# What Books Help An Amateur Cook Like A Professional??



## ericg (Jun 30, 2012)

Wondering what books help you make that leap from decent/good home cook (Cook's Illustrated Level) to a pro? thank you.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

If you look at the pro books, The Professional Chef and so on, they're not really that different from Cook's Illustrated except for some shortcuts CI takes. The primary difference is habitual practice of technique. The 10,000 hours it takes to get good at something, they're doing that. But they're putting in 10-12 hours a day of this and home cooks might just be 30 minutes if that.

So start cooking mindfully. This thread is good for some ideas on that.

http://www.cheftalk.com/t/71916/jacques-pepin-on-cooking-without-recipes

If I have to suggest a book, Ratio is probably what I'd suggest. It's about cooking without a fixed recipe, but more by learning the important ratios. Of course, it assumes good technique is present.


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