FoodReference.com (since 1999)
BOOK REVIEW SECTION

 You are here > Home > 

Next

Kitchen on Fire!: Mastering the Art of Cooking in 12 Weeks (or Less)

by Olivier Said and Chef MikeC

Description
Most of us depend on recipes to create meals for entertaining, or even just to prepare dinner for our families. We would never think about straying from the recipe's directions or making any substitutions—like using sour cream instead of yogurt—for fear of disaster. Think again. 'Kitchen on Fire!' will have readers cooking—and thinking—like professional chefs in time for the holiday season.
     The wildly popular basics course at Berkeley’s famed Kitchen on Fire! culinary school teaches students ultimate confidence in the kitchen. In this new book, Chefs Olivier Said and MikeC. combine their many years of experience cooking in professional kitchens and classrooms to present all the basic techniques necessary to create great food—complete with full-color illustrations and step-by-step photos throughout. You’ll explore the underlying methodology and alchemy of cooking, from ingredients to prep to heat. You’ll get all the skills to navigate your kitchen with ease and the knowledge to put that cookbook back on the shelf and create your own recipes with whatever ingredients you have on hand.
     Beginners will find the information easy to digest, and seasoned cooks will discover the secrets of professional chefs—such as the rarely discussed importance of surface area and density in gauging cooking time. Blending the precision of a professional culinary textbook with the authors’ fun and irreverent attitudes, Kitchen on Fire! makes it easy for anyone to cook like a chef.

About the Authors
Chef Olivier Said is one of the most respected culinary personalities in the Bay Area, where he is the former co-owner of César Tapas Bar and author of their award-winning cookbook.

Chef MikeC. is an honors graduate from the California Culinary Academy and was the most recent host of the long-running TV series Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet. They are co-founders of Kitchen on Fire! culinary school in Berkeley, California. Visit: KitchenOnFire.com