CIA vs. Cordon Bleu books

[Dante]

Seeking opinions on “Le Cordon Bleu’s Complete Cooking Techniques” vs. CIA’s “The Professional Chef”.

How do you see the two comparing against each other. If one has one, would one needs the other? If you see one as superior to the other, in what way(s) do you see that? What does one have that the other lacks? How do they compare? How do they contract?

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Dante

[Jakea222]

As a CIA chef it is nto hard for me to say that they BOTH are good. I think they both have great takes on things and I own all of the CIA Textbook books - not so much the home cook books. LCB are very good too they offer lots of pics and techniques. But if you look a the methods they very simalar. ACF certs are all very much by the CIA black and white ways though.

[Dante]

As a CIA chef it is not hard for me to say that they BOTH are good.

I'd already assumed as much.

I think they both have great takes on things and I own all of the CIA Textbook books - not so much the home cook books.

Yeah- I've got Professional Chef, plus the other books from my days at ACA in NJ, so I have familiarity with that one.

(and I'll admit that I have the CIA book companion to their "Cooking Secrets of the CIA" PBS series)

LCB are very good too they offer lots of pics and techniques. But if you look a the methods they very similar. ACF certs are all very much by the CIA black and white ways though.

Yep. Familiar with that too.

I was just wondering if it would prove worth it to get the LCB book if I already have Professional Chef (in terms of financial expenditure and also in terms of increasing the chances of my housemate doing bad things to me for further taxing our already-limited kitchen-bookshelf space).

Sincerely,

Dante

[WiscoNole]

As a CIA chef it is nto hard for me to say that they BOTH are good.  I think they both have great takes on things and I own all of the CIA Textbook books - not so much the home cook books.  LCB are very good too they offer lots of pics and techniques.  But if you look a the methods they very simalar.  ACF certs are all very much by the CIA black and white ways though.

←

Are you an alum or an actual chef instructor?

[Jakea222]

I am a chef alum - I think the LCB books are very good - I am a food geek so what one book does not show or have the others have. for what the CIA and LCB books don't have my amny other books do! The CIA books are a standard methodology and the way that most judging is done in competitions - by the book. But I like my Williams Sonoma, southern living and many others too!

[SundaySous]

I recently inquired about access to the digital library of the CIA. The reply I got was that it cost $900 per month and is geared towards corporations. The school that makes a collection like that more accessible to individuals is going to make serious longterm relationships with people all over the industry.

[Jakea222]

if you are a grad you can have access - it is part of the advantages of the school. The digital library is good, but more of a training for staff than pro chefs - as far as reaching out to the industry - it is all about money - not just the food biz - my wifes medical online stuff is a heck of a lot more than that.

[Dante]

  But I like my Williams Sonoma, southern living and many others too!

Quite so, our household's culinary library numbers slightly over 150 books currently- covering a rather wide area of topics.

i admit I haven't perused the Williams-Sonoma books What would you say to recommend them?

Sincerely,

Dante

[Jakea222]

They are ok - I am slowly getting these WS books that are rather large but talk more about the areas. France - Tuscany - US - Mexico - eyc - I am really getting into geographic cooking. I have been trying to speak some spanish ( I learned French long ago - no help now) with my lione cooks - El Salvadoran and Honduran and our dish washer is from Monterey MX so they have so interesting food bits - but the other hard bounds are pretty basic I got them at Sams long before CIA...

[SundaySous]

if you are a grad you can have access - it is part of the advantages of the school.  The digital library is good, but more of a training for staff than pro chefs -  as far as reaching out to the industry - it is all about money - not just the food biz - my wifes medical online stuff is a heck of a lot more than that.

←

Thanks for the heads up.

I wonder what the premiere chefs pre 1986 would of thought about the impact of the internet and digital media on the trade and training?

[Dante]

    They are ok

Just OK?

- I am slowly getting these WS books that are rather large but talk more about the areas.  France - Tuscany - US - Mexico - eyc - I am really getting into geographic cooking.

Yeah- I started going on a cuisines-of-the-world binge when I moved up here to New Hampshire from the DC area- while NH has a surprising range of options re:international cuisine, there were some styles I still missed, so I decided to try to learn them, and it's kind of mushroomed since.

I have been trying to speak some spanish ( I learned French long ago - no help now) with my lione cooks - El Salvadoran and Honduran and our dish washer is from Monterey MX

that's how I picked up a lot of my Spanish- having to communicate with the dishwashing staff at places I worked at.

but the other hard bounds are pretty basic I got them at Sams long before CIA...

Gotcha. Won't really make my priority-list, then.

(I have to be extra-extra discerning in my cookbook-purchasing- I m-i-g-h-t be able to wheedle *one* more bookshelf out of the rest of the household, but more would be pushing it)

Sincerely,

Dante

[Jakea222]

I picked up a Coastal Living Cookbook the other day. It is a magazine I guess - it was on a sale rack and I was a little taken aback by the recipes - they are really good and I have used 3 so far at the club - well - I tweaked them to meet my need but a good coastal cooking book. I also picked up a Europe's Master Chefs - it was also on sale but had some really good French recipes - the pics are amazing and the methods are very upscale chef level - not your home cook kind of book.

[Dante]

      I picked up a Coastal Living Cookbook the other day.  It is a magazine I guess - it was on a sale rack and I was a little taken aback by the recipes - they are really good and I have used 3 so far at the club - well - I tweaked them to meet my need but a good coastal cooking book.  I also picked up a Europe's Master Chefs - it was also on sale but had some really good French recipes - the pics are amazing and the methods are very upscale chef level - not your home cook kind of book.

Hmmm...(fights temptation to add more to the list...)

Ironically, since I last posted to this thread, one of my housemates brought home a copy of the Williams Sonoma Oils book that his mother had handed off to him, autographed by Chuck Williams, so it seems that my comment on the series invoked Finagle's Law ("The perversity of the universe tends to a maximum") to some extent.

sincerely,

Dante

[prasantrin]

Another question about CIA's Pro Chef books...

Over in this topic, Fat Guy mentions that although he has Pro Chef 8, he's still using Pro Chef 7.

Is there a big difference between the different Pro Chef editions in terms of the recipes they each offer? Intrigued by the corn bread recipe FG mentioned, I'm thinking of getting a copy--but do I get 7 or 8? Does one edition have more/fewer recipes than the other?

[Fat Guy]

Woops, I had just edited that post to correct my numbering. The version I've been using for years is Pro Chef 6. I later acquired Pro Chef 7 and last year I also got Pro Chef 8, but I've been slow to migrate. Back when Pro Chef 7 came out I heard chatter about how it was a step down from Pro Chef 6. I've heard more positive comments about Pro Chef 8, but I can't say I've performed a rigorous enough analysis of the books to have an opinion. Someday I will.

[Fat Guy]

P.S. as to the original question, unless there's a new edition of the LCB book that I haven't seen, I think there's really no comparison between the CIA and LCB books. The CIA book is something like three times as extensive as the LCB book. While the LCB book has nice pictures, it's just not the same category of reference.

[prasantrin]

So, 6 is better than 7, and 8 is probably better than 7, but not necessarily better than 6?

I just checked the Winnipeg Public Library, and they have the 7th and 8th editions, but no 6th. If I'm home next summer, I'll check them both out and see how they compare, then go with whichever I like best. I'll just pretend the 6th edition doesn't exist What I don't know won't hurt me!

[Fat Guy]

Pro Chef 6 has a slightly different title, "The New Professional Chef," so it might show up in a different search. In terms of differences, I can cite three specific issues that led me to stick with Pro Chef 6 when Pro Chef 7 came out: 1- I was up at the CIA for a class and one of the instructors told me he liked Pro Chef 6 better, 2- Pro Chef 6 is about 20% bigger than Pro Chef 7, and 3- for a couple of the recipes I use, the Pro Chef 6 formulas are more easily divisible on the fly than the Pro Chef 7 formulas. As for Pro Chef 8, I've just been too lazy to examine it, because I'm so used to Pro Chef 6. Pro Chef 8 is bigger than Pro Chef 7, though, for what it's worth.

[Dante]

P.S. as to the original question, unless there's a new edition of the LCB book that I haven't seen, I think there's really no comparison between the CIA and LCB books. The CIA book is something like three times as extensive as the LCB book. While the LCB book has nice pictures, it's just not the same category of reference.

Gotcha. Given the dwindling space I've got left on the cookbook shelves, I'll give the LCB book a miss.

Sincerely,

Dante

[Jon Tseng]

CIA aimed at professional chefs.

LCB aimed at home users.

Both good in their respective spheres. That pretty much sums it up.

[Dante]

CIA aimed at professional chefs.

LCB aimed at home users.

Both good in their respective spheres. That pretty much sums it up.

Gotcha.

Well, I'm the former who has since become the latter . This thread has convinced me to not bother with the LCB book. Not that I have any sort of negative opinion of it, mind you, I'm certain it's wonderful, but just not what I feel is a necessary addition to my culinary library.

Sincerely,

Dante