. I hoped this book would help me to improve my knowledge as well as skills. This book starts with very simple techniques and continues to build. Some of the information discussed, specifically restaraunt management etc., did not apply to me but it was interesting nonetheless. This book is worth the money if for nothing more than the question, "What do you do with that?" It covers very many areas of food fabrication and includes recipes. The recipes as written make very large amounts of food for a home cook, but I don't find that a large obstacle for the book also list techniques for reducing or increasing recipes.
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Summary: What can I say?
Review: The best, most informative, and most interesting (even most entertaining) cook book I've ever had. It's leading me to try things I'd never tried (or even heard of.) A great book on cooking. It's really more than a cook book!
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Summary: Ah, the Bible for every avid gourmand or cook!
Review: This is it! The one book that EVERY cook or gourmand must have! This text book, written by the world's premier culinary school, of which I am a student, is issued to every incoming student at the CIA. Time and time again I have turned to this book, and not just for my classes. As a chef, I often turn to this book to refresh my memory about an obscure technique, or even to remind myself about a fundamentally basic cooking method. This is BY FAR the best edition of Professional Chef that the CIA has put out to date! Writen by the staff and educators of the Culinary Institute of American, including Certified Master Chefs, this book is complete with BEAUTIFUL full page photographs, insightful advice and tips, product identification charts and photographs, detailed explanations about the "mysteries" of cooking or sauce making, complete and easy to understand recipes, fully detailed conversion charts, and more! What else could a chef want in a cookbook?! Once again, this book a must for anyone who loves food, loves to cook food, or loves to eat food!
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Summary: Great as usual from the CIA!
Review: Great book! I really don't have much more to say about it. The CIA puts out great books and this is way up on my list.
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Summary: Simple to review
Review: Buy this book and you will fear no food group, technique, or recipe. The first book you should buy for a cook regardless of their skill.
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Summary: The Best Cooking Reference Book I Have Seen.
Review: Aside from the two minor problems addressed in previous reviews (an inadequate index and recipes that, almost exclusively, result in huge quantities of food), this book could not be better. For someone who loves to cook and is interested in improving their techniques and overall know-how in the kitchen, I cannot imagine a better book. In practice, it is a great reference. And if you love cooking as much as I do, its simply a great read.
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