The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition by Culinary Institute of America (2001)

NA

The best book for cooking technique I've ever had. Peterson's are also nice, but this monumental volume is the size of a small European nation and produces vastly better cuisine. An absolute must for anyone who wants to cook a legitimate meal. ( )

Amazing reference book! Freakin fab.

I originally bought this to have a "how-to" reference for cooking skills (knife usage, how to identify ingredients, how to make proper stock and sauces, how to properly prepare meat, fish, and fowl, etc). If it had done just that excellently, this would have been four star book. However, I give this a 5-star rating because, in addition to the excellent how-to reference sections, all of the recipes that I have tried have turned out to be exceptional.

Includes excellent full colour illustrations, great step-by-step explanations, and two indexes: a subject index and a recipe index (having two indexes is more useful than it sounds, especially if you refer to this book often). The price is steep but if you've got the motivation and kitchen tools, it's a great investment. ( )

How to cook eggs in the shell, p. 725; maybe a no duh, but a thorough explanation with much distinguishing. How to boil potatoes, p. 637. A solid teaching volume. ( )

Less useful than its cost and gravitas would suggest. ( )