What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Cook Like a Top Chef
The number one food show on cable TV presents the ultimate guide to becoming a Top Chef. This cookbook and culinary primer in one features recipes from all six seasons of the show and season one of Top Chef: Masters , along with insider techniques from everyone's favorite contestants and judges. Covering everything from knife skills to sauces and sous-vide, How to Cook Like a Top Chef teaches aspiring chefs what it takes to be a star in the kitchen. Packed with exclusive contentincluding a foreword by Top Chef: Masters winner Rick Bayless, original recipes from contestants, behind-the-scenes interviews, juicy trivia, and tons of tips and tricksthis volume is as indispensable on the cook's countertop as it is essential reading for Top Chef fans.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published July 14, 2010
34 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 12, 2011
I love the show. I love the recipes. I love the chefs. It could use more pictures though...
January 14, 2011
***WARNING: Long, personal anecdote ahead. For the review, skip ahead to the noted section.***
When I was in my early twenties, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange at my church. We were supposed to give our recipient a small gift every Sunday in December until the big reveal and the final, big gift at the Christmas party.
Week One went by, and I got nothing. During Week Two, I stood about empty-handed and smiling wanly as my friends squealed over their stocking stuffers, guessing who their Santas were. By the time Week Three hit, I finally received something: one of those 99¢ plastic canes filled with M&Ms. With gritted teeth behind a forced smile, I swore that I would have vengeance if the final gift didn't make up for my December of humiliation.
The party finally rolled around, and everyone started revealing themselves to their recipients. I stood forlornly in the corner, fuming as the festive air of the room was punctuated with shouts of joy and surprise.
Then, my friend H revealed himself. He approached me sheepishly. "Merry Christmas, I'm your Secret Santa, hope you like it," he rattled nervously. He handed me a hastily-wrapped package.
I carefully undid the paper (I'm not a tearer) to reveal a big, paperback book. Mexican Cooking for Dummies, the cover read.
I was furious.
I didn't know how to cook; didn't really care much about it, and was he trying to say he thought I was stupid? Still, I didn't want to cause a scene or seem ungracious.
"Thanks, it's great," I managed between bared teeth.
When I got home, I tossed the book onto a bookshelf and forgot about it.
But, months later, guilt began to set in. He was still fairly new to our church, and my reception to his gift hadn't been very gracious. And he didn't really have to participate at all.
I thought I'd show him that I really was grateful by putting his gift to good use. It was almost May, and I thought Cinco de Mayo would be the perfect opportunity to put a Mexican cookbook to good use. But I already had plans for the fifth, so I planned a Doce de Mayo celebration instead, and invited H and a bunch of our friends.
I planned my first-ever meal, complete with appetizers, drinks, soup, main courses, sides, and a dessert. I bought all of the ingredients. I started cooking.
The party was a hit (despite the fact that lunch was served about two hours late), and I was hooked on cooking. And I have H to thank for it. What I thought was a lame gift turned out to be a life-changer.
And, ten years later, H strikes again. He and his girlfriend (also an H) got me How to Cook Like a Top Chef for Christmas.
***REVIEW***
I've never before read a cookbook cover to cover, and certainly not in two sittings. But I am a huge "Top Chef" fan, and this book has it all. It's the latest "Top Chef" cookbook, and it's filled with recipes, information, technique tips, interviews with chef'testants, and mouth-wateringly beautiful color photos on every page.
It's beautiful and glossy, and has recipes that are simple to make for the novice home chef as well as more challenging recipes for the self-made culinary artist.
My only tiny, tiny nitpick is that there just aren't enough recipes. There's plenty of material there for the "Top Chef" fan, but not quite enough for the dedicated foodie. I'd rather have another recipe than read about chef'testants' tattoos.
H, H, and I are planning to get together soon to try out some of these recipes. And if the fate of Mexican Cooking for Dummies is any indicator, then How to Cook Like a Top Chef is going to end up a beat-up volume with food-stained and water-blistered pages -- true signs of love in the kitchen.
When I was in my early twenties, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange at my church. We were supposed to give our recipient a small gift every Sunday in December until the big reveal and the final, big gift at the Christmas party.
Week One went by, and I got nothing. During Week Two, I stood about empty-handed and smiling wanly as my friends squealed over their stocking stuffers, guessing who their Santas were. By the time Week Three hit, I finally received something: one of those 99¢ plastic canes filled with M&Ms. With gritted teeth behind a forced smile, I swore that I would have vengeance if the final gift didn't make up for my December of humiliation.
The party finally rolled around, and everyone started revealing themselves to their recipients. I stood forlornly in the corner, fuming as the festive air of the room was punctuated with shouts of joy and surprise.
Then, my friend H revealed himself. He approached me sheepishly. "Merry Christmas, I'm your Secret Santa, hope you like it," he rattled nervously. He handed me a hastily-wrapped package.
I carefully undid the paper (I'm not a tearer) to reveal a big, paperback book. Mexican Cooking for Dummies, the cover read.
I was furious.
I didn't know how to cook; didn't really care much about it, and was he trying to say he thought I was stupid? Still, I didn't want to cause a scene or seem ungracious.
"Thanks, it's great," I managed between bared teeth.
When I got home, I tossed the book onto a bookshelf and forgot about it.
But, months later, guilt began to set in. He was still fairly new to our church, and my reception to his gift hadn't been very gracious. And he didn't really have to participate at all.
I thought I'd show him that I really was grateful by putting his gift to good use. It was almost May, and I thought Cinco de Mayo would be the perfect opportunity to put a Mexican cookbook to good use. But I already had plans for the fifth, so I planned a Doce de Mayo celebration instead, and invited H and a bunch of our friends.
I planned my first-ever meal, complete with appetizers, drinks, soup, main courses, sides, and a dessert. I bought all of the ingredients. I started cooking.
The party was a hit (despite the fact that lunch was served about two hours late), and I was hooked on cooking. And I have H to thank for it. What I thought was a lame gift turned out to be a life-changer.
And, ten years later, H strikes again. He and his girlfriend (also an H) got me How to Cook Like a Top Chef for Christmas.
***REVIEW***
I've never before read a cookbook cover to cover, and certainly not in two sittings. But I am a huge "Top Chef" fan, and this book has it all. It's the latest "Top Chef" cookbook, and it's filled with recipes, information, technique tips, interviews with chef'testants, and mouth-wateringly beautiful color photos on every page.
It's beautiful and glossy, and has recipes that are simple to make for the novice home chef as well as more challenging recipes for the self-made culinary artist.
My only tiny, tiny nitpick is that there just aren't enough recipes. There's plenty of material there for the "Top Chef" fan, but not quite enough for the dedicated foodie. I'd rather have another recipe than read about chef'testants' tattoos.
H, H, and I are planning to get together soon to try out some of these recipes. And if the fate of Mexican Cooking for Dummies is any indicator, then How to Cook Like a Top Chef is going to end up a beat-up volume with food-stained and water-blistered pages -- true signs of love in the kitchen.
January 21, 2015
A gift for Christmas, it was better than I thought it would be. I'm not a big fan of the show, so my expectations were pretty low.
I could easily have done without the little bios and other nonsense (two pages on chefs' tattoos--really?), and the technique portions were pretty basic, but many of the recipes looked very interesting. The downside would be that unless you've easy access to Uni and other hard to find, exotic (re: expensive!) ingredients, some recipes may be inaccessible for the ordinary home cook.
One thing that I still haven't figured out, and maybe I missed it in the beginning, was that some recipes are marked as "Winners" while others have no such designation. Does this mean that these are the recipes that didn't win? I'm skipping those.
I could easily have done without the little bios and other nonsense (two pages on chefs' tattoos--really?), and the technique portions were pretty basic, but many of the recipes looked very interesting. The downside would be that unless you've easy access to Uni and other hard to find, exotic (re: expensive!) ingredients, some recipes may be inaccessible for the ordinary home cook.
One thing that I still haven't figured out, and maybe I missed it in the beginning, was that some recipes are marked as "Winners" while others have no such designation. Does this mean that these are the recipes that didn't win? I'm skipping those.
February 25, 2011
Are you a fan of Top Chef? Then this cookbook is for you! This books is filled with recipes from some of your favorite cheftestants, along with bios, interviews and facts from the show. I gave it three because most of the recipes in there I would never make. THey're either very complicated or unhealthy. However the Top Chef fan in me enjoyed reading this!
March 6, 2012
This is a great cookbook for someone who may be intimidated be gourmet cooking but is willing to try. This book really broke the recipes down into manageable pieces without being condescending. There is an extensive skills and vocabulary glossary that was the most helpful part to me. If only the book came with all the proper equipment necessary to properly execute the recipes.
February 25, 2011
I just loved the show so it was fun to see the recipes. I wish that the selection of the recipes was just a little different. However, I loved the book. It was truly made for fans not so much for foodies.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews