Book Title: 

Secrets of the Best Chefs– recipes, techniques, and tricks from America’s greatest cooks.

Point of View: 

The goal of the book is to teach home cooks confidence in the kitchen so they can learn to cook without having to “slavishly follow recipes.” It intends to achieve this worthy goal by having the reader follow the author, Adam Roberts, who considers himself a self-taught amateur cook in the kitchen, as he cooks his way across 11 states and 50 kitchens with some of the most accomplished professional and amateur chefs in the country.

Is It For You? 

If you are interested in insights into the cooking philosophies of famous chefs and want to pick up “kitchen know-how” along the way and don’t mind a cookbook that is also meant to be read than you should add this book to your collection! 

Get it from Amazon: SECRETS of the BEST CHEFS, the library, or your local bookseller.

Author: 

Adam Roberts of AmateurGourmet.com.

My Favorite Recipes: 

• "Olive Oil-Fried Eggs with a Crown of Herbs" by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse.
• "Creamed Corn (with Shallots and Garlic)" by Harold Dieterle, the first winner of TopChef.
• "Choi’s Favorite Banana Milk Shake" by Roy Choi of Kogi and currently Netflix's The Chef Show with John Favreau.
• "Orange, Yellow, and Purple Carrots Braised in Brown Butter" by Daniel Patterson of Coi. 
• "French Onion Soup" by Naomi Pomeroy, self-taught Chef owner of Beast in Portland and a great cookbook called Taste and Technique.

Publisher: 

Artisan, A Division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

Recipe Count: 

155

Other Key Features: 

The section titled “Ten Essential Rules for Cooking like a Chef” is awesome. Just this list is gold. But the explanations are just as important. Read them!

• Taste as you Go. 
• Put Ingredients on Display.
• If if looks Good before you Cook it, It will Taste Good after you Cook it. 
• Use your Internal Timer. 
• Control the Heat. 
• Use your Ears. 
• Don’t use Pepper they way you use Salt. 
• Use the Internet. 
• Clean with Fluidity. 
• Remember, everyone makes Mistakes.

Contributors

Jonathan Waxman * Angelish Wilson * Brandon Pettit * Alice Waters * Bobby Hellen * Lidia Bastianich * Grace Young * Peter Dale * Einat Admony * Nancy Silverton * Harold Dieterle * Vinny Dotolo & Jon Shook * Gina DePalma * Melissa Clark * Tim Artz * Rebecca Charles * Gary Danko * Alex Raij & Eder Montero * Alain Allegretti * Samin Nosrat * Anthony Martin * Ana Jovancicevic * Sara Moulton * Marco Canora * Roy Choi * Michel Richard * Susan Feniger * Christoper Israel * Tony Mantuano * Renee Erickson * Omar Powell * Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez * Kevin Davis * Asha Gomez * Chuy Valencia * Tom Douglas * Anne Quatrano *

Hugh Dufour * Michael While * Amanda Cohen * Linton Hopkins * Charles Phan * Anita Lo * Daniel Patterson * Curtis Duffy *

Jose Andres * Naomi Pomeroy * Hugh Acheson * Nils Noren & Dave Arnold * Elizabeth Falkner

Favorite Quotes On Cooking: 

“To become a great cook, you have to tap into the part of you that knows, on a deep level, what you want something to taste like and then get it to taste that way.”

Favor Quotes On Spices: 

“Your spice cabinet should contain whole nutmeg, cinnamon, ground cloves, chili powder, smoked paprika, regular paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and fennel seeds. It’s important to replace these every 6 to 12 months, because, like all foods, they lose their potency over time.”

Photography: 

Location Photography by Elizabeth Leitzell

Styled Food Photography by Johnny Miller