Michael Ruhlman

Ruhlman's Twenty: The Ideas and Techniques that Will Make You a Better Cook (2011)

I read this "cookbook" cover to cover. And I cooked some of the recipes along the way. What sets this book apart is how he illustrates key ideas and techniques with recipes, rather than the other way around. He is also a wordsmith. Sometimes his language about food borders on the over-sensual, bu...

The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America (1999)

You know that old saying about how some people live to eat while others eat to live?I think foodies think that living to eat automatically makes them somehow knowledgeable about food — you know, just because they like to stuff their gobs and eat a lot of both good and bad things.I refuse to call ...

The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen (2006)

The other day, I came across this paragraph from Michael Ruhlman’s “The Reach of a Chef”:“The work is hard; no one’s forcing you to be here. If you don’t like it, leave. If it’s too hard, if you can’t do it, we’ll find someone who can — nothing personal — but service starts at 5:30 and there’s a ...

Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World's Most Versatile Ingredient (2014)