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Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood
Librarian's note: This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B004XVZPBG.
This is not the sanitized look at school spoon fed to us by the likes of The Food Network. Written by a culinary school student, this is the searingly honest story of what really goes on behind closed culinary school doors.
From what is is like to slip on the crisp white chefs coat for the first time through the horror of slaughtering and cooking your own lunch to working on the line in the searing hurry, hurry heat, you'll learn what it is really like to be a culinary school student.
More than ten years ago we were introduced to culinary school by Anthony Bourdain, Culinary Institute of America graduate in Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. In The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, Michael Ruhlman expanded this introduction by visiting classes at the CIA. Now, more than a decade later, Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood completes the circle with a real life account of what it is like to be a full-time culinary school student, today.
Get an inside look at the real world of culinary school, by someone who knows what it is really like to learn how to be a professional chef.
This is not the sanitized look at school spoon fed to us by the likes of The Food Network. Written by a culinary school student, this is the searingly honest story of what really goes on behind closed culinary school doors.
From what is is like to slip on the crisp white chefs coat for the first time through the horror of slaughtering and cooking your own lunch to working on the line in the searing hurry, hurry heat, you'll learn what it is really like to be a culinary school student.
More than ten years ago we were introduced to culinary school by Anthony Bourdain, Culinary Institute of America graduate in Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. In The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, Michael Ruhlman expanded this introduction by visiting classes at the CIA. Now, more than a decade later, Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood completes the circle with a real life account of what it is like to be a full-time culinary school student, today.
Get an inside look at the real world of culinary school, by someone who knows what it is really like to learn how to be a professional chef.
- GenresCulinary
179 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 24, 2011
1 person is currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
S.J. Sebellin-Ross
17 books17 followersS.J. Sebellin-Ross has more than a decade of experience writing restaurant reviews and articles for newspapers, magazines, and websites including The Washington Post and The New York Times. S.J. has reviewed James Beard award-winning restaurants, has written about food topics for international audiences, and is invited to speak in front of audiences including the Association of Journalists and at events including the BlogHer Food Conference.
Internationally published food journalist, restaurant critic, and cookbook author, S.J. is a top-selling writer whose books include "Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood," the bestselling memoir of her time as a culinary school student and "How to Write about Food: How to Become a Published Restaurant Critic, Food Journalist, Cookbook Author, and Food Blogger," the definitive guide to breaking in and making money as a published food writer.
Internationally published food journalist, restaurant critic, and cookbook author, S.J. is a top-selling writer whose books include "Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood," the bestselling memoir of her time as a culinary school student and "How to Write about Food: How to Become a Published Restaurant Critic, Food Journalist, Cookbook Author, and Food Blogger," the definitive guide to breaking in and making money as a published food writer.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 23, 2013
A friend of mine who is a short order cook recommended this. I love reading about anything to do with the culinary world (I'm a voracious Food Network watcher, too) so this was an easy buy.
It's well written and goes into a lot of detail. The author paints a nice picture about the students and professors (who prefer to be addressed as Chef) and exposes some pretty pathetic practices at the school. I won't bother to explain, but let's just say elementary school bullshit is alive and well in culinary schools.
Strongly recommend the read. I own many of this author's other books, too, and find them generally good.
It's well written and goes into a lot of detail. The author paints a nice picture about the students and professors (who prefer to be addressed as Chef) and exposes some pretty pathetic practices at the school. I won't bother to explain, but let's just say elementary school bullshit is alive and well in culinary schools.
Strongly recommend the read. I own many of this author's other books, too, and find them generally good.
August 18, 2015
Loved this book. Perfect for those of us that love to cook and will never go to culinary school but want to live vicariously. It was funny at times and sad too, but it was always so interesting. I loved the Anthony Bourdain one but that is so old it was nice to read what is happening in the schools these days. If you want to know what really goes on at these cooking schools then I can't recommend enough that you read this one. I think about it every time I go to restaurant to eat!
October 6, 2013
I went to culinary school after this author did and she painted the most accurate picture of culinary school I ever read. Before I went I read the other culinary school books and they were all so stars in your eyes about it I couldn’t wait to go. Then I got there and it was yes chef, yes chef, anything you want chef, with them cursing Gordan Ramsay style and your friends helping you and other students salting your soup and stealing your mise because the competition was hard to get the best externship.
I graduated two years ago and I work on the line in a restaurant in New York and my chef ther said to read this. He said it was the most accurate book about culinary school and he is right. If you want to know what culinary school is like this is the book I know from first hand.
I graduated two years ago and I work on the line in a restaurant in New York and my chef ther said to read this. He said it was the most accurate book about culinary school and he is right. If you want to know what culinary school is like this is the book I know from first hand.
July 5, 2014
Yep that’s OCI or Oregon Culinary Institute for anyone not in Portland or anyone in Portland because as I found out when I tried to get a job, no one has ever heard of OCI. I didn’t know the author even though we went to the same school but I talked to her once in the student lounge. I lost my bus money and was asking if anyone could lend me a few bucks and she gave me some money and said to keep it. Real nice considering I didn’t know her. I got around to reading her book and that’s exactly what culinary school was like. I'd say the book was exactly what school was like and a really interesting read. If you want to know what it is really like at culinary school I’d read this. I’d really read this if you are thinking of going. I wish I had before I went there.
July 4, 2015
Best culinary school book since Anthony Bourdain. I could not put this page-turner down. I felt like a spy seeing everything that happened behind the scenes at culinary school and it was fascinating. After Anthony Bourdain, this is now my favorite food writer. I'll never look at my favorite chef or restaurant the same again. A real must-read of a book.
June 13, 2017
Well written, informative
This was a good look into the world of culinary school, warts and all. As she is a journalist, I wished the author had done even more research into how typical the smallish percentage of cooking vs lecture and cleaning were in this particular school compared to others. Do all schools just teach technique, or do others teach why, and do they teach creative techniques and how to develop recipes? It also seemed like she was the only one who was a very good student or really loved cooking. I kept thinking that her being older than the others, and experienced in the work world, changed her perspective greatly. How aware was she of how much this affected her experience?
This was a good look into the world of culinary school, warts and all. As she is a journalist, I wished the author had done even more research into how typical the smallish percentage of cooking vs lecture and cleaning were in this particular school compared to others. Do all schools just teach technique, or do others teach why, and do they teach creative techniques and how to develop recipes? It also seemed like she was the only one who was a very good student or really loved cooking. I kept thinking that her being older than the others, and experienced in the work world, changed her perspective greatly. How aware was she of how much this affected her experience?
December 11, 2012
S.J. Sebellin-Ross is a journalist by trade, but like so many of us, is also a foodie. She decided that she wanted to go to culinary school and write a blog (and subsequently this book) about her experience. I followed her blog while she was going and enjoyed it, so I picked up the book for the Kindle.
Sebellin-Ross approached a wide variety of culinary schools with her plan, finally settling on a small regional school. The plan was that she'd do the culinary school for the traditional 3 semesters (40 days per semester) and the baking school for 1. At the end of her time in the culinary portion, it seems obvious (from what she says in the book, anyway) that the school was having issues. It also seems that some of her classmates found out that she was blogging about the entire experience, and the offer to do the baking curriculum was rescinded.
I enjoyed this book, though I'd read many of the stories before on the blog. I think I was most surprised by how much "common" culinary schools don't teach...I guess it goes to show that in the industry, real world experience probably is best...or maybe a CIA education. The book doesn't talk about how some of the well-known schools differ from the one she went to, though it does say that most people who go to culinary school go to one like she did. All in all, while it sounds like Sebellin-Ross had some valuable experiences, it seems that nothing was what she...or I...expected. Guess I'll stick to being a home cook and baker and going out to eat at fancy restaurants. ;)
Sebellin-Ross approached a wide variety of culinary schools with her plan, finally settling on a small regional school. The plan was that she'd do the culinary school for the traditional 3 semesters (40 days per semester) and the baking school for 1. At the end of her time in the culinary portion, it seems obvious (from what she says in the book, anyway) that the school was having issues. It also seems that some of her classmates found out that she was blogging about the entire experience, and the offer to do the baking curriculum was rescinded.
I enjoyed this book, though I'd read many of the stories before on the blog. I think I was most surprised by how much "common" culinary schools don't teach...I guess it goes to show that in the industry, real world experience probably is best...or maybe a CIA education. The book doesn't talk about how some of the well-known schools differ from the one she went to, though it does say that most people who go to culinary school go to one like she did. All in all, while it sounds like Sebellin-Ross had some valuable experiences, it seems that nothing was what she...or I...expected. Guess I'll stick to being a home cook and baker and going out to eat at fancy restaurants. ;)
July 26, 2015
Liked the book, many good observations on the reality of culinary school but at times felt the author was drawing over generalized conclusions on the nature of culinary schools in general, that were in fact simply an artifact of her having chosen a bad culinary school for herself. In any case, worth reading particularly as both a contrast and comparison to the Ruhlman book.
December 17, 2014
I bought this book for my wife but it was so fascinating I ended up reading it before she did. Very interesting. Felt like it was a really honest account of culinary school. I'm very interested in cooking and it was fascinating to see exactly how chefs are trained. Highly recommend.
January 4, 2012
A quite interesting book that has genuinely affected my thoughts of culinary school. It was entertainingly written, and I would recommend it to other potential culinary students.
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February 25, 2016kindle 179 (food)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews