Salt, Sweat & Steam: The Fiery Education of an Accidental Chef

High pressure. Hot kitchens. A memoir of ambition, belonging, and coming-of-age in America’s premier culinary school.

“Her fast-moving coming-of-age memoir will appeal to anyone who’s been curious about culinary school.” — Eater

“What truly makes Salt, Sweat & Steam exceptional is that it is told from the point of view of a young, female, Trinidadian student. It is a fascinating narrative that is a welcome addition to the list of coming-of-age tales.” — Jessica B. Harris, Ph.D., Professor emeritus Queens College/CUNY, lecturer, culinary historian, and author of High on the Hog

Rich with detail, Salt, Sweat & Steam takes readers inside America’s top culinary school and shows what’s really required to become a chef: from brutal unpaid internships and gruelling practical exams to late-night vending machine dorm-room dinners while trudging through the rarefied world of fine wine. As editor of the school’s newspaper, La Papillote, Washington, a Trinidadian student, meets and interviews food-world luminaries such as Jérôme Bocuse, Daniel Boulud, and Thomas Keller and savors the joys of a life devoted to food. She puts us all in her kitchen clogs as she finally achieves the perfect mise-en-place both in and out of the dignified kitchen of The Culinary Institute of America.

Unwilling to accept a future that was anything but delicious, readers follow along Washington’s high-octane journey through the rigors and rewards of the country’s most elite cooking school.