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

With mouthwatering storytelling and open-hearted honesty, Brigid Washington serves The Devil Wears Prada for the yes, chef generation.

“What truly makesSalt, Sweat & Steamexceptional 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 ofHigh on the Hog

Rich with detail,Salt, Sweat & Steamtakes readers inside America’s top culinary school and shows what’sreallyrequired 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, meets and interviews food-world luminaries such as Jerome 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 shefinallyachieves 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 countrys most elite cooking school.

BRIGID WASHINGTON is a Trinidadian food writer who has covered a variety of topics, including Caribbean food and culture as it intersects with life in the United States. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Washington is the author ofCoconuts. Ginger. Shrimp. RumandCaribbean Flavors for Every Season.Her writing has appeared in Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Garden & Gun, Harper’s Bazaar, Southern Living, The New York Times, and a number of other publications. She serves as the vice chair of the journalism committee for the James Beard Foundation. She lives with her husband and two children in Raleigh, North Carolina.

• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
• Publish Date: April 28, 2026
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• Type: Hardback
• EAN/UPC: 9781250333377
• Dimensions: 234.9 X 6.1 X 25.4 inches | 1.0 pounds
• BISAC Categories: Cooking & Wine, Biography & Memoir