Michael Ruhlman

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Michael Carl Ruhlman (born July 28, 1963 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American author. He has written 12 books of mostly nonfiction, the best known of which have been in collaboration with American chefs.

1 Personal
2 Career
- 2.1 Television
3 Bibliography
4 Links

[edit] Personal

Ruhlman grew up in Cleveland and was educated at University School, a private boys' day school in Cleveland's suburbs, and at Duke University, from which he graduated in 1985.

[edit] Career

Rulhman worked a series of odd jobs (including a brief stint at The New York Times) and traveled before returning to his hometown in 1991, to work for a local magazine.

While working at the magazine, Ruhlman wrote an article about his old high school and its new headmaster, which he expanded into his first book, Boys Themselves: A Return to Single-Sex Education (1996).

For his second book, The Making of a Chef (1997), Ruhlman enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, taking a variety of classes but not graduating, to produce a first-person account -- of the techniques, personalities, and mindsets -- of culinary education at the prestigious chef's school. The success of this book produced two follow-ups, The Soul of a Chef (2000) and The Reach of a Chef (2006).

Ruhlman has also collaborated with chef Thomas Keller to produce the cookbooks The French Laundry Cookbook (1999) and Bouchon (2004); with French chef Eric Ripert and Colombian artist Valentino Cortazar to produce the lavish coffee-table book A Return to Cooking (2002); and with Michigan chef Brian Polcyn to produce Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing (2005).

In 2007, he produced "The Elements of Cooking" based on the structure of the classic grammar book "The Elements of Style." The book included essays about the importance of fundamentals in cooking such as heat, salt and stock, along with a reference guide to cooking terms. Much of the insight in the book is based on his previous food-related experiences at the CIA and from working with celebrity chefs.

[edit] Television

Ruhlman has acted as a judge on the PBS reality show Cooking Under Fire and on The Next Iron Chef. He has also made several appearances in shows hosted by Anthony Bourdain. In Bourdain's A Cook's Tour he joined Bourdain and Eric Ripert for a meal at Thomas Keller's The French Laundry restaurant. In Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations he appeared in two episodes, one devoted to Las Vegas and one devoted to Ruhlman's native Cleveland.

[edit] Bibliography

"The Elements of Cooking" (2007)
The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen (2006)
House: A Memoir (2005)
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing (2005) by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn
Bouchon (2004) by Thomas Keller and Jeffrey Cerciello, with Susie Heller and Michael Ruhlman
Walk On Water: Inside an Elite Pediatric Surgical Unit (2003)
A Return to Cooking (2002), with Eric Ripert and Valentino Cortazar
Wooden Boats (2001)
The Soul of a Chef (2000)
The French Laundry Cookbook (1999) by Thomas Keller, with Susie Heller and Michael Ruhlman
The Making of a Chef (1997)
Boys Themselves (1996)