Ryan Kurr

I received a free copy of Sugar Burn: The Not So Hot Side of the Sweet Kitchen from Goodreads First Reads.

Not exactly what I expected, but somewhat enlightening as far as what one might experience while pursuing a career in the culinary industry. Sugar Burn gave me the impression that the kitchens or restaurants (the atmosphere and conditions as well as the chefs, staff, management, and so on) I saw on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares were more of the rule than the exception. Not good.

While my greatest passion is health care/medicine, I do have a great love for culinary arts, specifically pastry. (I come from a line a great cooks and so grew up with a passion for food. I love expressing myself creatively through food; it's my creative release. But I'm more of what you'd call a home cook.) I had intended to study the culinary arts formally one day (as a personal goal), but after reading this book I'm not so sure I'd get the level of training or knowledge I had hoped for. Still, after looking up many of the pastries mentioned in this book, I do have an idea of what I might try making next--with or without professional training.

But let's get back to the book. It could benefit from more editing. Some errors were easily overlooked while others were very distracting. Some of the tangents or rants in the middle of some of the stories served as more notable distractions; sometimes I'd get lost and have to go back a few paragraphs so I could keep on track.

I do share Kurr's perspective that the way much of the culinary industry trains, treats, and compensates its members is horrible and needs serious revision--especially in leadership training which is apparently overlooked. (Unfortunately, it isn't the only industry known for such behavior toward the economy's present and future workforce. I'm sure many grad students, interns, and others would agree.) However, this and similar points were reiterated quite a bit, to the point of redundancy.

I wasn't a fan of some of the language (though some might not mind). I did find one thing particularly offensive, so I chose not to rate this book (ignore the 1 star rating). (I don't want to give a poor rating over one statement, but I also don't want to ignore it entirely either. Just trying to offer an honest, constructive critique.)… (mere)