Reading: Letters to a Young Chef

In Letters to a Young Chef, Daniel Boulud, cookbook author, chef, and owner of Daniel, Café Boulud, and DB Bistro Moderne in New York City, briefly covers what he believes are the most important building blocks to becoming a great chef. I bought this book for $1 at a used bookstore and was delighted to find that the previous owner had underlined some passages and written extensively on the endpapers and in some margins. Some of their writing is difficult to read, but I enjoy the peek into their life and thoughts.

This was a very informative book and one that I wish I had read some time ago, when I was a young chef. Boulud discusses, with compelling support, the framework of thinking and approach that can set a great chef apart from a so-so chef. When I teach a Basic Cooking or Theory of Cooking class, this book will be on the reading list.