Dexter

What Alton did, he did really well, from the episodes that I saw. I haven't seen any of the last 3 seasons, but loved the "early years" for precisely the reasons that have already been stated by others. I do wish he'd have tried to do some things like sous vide, clarifications, or revisited some of the episodes that he said "more to come" on (maybe he did? Like I said - I haven't seen the last 3 years worth). Part of the brilliance of his show was taking expensive techniques and ingredients and making them practical for the home cook. Taking semi-primal cuts of beef from a big box store and breaking it down into proper steaks and chains, building a cold-smoker, etc, all were inspirational and have clearly shaped my kitchen habits. I too have welding gloves, a hardware store butane torch, bricks in the oven, a clay-pot smoker, and half a dozen other DIY contraptions on my balcony and in my kitchen precisely because he showed me what could be done for much cheaper than retail. FN has become essentially unwatchable for me, and I don't regret letting cable go when I did. Now that they have spun off "cooking" to another channel entirely (available in my area only with a costly "upgrade" in service), it's truly dead to me. Something slightly horrific about Bravo being the de facto Food Television now, but here we are. Here's hoping that his new project finds his old spark. Best of luck to him, and thanks for some truly excellent television over the years.

Thank you very much Chezcherie. And congratulations to you too! Not a lot of people really commit to taking the plunge and putting their knowledge to the test. The basic exam is no chump, as you surely saw. Are you going to keep going with them?

I would imagine that the alcohol bath would be absolutely necessary for efficient heat transfer. I'm not one of the physical chemists that seem to be floating around here, but even with regular ice and a metal bowl, having a bit of water for the bath seems to make all the difference when I am trying to chill something down quickly. The dry ice I have seen used all looks like extruded rods, and would make contact with a vessel irregular with a lot of space between relatively small points of actual contact. Just an observation and guess, with no rigor at all, for what that's worth.

Hey Violetfox - the CMS process really is a journey of passion and tears. I just passed the Advanced exam this past year (on my second attempt), and it was a long haul, but one that I have honestly loved. The web page for the court has suggested reading lists for the first 3 levels, and I can honestly say that the books helped me a great deal. The academic portion is just that - being able to study, memorize, and even visualize. For someone like me (a serious geek), it was not a difficult task. I've always been the kind of guy to read everything I could get my hands on, and am always looking for something new. The harder parts were the tasting portions (blind tastings, common varietals, be able to pick out all the pertinent information _quickly_ and in an examination setting), and the service portion. I moved from an area that really didn't have a lot of fine dining, and what was there was definitely a long long way from Swiss service. Getting that kind of exposure, coupled with the opportunity to taste as much as you possibly can, is critical to the higher exams. The really excellent thing about the organization that I've come to learn is that it's a group of people that are, for the most part, really very supportive of each other and people interested in learning more. If you are in (or close enough to) a big city, there are almost certainly informal tasting groups for both the MW and MS courses that you can participate in. These people are also frequently great resources for trading books (many of which are out of print or prohibitively expensive to collect on your own), and study / quiz / practice partners. Books that I can recommend off hand for the first exam (that I used, and were perfectly adequate for both the first and second exams): About Wine by Henderson and Rex. This is designed to be a text for a university level class, and reads like it. But, the information is clearly presented, the chapters drill down into the history, laws, varietals, and basic terroirs of each of the major regions. The indexes are particularly useful (listings of all the AVA's as of the printing, official classifications of the Medoc, Sauternes and Barsac, Graves, St Emilion, etc). I have the first edition, but I believe a second was released this year. Drawbacks? It's a textbook, and priced accordingly. Also, not going to give you a ton of detail if you are interested in any particular aspect of either the geography, appellation, or anything like that. Birds-eye view of the universe of wine, if you will. The World Atlas of Wine by Mitchell Beazley. This is an encyclopedic book that mostly describes appellation by appellation the geography, common soil types, grape types, and a handfull of representative (or more likely famous) wineries from each. The maps are first rate, and the book covers every appellation you will be tested on for the first 2 exams (and, all of them I got on Advanced, but that, I am told, was just luck of the draw). The Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson. Not a book that you read cover to cover. This thing is essentially an encyclopedia of wine, and absolutely fantastic. It's my go-to book to quickly look up just about anything. You will find all sorts of things in here, even if just a couple of sentences on each. The sheer concentration of information in the book is staggering. My only gripe about it is that Ms Robinson injects a pretty hefty dose of personal opinion in places where I'm just looking for facts. That quibble, however, doesn't even slow me down in using, and heartily recommending the book. Couple that with the unbelievably awesome fact that she sites primary literature references for tons of the entries, and you have a fantastically useful book. It's a little pricey at just over $40 on Amazon, but well worth it. Hope this is even a little helpful!