The Making of a Chef

Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America

By: Michael Ruhlman

Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

In the ultimate food-lover's fantasy, journalist Michael Ruhlman dons chef's jacket and houndstooth-check pants to join the students in Skills One at the Culinary Institute of America, the most influential cooking school in the country. His goal is to document the training of America's chefs from the first classroom to the Culinary's final kitchen, the American Bounty Restaurant. The result becomes more than a rote reportage of a school for cooks. Ruhlman learns to cook as though his future depends upon it, and this complete immersion enables him to create the most vivid and energetic memoir of a culinary education on record.

©1997 by Michael Ruhlman (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Wonderful material, terrible narration

Back when you could actually buy books that were Kindle "text to speech" enabled, I listened to them all the time. "Doesn't the computer voice bother you?" everyone asked. It didn't, not a bit. I say this to offer proof that I have a very high tolerance for a range of narration styles.
That said, this narrator is driving me crazy. His voice is so monotonous that I have trouble telling where his sentences end and another begins. Look through his other work, you will see that he tends to narrate history books. Enough said.
I will struggle through this book based solely on my interest in the topic.

Great content, didn't like the narration

I really liked this book but I found the narrator irritating. He has a voice better suited for reading news.The problem is that since this book was published, Michael Ruhlman has become a well know food celebrity. He should do this audio book over and read it himself. He has a great voice. I bought Medium Raw and if anyone but Tony Bourdain had read it I would have been very disappointed. It wasn't a horrible experience but it always took me a few minutes to get used to the voice when rejoining the book. If Ruhlman read this book I would buy it a second time for sure.

Fun, interesting book--terrible narration

The book's subject--a writer going thru Culinary Institute training--is great and the story is interesting. Plus you get some fun cooking tips! The narration is awful--over-articulated and lacking emotion. The guy reading this should stick to technical manuals.

Maybe from a nurse’s perspective, loved his shared journey.

This would be a great book for teens before entering specific training. The art of customer service applies to any field.

Great book. Not so great narrator.

Really enjoyed the content, but found the narrator barely tolerable: you might enjoy it more in non-audio form better.

Fascinating but probably needs updating

I played this at 1.3x. Any slower would have bored me. There’s lots of information I can use in my cooking and writing but would probably consult the book further for details I couldn’t catch in the audio.

An Excellent listen for the Culinary Curious

Cooking Under Fire set my then 6yrold son on the path to the cooking excellence

mind of a chef

I downloaded this book cuz I started watching the the bear on Hulu and I really wanted to get the full meaning and hear the mind of a chef and what goes through them and the trials and tribulations in this book did not disappoint

Fascinating

Very well read. Great insight to a world many people brush up against but know nothing about. Really enjoyed it.

Be careful...

I quite enjoyed hearing all the little details that go into the making of a chef at the CIA but I don't think it is for everyone. Even if you think you are interested please listen to the preview as I had a difficult time listening to the narrator. VERY DRY, took me a couple of hours to get passed the narrators monotone emotionless voice.