CIA

[Malawry]

Hi Michael,

I'm curious how CIA changed you. How did you cook, think about food, work in a kitchen before and after you went there?

[Michael Ruhlman]

It changed pretty much everything. not just cooking, though it did that. I went in as a hobby cook, I needed a recipe, I didn't know what a proper stock tasted like, I hadn't a clue how to salt food, let along make a sauce, braise a lamb shank properly, etc. But in giving me a culinary foundation in the basics, how to salt, make a stock a sauce etc, it allowed me to go into any kitchen anywhere and feel at home, I could write about it in ways that people had yet to write about the work of cooking. More: it taught me how to focus and how to avoid laziness, and excuses. There are no excuses in a kitchen, it's either done on time or it's not, you're either there or you're not. Nothing else is relevant. I either wrote the book or I didn't, I either got that day's 1400 words done or I didn't--and I'd be damned if I got beat.

Once I learned the basics, I could go anywhere. I loved that place and still do. Very important place in my life. Thanks for asking.