READ!

When asked to recommend a cookbook, any professional would certainly roll up their eyes at you. The list would simply be impossibly long.

At a recent book-buying trip I was sent to by the school, I was floored by the size of the publishing company warehouses in Singapore-- a couple required forklifts! For most of the venues, we had to skim through each and every shelf, go up and down what felt like hundreds of aisles, even climb ladders in search of material to add to CSB's already impressive collections. Benilde must have the most complete and best stocked LRC amongst the hotel and restaurant schools in the country.

I was also amused at some of the titles that actually saw print: How To Avoid Falling In Love With a Jerk (my Pulitzer Prize candidate!), How To Work For An Idiot, The Complete Gay Divorce... and those Dummies sure need to learn more than a thing or two!

The current issue of READ Magazine, a PowerBooks publication, features SHRIM faculty members and their top picks for cookbooks essential for the home kitchen as gathered by Joonee Garcia. My choice is DESSERT by Abigail Johnson, from the Williams-Sonoma series.
"This award-winning selection will equip the enthusiast with a strong repertoire of classics for all occasions. Instructions are clear, with information on ingredients that lists both volume and metric measures, and includes valuable tips for today's more discriminating home baker."