The Making of a Cookbecame an instant classic upon its publication in 1971. Since then much has changed in the way America cooks and The New Making of a Cookmeets these changes head-on. This fully revised edition teaches every technique used in todayand#18;s homes and professional kitchens, from julienning vegetables to roasting meats to steaming fish to baking bread. With years of experience teaching Americaand#18;s top chefs how to cook, Madeleine knows what works and why.

Today's cooking is much more heart-healthy, and The New Making of a Cookis filled with low-fat cooking techniques, along with hundreds of recipes that extract maximum flavor from the least required amount of fat (though culinary indulgences still remain). In addition to techniques and recipes, The New Making of a Cooktells the important and#19;whysand#20; of cooking-why meats brown in the pan; why egg whites stiffen when they are beaten.

The New Making of a Cookis an extraordinary and indispensable reference from an extraordinary teacher. Completely rewritten for todayand#18;s cook, it will become a classic all over again.

The New Making of a Cook is a handbook for good, hands-on cooking, offering a variety of styles. Madeleine explains each and every preparation and cooking technique worth knowing in today's kitchen, from julienning vegetables to roasting meats, from microwaving whole fish to baking bread, from deglazing a pan to boning a chicken, complete with step-by-step line drawings. For Madeleine, hand techniques still reign supreme over the machine; nothing can beat a cook's touch for determining when a cake is ready or when a steak is done, or a sharp eye to perceive when a sauce has achieved the perfect consistency. Madeleine takes the time to provide all the descriptive cues necessary for the cook to use his or her own determination as to whether it's time to move on to the next step or whether the dish is done. Understanding ingredients and how they react in combination or when subjected to heat is a big part of becoming an experienced cook. The New Making of a Cook tells the important whats and whys of cooking: What's the difference between mono- and polyunsaturated fats? What happens when fruits ripen? Why do egg whites stiffen when they are beaten? Knowing the answers to these and other questions will help the cook develop culinary judgment and the ability to troubleshoot a recipe.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 1173-1180) and index.

Madeleine Kamman has been a four-star restaurateur, a PBS cooking show host, and co-founder and director of The School for American Chefs, a graduate program for professional chefs. She is the author of numerous cookbooks, and lives in St. Helena, California.