Product Description

The Professional Chef, the official text of The Culinary Institute of America's culinary degree program, has taught tens of thousands of chefs the techniques and fundamentals that have launched their careers.

Now in a revolutionary revision, The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition not only teaches the reader how, but is designed to reflect why the CIA methods are the gold standard for chefs. With lavish, four-color photography and clear, instructive text, The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition guides culinary students--professional aspirants and serious home cooks, alike--to mastery of the kitchen. Over 660 classic and contemporary recipes, with almost 200 variations, were chosen especially for their use of fundamental techniques. These techniques and recipes form a foundation from which a professional chef or home cook can build a personal repertoire.

From mise en place (preparation) to finished dishes, the book covers Stocks, Sauces, and Soups; Meats, Poultry, Fish, and Shellfish; Vegetables, Potatoes, Grains, and Legumes, Pasta and Dumplings; Breakfast and Garde Manger; Baking and Pastry. In addition to a comprehensive treatment of techniques and recipes, The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition teaches readers other critical elements of the professional chef's domain--much of it universally applicable to any kitchen. From "An Introduction to the Professional," to the identification of tools and ingredients, to nutrition, food science and food and kitchen safety, the book is a wealth of beautifully presented information useful for any cook.

The Culinary Institute of America has been hailed as "The nation's most influential training school for professional cooks" by Time magazine. The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition, the cornerstone of its program in book form, belongs on the shelf of every serious cook.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107448 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1056 pages

Amazon.com Review
Recognized as the definitive cooking school textbook, the Culinary Institute of America's The Professional Chef is also the perfect guide for independent study at home. More than 1,000 pages are packed into the voluminous seventh edition, with information and recipes designed to teach technique. It is so comprehensive, it could be the only cookbook you need to own. Almost guaranteed to answer any question you could possibly imagine, The Professional Chef is one of the most useful reference books ever written for the kitchen.

With thousands of photos showing step-by-step instructions, you'll learn to identify and trim any kind of meat, seafood, fruit, and vegetable, and extensive photos and descriptions of spices, pasta, and grains take the guesswork out of new and unusual recipes. Seemingly complicated techniques for recipes such as Hollandaise Sauce are described with photos and with so many tips, tricks, and troubleshooting guides you feel as though an instructor is cooking alongside you. Organized from the simplest techniques and most basic information to the more complicated, you can use this book as a reference guide, a resource for increasing your confidence in the kitchen, or as a recipe-filled cookbook. The seventh edition has been completely reworked to include more-contemporary techniques alongside classic, more-sophisticated recipes, and there's greater emphasis on food safety, nutrition, and technology in the kitchen. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Library Journal
In the seventh revised edition of the basic textbook for the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the editors claim that they explain to the potential chef not just how to cook, but why the CIA insists on doing things the way it does. Since the CIA is often criticized for problems ranging from its devotion to classic French technique to its role in maintaining the patriarchy that dominates the profession, such justification seems in order. But there is actually little of it, either in the introductory essays or in the text that follows. There is little else to find fault with in this well-organized, comprehensive text. But while anyone aspiring to a career in food service may find it useful, it falls short of being a good learning text for the average cook. Its recipes are all written in scaled formulas, rather than in the cups and spoons measures most consumers use. In addition, those recipes mostly yield ten servings, and the task of reducing them to manageable proportions will put off most nonprofessional users. So although this is an excellent guide to the profession, it is recommended only for academic libraries supporting culinary programs and larger public libraries with comprehensive cookery collections. Tom Cooper, Richmond Heights Memorial Lib., MO
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"…a huge and comprehensive guide through all aspects of cooking professionally, and is like a bible…" -- Restaurant, 28 August 2002

THE PROFESSIONAL CHEF by the Culinary Institute of America, a reference work for cooking pros and serious home cooks since the 1950s appears in its seventh edition from John Wiley in October. The 1,056-page work has been redesigned with new color photography throughout, 1,400 photos in all. "The philosophy of cooking and the way of looking at the fundamentals of cooking have changed since we published the sixth edition in 1996," says senior editor Pam Chirls, "and in this one, the visual aspect of cooking drives the content. If you're making pasta, in the existing edition you get a written explanation and recipes. In the new edition, we have step-by-step photographs to help the reader function in the kitchen." Pro Chef 7, as it is familiarly known, also includes more than 660 recipes with some 200 variations. (Publishers Weekly, July 2001)

In the seventh revised edition of the basic textbook for the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the editors claim they explain to the potential chef not just how to cook, but why the CIA insists on doing things the way it does. Since the CIA is often criticized for problems ranging from its devotion to classic French technique to its role in maintaining the patriarchy that dominates the profession, such justification seems in order. But there is actually little of it, either in the introductory essays or in the text that follows. There is little else to find fault with in this well-organized, comprehensive text. But while anyone aspiring to a career in food service may find it useful, it falls short of being a good learning text for the average cook. Its recipes are all written in scaled formulas, rather than in the cups and spoons measures most consumers use. In addition, those recipes mostly yield ten servings, and the task of reducing them to manageable proportions will put off most nonprofessional users. So although this an excellent guide to the profession, it is recommended only for academic libraries supporting culinary programs and larger public libraries with comprehensive cookery collections. —Tom Cooper, Richmond Heights Memorial Lib, MO (Library Journal, September 15, 2001)

"attractively repackaged so as to appeal to the ambitious home cook." (The New Yorker, September 24, 2001)

"...for something more technical I love The Professional chefa huge and comprehensive guide through all aspects of cooking professionally, and is like a bible..." (Restaurant, 28 August 2002)

Customer Reviews

Advanced Knowledge and skills
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This is the TEXT book for the CIA. I have used this book to increase my skill level tremendously. I am not a chef, but I am a pretty-damned-good cook.

I found the background information indispensable when creating my recipes and fixing others.

Only buy this book if you are DEAD SERIOUS about food preparation.

This is a culinary school textbook, not a cookbook
Billing itself as THE text book of one of THE top culinary schools in America, I had high expectations when I plunked down $40+ dollars for it ... expectations that were only partially met.

The most important thing to remember about this book is that it's a TEXTBOOK, not a cook book. Granted, the material is about food and cooking, yes, but if you buy it with the expectation of finding out the best and tastiest ways to make a given classic recipe, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Why ?

This book is basically overview material on a wide variety of ingredient and food preparation related subjects.

You'll see, for instance, a picture of what carrots look like when they've been chopped, diced, julienned, fine burnois'd (1/16" square dice), and cut into various other shapes ... but you're not going to find a lot of indepth textual or photographic material on knife selection, care and cutting technique - the book assumes you'll be taught that information in a separate in-person class on knife skills. It's just overview here.

If you look up a recipe on, say, classic American chili ... you'll find a tiny little recipe in the back that gives you a basic, stripped down, no-frills highly minimalistic recipe with very brief instructions ... the reader (student) is left to flesh it out, season it up and otherwise put their own personal/regional spin on it. There's no pontificating whatsoever on the various styles of chili. If you want that, the book assumes you'll go buy a book on chili and learn it on your own.

There are exceptions - stock making and consumme, for instance, is covered in depth.

Bottom line: this is a good overview book for freshmen culinary school students, but if you're a home cook looking for a good book of solid recipes with fully fleshed directions, you'll be much happier with something like "The Complete Joy of Cooking" or "The Best Recipe".

Five Stars Hands Down!
I have several cookbooks and textbooks that I refer to on the daily basis and this is one of the most informative and useful texts that I have ever purchased. The only book that I use more then this one is The Professional Chef, Eighth Edition! The recipes are outstanding!

Nasir, Executive Chef