Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
KITCHEN ON FIRES COOKING BY TECHNIQUE: TRANSFORMING YOU FROM A NORMAL HUMAN BEING INTO A SUPER HOME CHEF
LETS FACE IT, AMERICA IS ADDICTED TO RECIPES. NO GENERATION HAS been better equipped for greatness in the kitchen than todays home cook. We have the tools, the finest farm-fresh and imported ingredients, access to an unparalleled wealth of how-to information, and a million or so recipes. Yet how many of us can compose a delicious dish from scratch?
We pass up seasonal produce at its peak and bargains in the meat case, simply because we dont have a recipe handy on what to do with them. Were on pins and needles during dinner parties, praying that everything comes out the way its supposed to. And we waste hours churning through Web sites, magazines and food sections, in a never-ending quest for the holy grail: a dish so delectable it makes forks quiver and guests stop talking to compliment the chef.
Mastering a particular recipe is not the same as being a master in the kitchen. Learning one recipe gives you the ability to cook that one particular dish. But what if some of the ingredients arent available, or youre tired of cooking the same thing over and over again? Its time to put down your recipe books for a little while and focus on learning technique. Knowing proper technique equips you with the skills to not only nail every recipe every time but to cook beyond the page and create your own recipes. With a deeper understanding of whats going on under the hood of a dish, its easy to make adjustments or substitutions and still have perfect results.
It is with good reason that professional culinary schools and high-end restaurants teach cooking by technique and the basic science of food. Armed with this knowledge, chefs can move past remaking someone elses recipe to successfully creating their own. It also enables them to troubleshoot when something doesnt work out right or they need to adapt for new or missing ingredients. Following the directions in a recipe is one thing, comprehending what is really happening to the food is a different story altogether. Its this understanding that marks the difference between a cook and a true chef (whether home or professional).
Until now you would have to spend years in culinary school (along with a lot of tuition money), working in professional kitchens, or coming to classes at Kitchen on Fire to gain this breadth of culinary comprehension. Luckily, you are now holding this book, for within its pages is the combined knowledge of years of culinary and scientific training, many other tomes already written on the subjects, and the trial and error of many chefs, all distilled into an easily digestible form.
Kitchen on Fire! has been arranged in much the same way as our famous 12-Week Basics of Cooking series at Kitchen on Fire. The series is a boot-camp version of professional culinary school, but geared to cooking in the home. Instead of just teaching our students how to prepare a given menu, we focus on teaching them the technique and simple science that governs cooking, and help them create their own delicious masterpieces in class. With their new knowledge, our students not only become better cooks but transform into home chefs. Throughout this book, we aim to pass on to you that same mastery of technique. Your chef training starts todayget ready to conquer your kitchen!
A WORD FROM THE CHEFS
Olive
When we first opened Kitchen on Fire early in 2006, I was only able to assist my business partner, Chef MikeC., when he taught the 12-Week Basics of Cooking series (on which this book is based). I had cooked in and owned my own restaurants, authored two books, and been cooking and entertaining at home for years, but was crafting my own style of teaching. As I would listen to his lecture, before the hands-on cooking (or lab) portion of the class, I was struck by an idea: His teaching was so perfectly crafted for the novice cook, experienced home chef, or even someone wanting to become a professional cook, that his cooking class series had to be transformed into a book.
Being a designer and photographer, I wanted to visually translate onto paper the contents of MikeC.s amazing series of classes. Comprehensive step-by-step pictures and illustrations were a key to creating a book that was truly user-friendly, fun to read, and easy to implement. It took about three years from the original concept to the actual finished product you see today. We combined our years of professional experience along with our knowledge of a wide variety of cooking styles and modern cooking science, stirred in the sage words of our collaborators, and cooked up this book just for you (and everyone else on the planet). Remember: Real Food + Love + Proper Technique = Great Dishes.
MikeC.
From working in most aspects of the food business, retail to restaurants, and teaching culinary arts, I have met many remarkable French chefs, but my partner in crime, Chef Olive, takes the cake. I was fortunate enough to open up a school with a guy who is not only a fantastic cook and restaurateur but also a talented visual artist. So when he approached me with the idea of making a book based on the techniques and cooking science we taught in class that would have step-by-step photos and illustrations, I was instantly sold. One thing that we have learned as professional teachers is that just having words on a page, no matter how thoroughly written, are much more effective when you can actually see what is going on when cooking.
It was of utmost importance to make sure that all the information that we put into this book is complete, concise, and 100 percent correct; no easy task for a perfectionist. Olive and I spent thousands of hours researching, experimenting, writing, shooting photos, editing, double and triple checking, consulting with many other professionals, and listening to the feedback of our students to hone down all of the knowledge that exists out there on proper cooking technique. The end result is a cookbook we feel will transform the way you cook, eat, and feel. Cooking doesnt have to be hard or time-consuming; it can as fun and easy as it can be delicious. And as our motto goes: If these two clowns can cook, so can you!
From Both Chefs
Whether you are cooking to impress or just to put quick and healthy meals on the dinner table, the quality of your ingredients counts. We cant all afford to eat organic all the time, but keeping foods as local and seasonal as possible lets you have the best-tasting products at the lowest prices. The point is to try to eat more as our grandparents did, in the days when the food one ate typically came from closer to where one lived. The modern world is full of food fads and foodlike substances (that are sold to us as food). The grocery store can get quite confusing; thats why, now more than ever before, its so important to learn to cook. Thanks for joining us, and millions of others, for the fun and health benefits of cooking real food!
