Along with "Soul of a Chef", Michael also wrote "The Making of a Chef" which is the story of his trip through the CIA. Anyone considering the CIA or culinary school elsewhere might be interested in his feedback. "Making of a Chef" is a great book, personally I thought it was better than "Soul of a Chef".
Under the category of peculiar things a person can learn from books: I read the Ruhlman books and one thing I learned from the Making of a Chef was how to peel carrots. Silly, I know, but I always hated peeling carrots! Yesterday, I peeled carrots the way it was described in that book, and it was so quick and easy that I felt silly for ever feeling awkward about it in the first place!
Sandy, for those of us who have yet to read the book, can you enlighten us as to the proper way to peel a carrot?
Funny thing, when I was browsing the book the one thing that caught my attention was how the Chef peeled the carrot. When I read that I thought to myself "There is always a way to do something better and faster." Here I just thought the mundane task of peeling carrots was just that, a mundane task. But when Michael explained how the Chef demonstrated peeling carrots I had to get the book. I wanted to find out what else was in there. Thinking back, I can't remember exactly how Michael explained it, but I believe the Chef took a carrot and rolled it on a table while peeling it. Pretty much peeled it instantly.