How I Learned To Cook: Culinary Educations from the World's Greatest Chefs

243 Pages·2006·1.08 MB·English

by  Kimberly Witherspoon

"Foodie/chef groupies . . . who are more star-struck by the likes of Jacques Pepin
than George Clooney, could easily devour this book in a single marathon reading
session. But How I Learned to Cook is best savored in small bites—an essay
here, a couple of essays there—to allow the page-by-page feast to linger a little
longer."
—San Diego Union-Tribune "How I Learned to Cook reassures us
that the path to culinary fame is sometimes paved with kitchen fires,
exploding fava beans, and unecstatic cherries jubilee."
—Vogue
"A collection of savvy, savory essays by 40 of the world's best chefs and food
writers . . . who share their early triumphs, travails, and innovations as up-and-
comers before they ascended to culinary stardom."
—Elle
"Entertaining and inspiring. The chapter by Chicago's own Rick Bayless alone
is worth the book's price."
—Chicago Sun-Times "A satisfying follow-up to Don't Try This at
Home . . . This is not just a book for culinary school students or
aspiring professionals—the inspiration in these chefs' tales works for
the weekend cook as well . . . From cooking under the master French
chef Paul Bocuse (Daniel Boulud) to deep-frying at the snack bar of
the local swim club (Tom Colicchio)—cooks of every ability level
will recognize the one constant throughout: passion for good food."
—Book Page
"Forty chefs representing notable restaurants all over the world offer a bit of
humorous history on how they cut their teeth in the kitchen . . . the stories are
entertaining and well chosen."
—Publishers Weekly
HOW I LEARNED TO COOK
HOW I LEARNED
TO COOK
Culinary Educations from
the World's Greatest Chefs
Edited by Kimberly Witherspoon
and Peter Meehan
BLOOMSBURY
Copyright © 2006 by Inkwell Management
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in
any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10010.
Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York Distributed to the trade by
Holtzbrinck Publishers All papers used by Bloomsbury USA are natural,
recyclable products
made from wood grown in well-managed forests. The manufacturing
processes conform to the environmental regulations
of the country of origin.
"The Swim Club" is adapted from Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio.
"That's Entertainment" is adapted from The Minimalist Entertains
by Mark Bittman.
Lyrics from "I'm Your Captain": words and music by Grand Funk
Railroad. ©1970 by Grand Funk Railroad. All rights controlled and
administered by Storybook Music. All rights reserved. International
copyright secured. Used by permission.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE HARDCOVER
EDITION
AS FOLLOWS: How I learned to cook: culinary educations from the
world's greatest chefs / edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13 978-1-59691-247-2 (hardcover)
1. Cooks—Biography. I. Witherspoon, Kimberly. II. Meehan, Peter, 1977-
TX649.A1H39 2006
641.5092--dc22
[B]
2006027496
First published by Bloomsbury USA in 2006
This paperback edition published in 2007
Paperback ISBN-10: 1-59691-385-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-59691-385-1
3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Typeset by Westchester Book Group Printed in the United States of America
by Quebecor World Fairfield
As always, to Summer and Paul
—K.W.
To Hannah
—P.F.M
CONTENTS
Introduction
FERRÁN ADRIÀ The Big Red Book, or El Práctico
JOSÉ ANDRÉS Boiling Point
MARIO BATALI Country Living
RICK BAYLESS Sweet Child O3 Mine
MICHELLE BERNSTEIN One Fish, Two Fish
CHRIS BIANCO Digging in the Dirt
MARK BITTMAN That's Entertainment
RAYMOND BLANC Extra, Extra!
HESTON BLUMENTHAL Found in Translation
DANIEL BOULUD Blanc Cassis
ANTHONY BOURDAIN Ready for My Close-Up
JIMMY BRADLEY Skull Man
ANDREW CARMELLINI And the Winner Is . . .
DAVID CHANG The Noodle Whisperer
TOM COLICCHIO The Swim Club