The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute

The Making of a Chef is the first book in Michael Ruhlman's food journey. Fascinated by his great-uncle's memories of a favorite potato dish, he attends the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to see what a chef's education is like.

Everyone knew Ruhlman was a journalist, which some critics have cited as a weakness; however, it gave Ruhlman access to professors and administrators who might not have talked so candidly with a student. He used it to his advantage, eventually even interviewing the President of the school about everything from a chef's life to the recipe for a perfect brown sauce.

The 'personal journey" aspect of the book is brief but significant: one wintery day Ruhlman calls his professor and tells him he won't be in due to show more the weather. His professor makes it clear that this decision will keep Rulhman forever in the ranks of the amateur: that a real cook "gets it done" no matter what it takes. This is the turning point for Ruhlman, and allows him to embrace his subject instead of studying it like an observer.

Ruhlman's writing style is expository, and he describes each module he attends in detail. He's a good writer and manages to keep this from being boring, at least for anyone interested in knowing what the experience of attending a top-notch cooking school is like. There are a lot of books about the professional food experience out there, but this is by far one of the best. show less

I love Ruhlman's thoughtful writing, especially when it involved food and cooking. This was no exception!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about cooking professionally. While there are way to incorporate that into a balanced live... most people cannot. And, honestly, I do not think I EVER had the sheer physicality required of a pro cook/chef!

Thing is, though, even us less-energy types can strive for excellence...albeit not in the food service industry! I find some restaurant "tricks" to be very helpful indeed when I am cooking or planning for small groups; how to stage things so the prep is mostly done before dinnertime is enormously helpful even when one is only having a few people over for a casual dinner! Instead show more of getting "in the weeds", we can relax and enjoy the company when there is only minimal prep necessary a la minute. This is very useful to us home cooks! as is the ability to choose and plan out recipes that can easily be transported, and finished on location with minimal effort and time. Books written about professional cooking can help with this even for us more modest and less intense cooks.

I did come out of reading this book with an increased hankering to attempt: proper classical stock (prob chicken); consomme; brown sauce; various pates etc; and get another sourdough starter working for bread.

Also with an increased respect for plating, which is probably my worst flaw. Even though of necessity we will always be "casual"- even with pretty formal food!- when we are being "fancy" we should probably give more thought to presentation rather than just flavor. show less

Ruhlman has his writing craft down to a T, and I know from certain people that his decription of the CIA (which is the acronym for the Culinary Institute of America) is pretty accurate. However interesting the book gets, there are some problems. He goes through the various classes at the Institute in the curriculum order and never varies his way of decribing each module - frankly, it gets a little tedious. He is helped by his obvious love of food and his descriptions are so precise at times, it gets funny. Also, his descriptions of the various teachers - one more peculiar than the other - and his fellow students - one more obsessed than the other - is what really carries this book if you're not a huge foodie.

This is a mediocre book about a really great experience. Mr. Ruhlman's writing is inconsistent, and a little hero-worship-y. This said, it is a book about become good at something that he (and the other chefs and students in the book) clearly loves, and the enthusiasm shines through and makes for a compelling read. This said again, this is only a compelling read if you know something about fine dining and food, and are interested in immersing yourself in that world. There's not much to this book for non-foodie readers, and his dwelling on points of roux color and plating would bore many potential readers. As for me, it made me want to go to cooking school, but made me definitely not want to become a chef!

In the Making of a Chef, Ruhlman, a journalist with a self proclaimed love of food and cooking, takes courses at the Culinary Institute of America, and writes about his experience. He was not undercover, nor was he an actual student - and therein lies the weakness of the book. As nothing was really riding on the author's success or failure, he lacked the urgency to differentiate what would be important were he to transfer from being a student, to trying to make money from what he learned. Consequently he gets hung up on minutiae (especially about the details of making brown sauce...) and fails to even attend the classes on mundane matters that do affect success in a restaurant - like sanitation. His description of his instructors are, show more on average, interesting, but Ruhlman continually insists on hero worship of those who can cook (in this case it is President Metz who is treated as the second coming). His obsession on the question as to whether great cooks are born or trained is simply juvenile. In spite of all my complaints about Ruhlman, the subject matter is interesting. One can only hope that in the future, someone, a la Jacques Pepin, and his enjoyable memior on being an apprentice in France, will write about their experience at the CIA as a real student, doing the whole program, with the real dream of someday earning money by working in the kitchen. show less

Enjoyable and informative book that really makes me want to go to culinary school. I know I wouldn't actually enjoy the life of a chef, but it was a lot of fun to read about the education that provides one route to that career.

I decided to read this after reading Ruhlman's latest, "Ratios." It's a compelling read about working through the culinary program at CIA, but it also delves into ruminations about quality that reminded me of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." The passion with which these chefs teach is inspiring, not only for cooking but may be applied to whatever you are passionate about. Not only was this a good book exploring American cooking, the CIA experience and cooking in general, but it inspires me to apply these principles of perfection and passion into my own life and work.