80 hrs, is that it? Nah just kidding. You can watch and learn while on the job, but you can also read too....
One of most intelligent, well written books on stocks, sauces and the like is "Sauces" by James Peterson. Gold mine of information in there. If that book is not on my nightable at home, it's in the john. Escoffier is old, but there's still alot of valuable information in there. Never let anyone tell you that a flour thickened sauce is inferior to a cream reduction sauce. In terms of calories, cost and flavour, a well prepared flour thickened sauce can beat a greasy cream reduction any day. Escoffier is still relevent, just have to use your imagination and "tweak" things a bit though. Start off with those two books and it will give you a good base to build on. CIA's "Professional Chef" is pretty darn good too, as is Pauli's "Classical Cooking the Modern Way.
Hope this helps |