Observing the rigorous Certified Master Chef exam at the Culinary Institute of America, the most influential cooking school in the country, Ruhlman enters the lives and kitchens of rising star Michael Symon and renowned Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. This fascinating book will satisfy any reader's hunger for knowledge about cooking and food, the secrets of successful chefs, at what point cooking becomes an art form, and more. Like Ruhlman's The Making of a Chef, this is an instant classic in food writing-one of the fastest growing and most popular subjects today.

    Counter Intelligence collects over 200 of Gold's best restaurant discoveries--from inexpensive lunch counters you won't find on your own to the perfect undiscovered dish at a beaten-path establishment. He reveals the hidden kitchens where Los Angeles' ethnic communities feed their own, including the best of cuisine from Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Burma, Canton, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Middle East, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam and more. Not to mention the perfectly prepared hamburger and Los Angeles' quintessential hot dog.Counter Intelligence is the richest and most complete guide to eating in Los Angeles. The listings include where to find it and how much you'll pay (in many cases, not very much) with appendices that cover food types and feeding by neighborhood.

    Fisher" (Connoisseur). From nineteenth-century famine-struck Ireland to the India of the British Raj, from the bachelor's kitchen to the Italian cucina, Thorne is an entertaining, erudite, and inventive guide to culinary adventuring and appreciation.

    Following a classic organization, readers are first introduced to the topics of the history of wine, wine production, wine cellars and the enjoyment of wine. From the yearly cycle of the fruit to modern cellar techniques, the experience begins with the creation of the wine. The reader is then invited on a journey through all the winegrowing countries and regions of the world, with expert authors introducing each area, including Canada, Japan, and China. Naturally, Wine is also a reliable guide to buying wines. It includes numerous producer tips that convey sophisticated, highly useful recommendations. Newcomers to the passion of wine, in particular, will find invaluable aid in deciphering the enormous worldwide wine offerings.

    Whether dining with friends, family, or business associates, we know that an elegant setting and gracious manners bring a sense of harmony and order to the occasion. Yet when it comes to knowing precisely how to set a table for formal and informal dining, which fork is for dessert and which for the appetizer, how to serve different types of wine -- even how to eat certain foods -- many of us are not fully confident.Suzanne von Drachenfels learned this firsthand in her career as an expert on table setting, tableware, and etiquette. Conducting seminars throughout the country, she would hear the same questions again and again: Should bread be buttered entirely or bite by bite? What is the purpose of holding a wine glass by the stem or the base? Is handmade crystal worth the price difference?"The Art of the Table" answers all these questions and more. A treasure trove of timeless information, this complete guide is to the table what "Joy of Cooking" is to the kitchen. Von Drachenfels shows us how to select, lay, and use tableware to enhance any dining experience, and how to properly store and care for it -- whether it's your grandmother's porcelain or everyday stainless steel. She provides guidance on mixing and matching tableware patterns; the basics of coffee, tea, and wine; menu planning; napkin folding; and the proper service techniques for all types of entertainment. So as not to let the lore of the table fall away, she delves deep into the history of specific tableware and the customs we keep, making today's practices understandable.For the novice host, this is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide with more than one hundred helpful illustrations. For the host with more experience, it is a rich and exciting source of new ideas. Like its author, whose passion for the table is contagious, "The Art of the Table" is an authoritative, elegant, and sophisticated resource for all one's dining needs.

    This book is part recipe collection, part history, and part travelogue. There are more than 130 authentic recipes, all beautifully photographed.

    Presilla, who is at the forefront of the revolution in fine chocolate making, explains that the flavor and quality of chocolate depend on the complex genetic profiles of different cacao strains and on cacao farmers carrying out careful, rigorous harvesting and fermentation practices. With 25 recipes from internationally known pastry chefs and chocolatiers like Pierre Herm?© and Elizabeth Faulkner, and directions for making chocolate at home, THE NEW TASTE OF CHOCOLATE elevates our taste for this food of the gods to a whole new level.‚Ä¢ Presilla is a cacao supplier for premier chocolate makers, such as Scharffen Berger and Guittard, and a consultant to the world's top pastry chefs.‚Ä¢ Over 100 gorgeous location, identification, and food photos.

    An unforgettable odyssey through the world's legendary culinary capitals, each book includes 130 recipes and full-color photographs throughout.

    Learn to make layered gift mixes for family & friends or create handmade garlands, memory jars and a nostalgic kitchen tree too.

    Insisting that food need not be complicated to be delicious, she emphasizes the practical aspects of cooking and eating. More than 150 recipes from many countries are included, all bearing David's unmistakable personal touch. Always elegant and witty, her writing conveys her sense of season and place, as well as her passionate interest in food, its history, its myriad personalities, and its role in civilized society.

    But how exactly do you learn this skill? Where can you acquire the knowledge to join this whisky-appreciating elite? This illustrated book offers the reader detailed, structured tuition on how to develop his or her palate for whisky. Readers are first taken on a detailed tour of how whisky is produced, what each of its constituents and each of the stages of its manufacture bring to the final product. With this grounding, they are then introduced to the various chemical processes at work during distillation and maturation that give each whisky its distinct characteristics. Using specific popular whiskies which readers are encouraged to have to hand as they work through the book, they are taught how to recognise what it is they are tasting and smelling, and how to describe this in the language of the experts.

    Finally, here is a series to cover the whole cuisine experience.The World Food series is a list of definitive culinary guides to major world destinations. With tantalising photography throughout and written in an entertaining, opinionated and contemporary style, each guide is intended to be the benchmark for a country's cuisine. Illustrated with the work of specialist food & travel photographers, the books have a dynamic design style which contributes to the overall tone of fun and enthusiasm. They are intended to be a bible for travelling and non-travelling food lovers around the world.These pocket-sized guides include everything to do with eating and drinking in each country -- the history and evolution of the cuisine, its staples and specialities, and the kitchen philosophy of the people. We open the doors on home cooking and traditions, showing how food and drink have become integral to personal and national celebrations, and discover the myriad of regional cuisines that exist in even the most familiar countries.The World Food guides also include comprehensive cuisine dictionaries. These two-way guides will be the best available resource for anyone interested in having a key reference to the local food, drink and cooking terms on their shelves, and will prove invaluable to travellers as they try to read menus, buy food, speak the right words and gain an insider's knowledge of where and what to eat and drink.-- glossy specialist photography and full colour throughout-- essentialguide to markets and local produce-- explores variations of regional cuisine-- covers cuisines for all occasions, including festivals and home cooking-- simple and authentic recipes with notes on origin, occasion, preparation and culture-- quick reference glossary-- comprehensive dictionary, with foreign script included-- useful phrases for every food and drink occasion-- maps throughout to show marketplaces, key eating locations, regional produce-- practical advice on keeping fit and healthy