Reviews (2)

Best book on the subject I've found!
I am a chef getting ready to start my own restaurant/catering business.After reading this easy to understand, well-written book, I am confident in my knowledge of the math I will need to succeed.Glad someone took the time to share such useful information.

Very Simple
I hate math and am trying to get ready for Culinary School in March so I have been reading everything I can get my hands on to help.This is a very simple book, with easy to understand examples. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Cooking    3. Food Science    4. Food service    5. General    6. Industries - Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    7. Mathematics    8. Mathematics (General)    9. Methods - Quantity    10. Quantity Food Production And Service    11. Science/Mathematics    12. Cooking / General    13. General cookery    14. Hotel & catering trades   

Reviews (1)

Life Saver!
This is a great book to use as a referance if you are in charge of a kitchen of any size.The information in invaluable and much easier to use than doing your own yeild testing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Food Service Management    4. Methods - Professional    5. Methods - Quantity    6. Quantity Cookery    7. Reference    8. Cooking / Professional    9. Food & beverage technology    10. General cookery    11. Hotel & catering trades    12. Reference works   

Editorial Review

Recognized as the definitive cooking school textbook, the Culinary Institute of America's Read more

Reviews (64)

Comprehsensive Work!
At the risk of simply repeating, at length, the sentiments expressed in earlier reviews, I'll be brief...
A must for one who wants to devote himself in the culinary field!!!
I have read the book thoroughly & found that this "Modern Bible of Kitchen" is for one who wants to excel in culinary techniques & should try to possess this scripture....I finished this book within a week i bought it & go through this book religiously on a daily basis as i myself would like to pursue a career in the Kitchen...
A new found admiration for chefs and their training
If you have a cooking question the answer if probably found somewhere in this voluminous tome.They have even included directions and photos on how to clean a whole squid.Curious about how to make your own sauerkraut, it's in there.
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Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Methods - Quantity    4. Quantity cookery    5. Quantity cooking    6. Reference    7. Cooking / Professional    8. General cookery    9. Hotel & catering trades   

Reviews (4)

Helpful book for the cook's library
To me this book on the Art of Garde Manger is important because it presents the classic method and is very detailed.Once I know the classic method, I can branch out if I want, depending on my ability to be creative.
For the serious cook's library...
This Culinary Institute publication is a classic for professionals, serious hobbyists and chef wannabees who want or need complete knowledge of garde manger skills.
Dissapointing
Just by looking at the cover page and the other reviewer comments, I thought I was buying a great book. Read more

Subjects:  1. Buffets (Cookery)    2. Cookery (Cold dishes)    3. Cooking    4. Cooking / Wine    5. Garnishes (Cookery)    6. Methods - Baking    7. Methods - Professional    8. Quantity cookery    9. Cooking / Baking    10. General cookery    11. Hotel & catering trades   

Reviews (7)

Good work and it's about time
I've worked in the restaurant industry as a waitress for years and never knew a word of spanish. This made communication with the kitchen staff very difficult for me. After years of playing charades and mime to get what I needed I can finally ask for what I want. I found the book very easy to use and the phonetics very helpful. I was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety and range of the phrases and words listed in the book. In particular I was impressed by the waitstaff section. Good job Jason, it's about time someone wrote this book.

Very Disappointed
I was really hoping that this book would help me, but it's just not doing the job. It's so complicated and the stuff I need isn't in there. The kitchen is a really fast paced place to be in and this book is good if you can sit down and study it but in the kitchen, it's a waste. That's what it is to me, a total waste of money.

Wow, What a help!
Intuitive lay-out, meets all my kitchen needs, easy to use, and a must to get through the day! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Professional    4. Dictionaries    5. English language    6. Food service    7. Foreign Language Study    8. Foreign Language Study / Spanish    9. Management    10. Professional    11. Restaurants    12. Spanish   

Editorial Review

Curing duck breasts and hanging them like hams in your refrigerator for three weeks may not be your particular pail of blueberries. Or brining a whole, 30-pound piglet as a precursor for making porchetta. But how about grilling a hangar steak and slathering it with a bordelaise sauce? Mind you, this is a sauce that calls for a bottle of dry red wine and three quarts of veal stock as well as the requisite vegetables. But that's the point here: the best imaginable ingredients and a lot of focused work leading to a sublimely simple outcome. Simple in this case being an ultimate grilled steak experience. The kind of experience dished up at Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craft. Read more

Reviews (3)

Bad Title for this book. Should be Cooking of Craft
I was very let down by this book. This book is mainly about how the cooking is done at Craft and has little to do with the "Craft of Cooking". I really doubt that I will ever need to know how to cook a 150 LB. lamb. Even at that the instructions are so basic as to be usless on how to break down the lamb. I would do like I think most would and leave this in the hands of my very valuable butcher. Puzzling with Possibilities
Teetering between 3-6 stars, this cookbook causes that reaction, even if among one reviewer.It is simple, plain yet sophisticated and intricate.It smacks of the intensity of French Laundry, yet doesn't have the sizzle of ingredients and new process. A Good Restaurant Cookbook, still a bit undercooked
I anticipated many good things in this new Tom Colicchio cookbook, based on the title and the author's excellent first book, `How to Think Like a Chef'. My first surprise was that the title mislead one to think it was a general book on cooking skills. Instead, it is an exposition on the cooking at Colicchio's Manhatten restaurant Craft and the title was really a play on words. A much more accurate title would have been `Cooking of Craft'. The author does not hide this fact. In the `How to use this book' section, Colicchio states clearly that the audience for the book is `a skilled amateur or enthusiastic hobbyist' where `speed and convience are probably not your first focus here'. As the content `this is a book that sets out how things are done in one restaurant, Craft'. My second surprise was based on the fact that Colicchio's stated goal for the cuisine of `Craft' was to make the kind of simple, well prepared food he makes at home. Well.... When you throw in the `...prepared well...' qualifier with a bunch of extremely talented, obsessive corp of chefs working in the Manhatten restaurant market, you get something which no home cook in their right mind would consider `simple'. I'm exaggerating a bit, since, as I will cite below, there is much of value for simple fare, but there is no evidence of this simplicity in the opening section on meats. In fact, the opening section in the meats chapter is on `charcuterie', a term which the author does not even bother to explain. This IS rough going for newbies, especially since charcuterie is one of the fussiest and most time consuming of classic cuisinary techniques. But, it does get better.Read more

Subjects:  1. American Regional Cookery    2. Cookery    3. Cooking    4. Cooking / Wine    5. Methods - Professional    6. Regional & Ethnic - American - General    7. Cooking / American / General   

Subjects:  1. Food Industry Services    2. Restaurants    3. Travel    4. Travel - United States    5. Travel Guides - U.S.    6. United States - Midwest - Chicago    7. United States - Midwest - East North Central (General)   

Reviews (4)

Professional French Pastry volume 2
When it comes to professional caliber instructions and instructions for baking and pastry, this book is clearly top of the heap. It may be a little expensive, but it is easily the equivalent of at least a dozen other books on pastry with glossy, fancy photos and a big, famous name on the cover. If you are a professional who plans to advance your career, this book is a must have. Please note that this is volume 2 of the series; you are expected to go through the volumes in order, so this book assumes that you have already gone through and mastered volume 1.
No regret
I have purchaced this book just because i like french pastries and like to try myself to make those wonderful pastries that we see in the vitrine. And i did not regret that.Now I am going to purchace the full series.Afterreading ,this book I can now prepare brioche,eclair,petit pain,cream cormet.Buy them I promise you will not regret at all.All my friend do not believe that i cook them myself.

A complete howto on french pastry methodology
This book stands out from most of my other cookbooks because it does not only focus on what to put into the things it describes, but how to do it, and what not to do. The latter is, for some reason, quite hard to find.Read more

Subjects:  1. Baking - Confectionery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Courses & Dishes - Desserts    5. Courses & Dishes - Pastry    6. French Cookery    7. Methods - Professional    8. Regional & Ethnic - French    9. Cooking / Pastry   

Reviews (7)

Our cookbook of choice, after trying many
We had heard about this book while in St. Maarten and finally found it at a swap meet in Trinidad. Many sea miles later, it's still our cookbook of choice. So many other cruising cookbooks left out ingredients, had typos, or had such elaborate preparation steps that you could never make the recipes unless you had a full-sized, professional kitchen. This book is perfect. Simple, yet delicious recipes that can be make quickly (and without leaving an oven on for hours in the tropics). We especially found the appetizer section helpful when we were low on happy hour ideas.

Small Galley, Big Help!
We were only a month or so into our cruise having left San Francisco in 1998. We met Kay and Hal at the always helpful & friendly DOWNWIND MARINE in San Diego. I bought the book thinking that I would need some help, especially in our tiny galley. It's been 2 years since we left. Most of it spent cruising the Calif. Coast and Mexico. I've really grown to depend of Kay's book for ideas, tips, ingredients and combinations. Even for ideas for the odd fish that was the only thing available! Thanks for such a comprehensive and great cookbook written especially for cruisers!

A must-have for those working any galley
This book is essential reading for anyone working in the galley - whether blue water, bay or lake cruising.The recipes are outstanding, easy to follow and amenable to tight quarters.More importantly, Kay Pastorius offers advice about the basics that most of us have to learn the hard way - by throwing rotting food away.Her advice about provisioning, storage and cooking is right on the money, literally.I only wish my boat-mate, a meat-and-potatoes guy (who I wouldn't trade for the world), was as enthusiastic and supportive as Hal.Thank you Kay. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Boating - General    2. Cookery, Marine    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Methods - Quantity    5. Sailing - General    6. Sports    7. Sports & Recreation    8. Boating    9. General cookery    10. Ships & shipping: general interest    11. Sports & Recreation / General   

Editorial Review

In Read more

Reviews (4)

tru: a cookbook from the legendary Chicago restaurant

Great memoir of a phenomenal restaurant
I just ate at Tru for the second time and it was as amazing as the first time - actually this has become my favorite restaurant in the world (sorry Thomas Keller).I was excited to see the Tru cookbook and hoped that, like the stellar French Laundry cookbook, I might be able to use it to cook some of my favorites from Tru.I have read through the entire cookbook a few times and as culinary reading it is wonderful.Sadly in the past few days I have tried three recipes and had three failures.I am an accomplished home chef, not professional by any means but I am a heck of a recipe follower and can usually make any recipe from any cookbook. Unfortunately here it seems that some detail is missing from the recipes or that they are badly written.I'm planning on using this book for inspiration (there's so much of it in here) but will not be following any recipes verbatim.I'd say this was a worthwhile addition to your kitchen library for the reading pleasure alone but be warned that the recipes may not have the results you expect.

Tasteful words
In this book, you can truly taste the love that the chefs at Tru bring to the table. My husband took me here on our our engagement night and I received this book for our 6 month anniversary. I was blown away by the experience itself at the restaurant and this book touches on everything that intrigued me while I was there. You can truly see the passion that these chefs bring into the restaurant and the care and time they take in making dinner a very memorable one. I believe that this book will help me further my education in cooking and add on to my already burning passion for food. Highly recommend the book. You will get a better understanding and appreciation for the restaurant. If you haven't visited Tru already, an unforgettable experience awaits you... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. General    5. Methods - Professional    6. Tru (Restaurant)    7. Cooking / General   

Reviews (7)

extra ingredients sacrificed to page layout
If you want a cookbook that is so poorly edited that you will have multiple extra ingredients from the ingredient list that are not used in the recipe, then this is the book for you.
A fun and original book!
I was very impressed with this book. Art and Cook is a very original concept and a great conversation piece for your coffee table or as a gift. There are fun recipes and VERY fun design to compliment them. This was a great purchase. The package alone is worth the cost of the book!!
A stupid pretentious book, written by a stupid pretentious person, for stupid pretentious people - a complete rip-off.
Aside from the fact that the book was plagiarized by Allan Ben from unknowing photographers & designers who were swindled out of their ideas, designs, compensation, and credit - the book has no soul.There is no "running thread" or theme.Not one original thought. Not even worthy as a coffee table book. Don't embarrass yourself - you deserve better. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art / General    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Gourmet    4. Cooking / Wine    5. Courses & Dishes - General    6. Design - General    7. Essays    8. Methods - Professional    9. Art    10. Cooking / General    11. General    12. Methods - Gourmet    13. Political aspects    14. Popular Culture    15. Recipes    16. The Arts   

Reviews (1)

Foodservice Organizations
Need text for course, but actually interesting content. Would recommend to those going into food service/management. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Food Science    3. Food Service Management    4. Hotel And Restaurant Management    5. Industries - Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    6. Management - General    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Hotel & catering trades    11. Technology / Food Industry & Science   

Subjects:  1. Food Industry Services    2. Restaurants    3. Travel    4. Travel - United States    5. Travel Guides - U.S.    6. United States - Mid Atlantic - New York City    7. United States - Northeast - Middle Atlantic (General)    8. New York    9. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Food service    4. Industries - Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    5. Menus    6. Methods - Professional    7. Prices    8. Reference    9. Restaurants    10. Business strategy    11. Cooking / Professional    12. Hospitality industry   

Reviews (3)

tea time
I absolutely was intrigued by this book, read while sipping a cup of tea.My favorite teas are Republic of Tea, I'd recommend those as well!I liked learning about "TGBOP", Oolong teas, how to brew teas, teas from different countries, etc.I am by no means a tea snob, just a tea lover.This book is great for tea drinkers of any kind.

A Quick and Easy (and Fun) Guide!
A good book for the beginner, a nice and easy read for everyone interested in tea. The authors accomplish to talk about tea (origins, history, manufacture, types, how to purchase, taste, brew, etc.), to deal with "controversial" topics such as the use of teabags, and to communicate their personal tastes and views, without drifting off into snobism. Perfect for the Tea Beginner
This book impressed me.It is easy to read, has a personal feel, and covers all of the basics (what tea is, history, where it is produced, how to brew it, tea tasting, tea ceremonies, etc).Many resources are listed in the back.I have five books on tea so far (a beginner), and this is my favorite.If you only want one book on tea, this is my recommendation.The health section is pretty basic, so if that interests you, you might want to also look at a health-related tea book (green tea).This book describes the general regions, whereas the Tea Companion book describes the individual tea gardens (which may or may not be useful to you.) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Beverages - Coffee & Tea    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Food Industry Services    5. Tea    6. Cooking / Coffee & Tea    7. Non-alcoholic beverages   

Reviews (2)

A Campy, Kitschy Delight
By Bill Marsano. Trader Vic's Tiki Party!: Cocktails & Food to Share with Friends," by Stephen Siegelman, is perfect for retro theme parties. Trader Vic, with his famous rival Don the Beachcomber, ushered in the Tiki Bar Era of American partying, which centered mainly on the 1950s and 1960s (which of these two men actually invented the Mai Tai, signature drink of the epoch, remains in dispute--both claim it.) Those were days of restaurants blanketed with faux-Polynesian decor, when pupu platters were the rage and drinks came in bowls serving four or more and were decorated with paper umbrellas, which folks later learned to call parasols. Relive that glorious and joyously ridiculous time with this collection of tropical cocktails and food recipes for everything from finger food to entrees. The recipes are interesting, mostly pretty easy to make, and generally fun to eat or drink. The photos are very nice but the main appeal is that the recipes are clearly presented and easy to follow.--Bill Marsano is an award-winning writer on wines and spirits.
Let's Hula
The book contains "recipes for 100 of the restaurant's best loved tropical cocktails like the Samoan Fog Cutter, Potted Parrot, and of course, The Original Mai Tai, invented by Trader Vic himself in 1944." (summary from Buch Gourmet)
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Subjects:  1. Appetizers    2. Bartending    3. Beverages - Bartending    4. Cocktails    5. Cooking    6. Cooking / Wine    7. Courses & Dishes - Appetizers    8. Entertaining - General    9. Quantity Food Production And Service    10. Main courses   

Reviews (4)

An instructor's perspective...
Let me qualify this by saying for a number of years I taught Garde Manger at a Le Cordon Bleu school.I probably own every text book on the subject as it has remained near and dear to my heart as I moved back to the restaurant world.
Home Chefs take note
Finally someone has written a cooking instruction book that is suitable for the professional and home chef.This book is a must have for anyone serious about learning to cook.It fills in all the holes that will allow you to interpret and adjust recipes from other sources by providing you written and visual instruction along with interesting recipes from around the world.While it was written for the culinary education market this is really the first book any new cook should own.Great wedding or housewarming gift, a valuable reference for years.

Culinary Good Food Guide
I am a current culinary student & at last I have found a book that is a perfect learning tool for my studies.This book is perfect, it has it all, great illustrations, good lay out & very clear instruction.Modern Garde Manger was obviously written by guys that know how to teach their subject.The chapters on meats, game, poultry & fish are the best I have ever seen.This book is truly five star material & I know I will learn so much from it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Careers - General    2. Careers / Job Opportunities    3. Cookery    4. Cookery (Cold dishes)    5. Cooking    6. Garnishes (Cookery)    7. Hotel And Restaurant Management    8. Industries - Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    9. Methods - Professional    10. Methods - Quantity    11. Quantity cookery    12. Advice on careers & achieving success    13. Business & Economics / Careers    14. Food & Drink / Cookery    15. General cookery    16. Hotel & catering trades    17. Management of specific areas   

Reviews (5)

Surprisingly good!
Flavorful recipes and dishy chef come together in bill's food. The recipes are simple, turn out surprisingly well and are quite forgiving. The two main strengths of the content are that the book has lots of contemporary ideas (the yogurt pannacotta, for example) and recipes with multiple possibilities (corn cakes work as appetizer / brunch entree). The layout and pictures are attractive, instructions are simple, very much in keeping with the theme of the book: slow down and enjoy your food :-)

Cooking made Simple
Bill's cooking book is very simply written and it doesn't contain any difficult language used sometimes by famous chef. The one disapointing thing is that the book is mostly seafood and if you are not a fan you just bought the book that might not offer much to you. Overall, great book to learn from.

Simply wonderful
I just bought this book and spent the weekend making a selection the recipes - the tomato soup made by roasting tomatoes, garlic etc and whizzing it up in a blender (no water, no stock...), crispy skinned salmon with a sesame soy glaze and lime slice (as opposed to the lemon slice) as desert. Bill's recipes seem to achieve the same great results with at least half the effort. Compare his recipe for cheesecake with that in the Joy of Cooking and you will see what I mean. His version involves no baking at all and I can't wait to try it out. When I made the base for the lime slices in the food processor while the tomatoes roasted for the soup I was struck several times by a feeling that everything was easier than I was expecting. I will definately buy Bill's other books when I am through with this one. The photography and layout are inspiring and accurate of the results, which I always think is the measure of a good recipe book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Courses & Dishes - General    5. Entertaining - General    6. Methods - Professional    7. Cooking / Entertaining   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Chain restaurants    4. Food Service Management    5. Hotel And Restaurant Management    6. Industries - Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    7. Management - General    8. Restaurant management    9. Business & Economics / Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    10. Business & Economics-Management - General    11. Hospitality industry    12. Small businesses & self-employed   

Reviews (1)

Fun Foodie Read. Uneven suggestions. Lots Great Some dumb
`Chef's Secrets' is a cleverly edited book by caterer and writer Francine Maroukian, subtitled `Insider Techniques from Today's Culinary Masters' which has much to offer, some old chestnuts, and a few misguided suggestions.
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Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Methods - General    4. Methods - Gourmet    5. Methods - Professional    6. Main courses    7. Non-Classifiable