Culinary Homeschooling, Part One

Ok, I am just being silly here. Thanks to the wonderland known as Ebay I have in my possession my first culinary school textbook. Yep, and it is nothing like I expected. I imagined recipes for amazingly difficult foods and detailed instructions on super fancy plating techniques. Nope. Nothing like that.

 

This book is the real deal. Food history. Sanitation and food safety. Culinary mathematics (yuck). Food costs. Nutrition. Menu planning. Many many chapters on the different categories of food. 1080 pages of....... textbook. What have I done? In all seriousness, my plan is to read this book, cover to cover, and see what I missed out on never having gone to culinary school. 

Obviously, my Culinary Homeschool experience is going to start with Chapter 1- Professionalism. In other words, the history, tradition and expectations of culinary professionals. What did I learn so far?

• The brigade- a system of staffing a kitchen so that each worker is assigned a set of specific tasks; often related by cooking method, equipment, or the type of food being prepared.
• The difference between a gourmet and a gourmand.
• The three compartment sink.
• All about macronutrients and micronutrients.
• The differences between a static menu, a cycle menu, a market menu and a hybrid menu.

Just a couple chapters in I am actually a little bit intimidated by this immense book. Thirty five chapters cover every culinary subject imaginable to me. I have no plans to pursue a professional cooking career but I figure it can't hurt to spend some quality time with this book and I know I will learn a lot. At least I know there won't be any TESTS!

Oh, and before I forget- I titled this "Part One" in the hopes that you will continue to follow me on my Culinary Homeschool Project. What do you think I will discover in Part Two?