Recommendations based on The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of Americaby Michael Ruhlman

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

    by Anthony Bourdain
    A humorous and unflinching account of life in restaurant kitchens, exploring the culture and camaraderie of the culinary world.

    A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute ... (Goodreads)

  2. Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

    by Ruth Reichl
    A restaurant critic's journey to understand the art of food and dining, while hiding her true identity.

    Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be ... (Goodreads)

  3. Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany

    by Bill Buford
    A culinary journey of personal & professional growth, from apprentice to master.

    The book that helped define a genre: Heat is a beloved culinary classic, an adventure in the kitchen and into Italian cuisine, by Bill Buford, author of Dirt . Bill Buford was a highly acclaimed ... (Barnes & Noble)

  4. Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table

    by Ruth Reichl
    Culinary and cultural exploration of the world, experienced through food.

    In this delightful sequel to her bestseller Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichl returns with more tales of love, life, and marvelous meals. Comfort Me with Apples picks up Reichl's story in 1978, when ... (Goodreads)

  5. A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines

    by Anthony Bourdain
    A globe-trotting exploration of exotic dishes and cultures, told with wit and humor.

    From the star of, No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain's, New York Times-,bestselling chronicle of travelling the world in search the globe's greatest cuilnary adventures The only thing "gonzo ... (Goodreads)

  6. Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

    by Ruth Reichl
    A memoir of a food critic's childhood, filled with eccentric characters and culinary adventures that shaped her love for food and writing.

    At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted ... (Goodreads)

  7. Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef

    by Gabrielle Hamilton
    A memoir of a chef's journey from childhood to adulthood, exploring the struggles of creating an independent life.

    Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Blood, Bones & Butter follows an ... (Goodreads)

  8. My Life in France

    by Julia Child
    A memoir of Julia Child's life in Paris, cooking and exploring French cuisine.

    The bestselling story of Julia's years in France–and the basis for Julie & Julia , starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams--in her own words. Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach ... (Goodreads)

  9. Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

    by Anthony Bourdain
    A journey through the culinary world, exploring the chefs and cultures that inspire its cuisine.

    A lot has changed since Kitchen Confidential. For the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business as a whole—and for Anthony Bourdain. Medium Raw explores those changes, taking the ... (Goodreads)

  10. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

    by Marcella Hazan
    An exploration of Italian cuisine, featuring time-honored recipes and techniques.

    The most important, consulted, and enjoyed Italian cookbook of all time, from the woman who introduced Americans to a whole new world of Italian food. Essentials of Italian Cooking is a culinary ... (Goodreads)

  11. Momofuku

    by David Chang
    A memoir and cookbook by the founder of Momofuku, detailing his journey to becoming a successful chef and restaurateur.

    Never before has there been a phenomenon like Momofuku. A once-unrecognizable word, it's now synonymous with the award-winning restaurants of the same name in New York City: Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssäm ... (Goodreads)

  12. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

    by Cheryl Strayed
    Collection of heartfelt advice from a wise and compassionate storyteller.

    Life can be hard: your lover cheats on you; you lose a family member; you can’t pay the bills - and it can be great: you've had the hottest sex of your life; you get that plum job; you muster the ... (Goodreads)

  13. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

    by Jon Krakauer
    A gripping narrative of the 1996 expedition on Mount Everest that resulted in tragedy.

    When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. ... (Goodreads)

  14. The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

    by America's Test Kitchen
    A comprehensive guide to cooking, featuring over 1,000 recipes.

    A revision of the Fall 2005 BookSense pick and bestseller, this edition features a new light recipe chapter, more than 1500 color photos, heavy duty paper and binding, over 2 dozen new recipes, and ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

    by Anne Fadiman
    Exploring the cultural divide between the Hmong people and the medical establishment.

    Lia Lee was born in 1982 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

    by David McCullough
    Story of the American artists, writers, scientists, and others who flocked to Paris in the 19th century, searching for inspiration and creativity.

    The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring - and until now, untold - story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set ... (Goodreads)

  17. I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking

    by Alton Brown
    A humorous and informative guide to cooking, focusing on the science behind heat and its effects on food.

    Alton Brown explores the science behind breads, cakes, cookies, pies, and custards, explaining it in his own inimitable style. Recipes cover all the basics, from pie crust to funnel cake to cheese ... (Barnes & Noble)

  18. 1776

    by David McCullough
    A riveting account of the events leading up to and during the American Revolution.

    In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American ... (Goodreads)

  19. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

    by Michael Pollan
    A guide to mindful eating, exploring the connection between health, environment and culture.

    A DEFINITIVE COMPENDIUM OF FOOD WISDOM Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings a welcome simplicity to our ... (Goodreads)

  20. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

    by John Heilemann
    A behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 US Presidential Election and the people who ran it.

    “It’s one of the best books on politics of any kind I’ve read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with Catch 22 .” — The Financial Times “It transports you to a parallel universe in which ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

    by David McCullough
    An in-depth account of the construction of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge.

    Published on the fortieth anniversary of its initial publication, this edition of the classic book contains a new Preface by David McCullough, “one of our most gifted living writers” (,The Washington ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Death and Life of Great American Cities

    by Jane Jacobs
    Exposes the flaws of urban planning, advocating for a more organic approach.

    A direct and fundamentally optimistic indictment of the short-sightedness and intellectual arrogance that has characterized much of urban planning in this century, The Death and Life of Great ... (Goodreads)

  23. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

    by David Simon
    A year-long journey with Baltimore homicide detectives as they solve murders and navigate the city's complex social and political landscape.

    From the creator of HBO's, The Wire, the classic book about homicide investigation that became the basis for the hit television show. The scene is Baltimore. Twice every three days another citizen is ... (Goodreads)

  24. Think Like a Freak

    by Steven D. Levitt
    How to approach life's problems with a fresh perspective and solve them with unconventional solutions.

    The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics changed the way we see the world, exposing the hidden side of just about everything. Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss

    by Edmund de Waal
    A journey through time, tracing the history of a family's collection of art and their struggles with loss.

    The Ephrussis were a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who “burned like a comet” in nineteenth-century Paris and Vienna society. Yet by the end of World War II, almost ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron

    by Bethany McLean
    The dramatic story of the Enron scandal, exposing the hidden corruption behind the company's meteoric rise and fall.

    There were dozens of books about Watergate, but only All the President's Men gave readers the full story, with all the drama and nuance and exclusive reporting. And thirty years later, if you're ... (Goodreads)

  27. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

    by Seth Godin
    A guide to standing out and becoming remarkable in the modern business world.

    The acclaimed Wall Street Journal and Business Week Bestseller. You're either a Purple Cow or you're not. You're either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice. What do Starbucks and JetBlue and ... (Goodreads)

  28. Washington: A Life

    by Ron Chernow
    Intimate biography of George Washington, the nation's first president.

    A gripping portrait of the first president of the United States from the author of, Alexander Hamilton, the New York Times bestselling biography that inspired the musical., Celebrated biographer Ron ... (Barnes & Noble)

  29. Joy of Cooking

    by Irma S. Rombauer
    A comprehensive guide to cooking techniques, recipes and culinary wisdom.

    In the nearly ninety years since Irma S. Rombauer self-published the first three thousand copies of, Joy of Cooking, in 1931, it has become the kitchen bible, with more than 20 million copies in ... (Goodreads)

  30. In a Sunburned Country

    by Bill Bryson
    Exploration of the unique and diverse land, people and animals of Australia.

    A CLASSIC FROM THE, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF, ONE SUMMER , Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion along the ... (Goodreads)