On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals, 5th Edition

Book Preface

Learning to cook is much more than simply learning to follow a recipe. Consequently, On Cooking, Fifth Edition Update, is not a cookbook or a collection of recipes. It is a carefully designed text intended to teach you the fundamentals of the culinary arts and to prepare you for a rewarding career in the food service industry.

This book is extensively illustrated with photographs and line illustrations to help you identify foods and equipment. The goal of On Cooking is to focus on general procedures, highlighting fundamental principles and skills, whether it be for preparing a yeast bread or grilling a piece of fish. We discuss both the how and why of cooking. Only then are specific applications and sample recipes given. Most recipes include photographs of the finished dish, ready for service. Many procedures are illustrated with step-by-step photographs as well. Numerous hotel and restaurant chefs throughout the country contributed recipes to this book, usually accompanied by photographs of the dishes as prepared in their kitchens. These recipes and illustrations enable you to explore different techniques and presentation styles. Teaching professionals from culinary schools across the country also share some of their most successful recipes in this new edition.

In order to provide you with a sense of the rich traditions of cookery, informative sidebars on food history, chef biographies and other topics are scattered throughout the book. Also included are several short essays written by prominent culinarians on topics ranging from tempering chocolate to tasting spicy foods. Sidebars that relate to flavors and flavorings have been added throughout the book to enhance your understanding of key cooking ingredients.

We wish you much success in your culinary career and hope that this text will continue to inform and inspire you long after graduation.