Making of a Chef

In this compelling culinary memoir, journalist Michael Ruhlman dons a chef''s jacket to explore the world of professional cooking at the Culinary Institute of America.

Just over a decade ago, Ruhlman entered the kitchens of the country''s oldest and most influential cooking school. But The Making of a Chef is not just about wielding a knife or slicing an onion; it''s also about the nature and spirit of being a professional cook and the people who enter the profession. As Ruhlman recounts his growing mastery of the skills of his adopted profession, he propels himself and his readers through a score of kitchens and classrooms in search of the elusive, unnameable elements of great food.

Incisively reported, with an insider''s passion and attention to detail, The Making of a Chef remains the most vivid and compelling memoir of a professional culinary education on record. "Well reported and heartfelt, Ruhlman communicates the passion that draws the acolyte to this precise and frantic profession."—The New York Times Book Review