Shulman, Martha Rose. Culinary Boot Camp: five days of basic training with the Culinary Institute of America. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006.
Aside from the recipes I thought this was a real read-it-once kind of book. Not something I would want to own for myself. I enjoyed holding the glossy book as much as reading Rose’s diary-like account of her experience(s) with the CIA (she actually went twice). My favorite sections were about different procedures: knife handling and water cooking. I learned something about testing the “doneness” of meat by feel. My least favorite part of the book were the photographs. Most of the photos were blurred to indicate “action shots”: cooks plating, students sitting in lecture, a chef chopping, students stirring and so forth.
Another reason for the read-it-once philosphy: I doubt I will make any of the recipes. At the end, a little less than half of the book, are recipes mentioned elsewhere. I know I will never need a brown veal stock and Rose admits as much, too.
~*LunaSea*~ 