# BOOKS TO READ BEFORE ENTERING SCHOOL



## deebo (Apr 9, 2011)

I AM ABOUT TO ENTER CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM AND WONDERING WHICH GOOD BOOKS WOULD HELP ME GAIN SOME BASIC KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT I MAY BE LEARNING IN SCHOOL, ANY INPUT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.


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## rgm2 (May 28, 2011)




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## southpoleman69 (May 14, 2010)

Personally, I would say make sure you have a food lovers companion. I have a few months before I graduate school, and just bought one last week. I wish I would've gotten it my first week of school.


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## veronporter (May 9, 2011)

Read Daniel Boulud's "Letter's to a young chef". It definitely has some useful knowledge for someone entering the industry. It's also a quick, entertaining read for anyone interested in cooking.

In addition to that, I personally love my 'Larousse "Gastronomique". It's a great reference book and I'm always learning from it.


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## jedimind (Jul 9, 2011)

veronporter said:


> Read Daniel Boulud's "Letter's to a young chef".


in addition to anthony bourdain's kitchen confidential. my chef gave it to me when i told him i was thinking of dropping out, and it kept me hangin in there.


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## reenbase (Jun 22, 2010)

This is the list I read before starting school last year:

On Food and Cooking

Ratio

The Making of a Chef

CIA-Pro chef

Pastry Techniques

Julia Child's Vol I&II

What I found at least as important as reading was knife skills. Get a good knife and start cutting now and do it every day. Confidence with your knife will lead to confidence elsewhere is the kitchen.


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## steelybob (Dec 4, 2009)

the flavor bible

cia professional chef

the french laundry

PS - you might also considering disabling your capslock key =D


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

The Bible ------   Guide Culinaire  by A Escoffier for Continental   Cuisine  and   Fanny Farmer cookbook for American Basics


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## la bleu joe (May 22, 2012)

What is the major premise of letters to a young chef


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## justvalarie (Sep 1, 2012)

I am on my second term at Le Cordon Bleu for Baking & Patisserie and I have personally been reading everything I can get my hands on. 
I loved Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Amazing book. Everything about Kitchen Confidential was aawesome. I also read *The Idiot's Guide to Success as a Chef *(say what you will about the title lol) by Leslie Bilderback. I loved how she just kind of put certain things out there for you and was like, yeah, if you can't handle this, then maybe the chef field isn't for you. I am currently reading *Julie & Julia* (which really has no bearing on being a professional chef, but it was the next in my HUGE stack of books to read. LOL).

A few others I have in a stack to read are...

The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain

Under the Table by Katherine Darling

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

My Life in France by Julia Child

The Pastry Chef's Companion by Glenn and Laura Rinsky

The Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman

Becoming a Chef by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness, and the Making of a Great Chef by Marco Pierre White

My Life from Scratch by Gesine Bullock-Prado

Career Diary of a Pastry Chef by Yuko Kitazawa

Spiced by Dalia Jurgensen

Like I said, I want to read everything ahah. I bought a lot of these from Half Price Books on clearance. /shrug. Anyways, hope that helps.


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## rekonball (Sep 13, 2011)

The Making Of A Cook by Madeleine Kamman French Chemist and chef

On Food And Cooking by Harold McGee

Anything by M.F.K. Fisher "How to Cook A Wolf" is all I can think of (this is non fiction)


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## fermi fang (Sep 30, 2012)

i know this post is like almost a year ago and OP is already in school .. but i think this thread could be useful for any "future peeps who might ask the same question.." so here is 2 books ... three but i cant remember the name of the other..


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