The fundamentals of culinary

The very first class i took when i entered culinary school was the fundamentals of culinary, the book we used called, On Cooking.  In this class you would learn the things like, knife cuts, food safety and sanitation, tools and equipment, flavor and flavoring, mother sauces and stock preparation, different cuts of meat, fruit, vegetables and a whole lot more.  This class is very important because it prepares you for future classes, i doubt very serious if a person flunked this class that they could or would even pass any class after this.  A few things that stood out to me was, 1. Knife Skills, the importance of this is so when the customer is eating the food you prepared they are chewing the same bite size every time they eat a particular item. 2. Utilizing every thing such as bones from meats and scrap vegetables to produce stock, such as chicken, beef or fish stock.  I had no idea how much stock was used in preparing everyday dishes, from soups, rice, sauces or braised dishes.  Next time a dish calls for water try using stock instead, it adds a whole new flavor to the dish. Prior to attending this school I had never even cut up a chicken, let me tell you, a person will get plenty of practice to master this skill in this class.  The book is very useful for people who want to learn some of the basics around the kitchen, gain knowlege on how to prepare some of the more simple dishes and learn the diferrent terms used around the kitchen.  Plus there are simple recipes in this book.