Linda Carucci has more than 20 years' experience as a professional cook and teacher in the Bay Area, and in this book she skillfully combines these two talents, giving her readers their money's worth and then some. Her editors and publisher did a fine job visually breaking up the book with many sidebars -- most prominently Recipe Secrets -- that avoid the tedium of feeling bombarded with too many facts, college-textbook style.

Carucci -- at one time dean of the California Culinary Academy and now the Julia Child curator for food arts at Copia, the American Center for Food, Wine & the Arts in Napa -- knows the key element of successful teaching: Don't just tell students what to do, but explain to them why they are asked to do it. This is especially useful when instructions seem to run counter to common wisdom.

Carucci, for instance, advocates salting meat, poultry and fish well in advance of cooking. But haven't we heard over and over that salt will draw out moisture, so chickens, steaks or burgers will be dry if salted in advance? That has been the prevailing opinion, she admits -- and it's dead wrong.

Without getting too technical, Carucci explains that initially, salt does draw out moisture. But after a while, reverse osmosis causes the meat to reabsorb the liquid. The result will be a finished dish that's more tender, moist and flavorful.

And you don't just have to take Carucci's word for this. She quotes two local culinary heavyweights for support. Both sausage maker par excellence Bruce Aidells and Zuni Cafe chef Judy Rodgers (famous for her stellar roast chicken) are devoted practitioners of early salting.

On the subject of salt, the book also tells what kind of salt to use for what purpose and -- of course -- why. It explains the benefit of trussing a roasting chicken and how to do it; how to seed, peel and chop fresh tomatoes; how to get every drop of a heavy sauce out of a food processor; why farmed fish is hardly the panacea it was once considered; and why and when to use wooden spoons for stirring sauces.

The amount of information presented in this medium-size paperback would be considered respectable in a volume twice its size.

And we haven't even talked about the recipes yet. There are more than 100, all tested by Carucci's veritable army of home cooks across the country who give her feedback, which, if critical, prompts rethinking and revising. So the recipes are rock-solid and interesting, yet sensible.

Some are indisputably easy; in others, the amount of time required for preparation depends largely on the competence of the cook.

For example, the roasted pineapple salsa served with honey-mustard glazed ham (a great savory variation on the hackneyed ham and pineapple theme) is a snap if you have good knife skills. If you don't, it can be time consuming.

Trying to stay the critic rather than a booster, I thought hard about how this book could be improved. Two things come to mind: The typeface is so small that cooks who don't have 20/20 vision may find it taxing. Plus, a few more of the black-and-white illustrations of techniques would be nice.

But, hey, this is not a coffee-table book, and it doesn't carry a coffee- table book price tag. It's a kitchen table book, and one of the best I have run across in quite a while..

"Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks," by Linda Carucci (Chronicle Books, paperback, 352 pages, $22.95).

Savory Corn Pudding
Linda Carucci recommends making this when summer corn is at its sweet prime. She says the souffle-like pudding goes well with grilled or roasted meats or meaty broiled fish like swordfish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 7 ears sweet corn
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter for baking dish
• 5 eggs
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 pound Monterey jack cheese, coarsely shredded on the large holes of a box grater to yield 1 cup
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut off kernels from ears of corn and reserve 1 cup. Place remaining corn and 1 cup of milk in a blender. Hold blender lid in place as you gradually increase and decrease the speed. Process at the highest speed for a full 3 minutes. If necessary, interrupt blending to scrape down sides. You should have a thick, smooth puree.

In the meantime, position a rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°. Prepare a bain-marie (hot water bath): Choose a roasting pan large enough to hold a 9-inch round or square baking dish with 2-inch sides. Line bottom of roasting pan with a paper towel (to prevent pudding from sliding around) and set aside. Butter bottom and sides of baking dish and set aside. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs lightly. Add the blended corn mixture and whisk to combine. Sprinkle with the flour and whisk to blend thoroughly. Add the remaining 1/2 cup milk, the cheese, all but 1 teaspoon of the chives, the salt, the Tabasco and the reserved corn kernels and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon chives.

(The pudding can be prepared up to this point up to 24 hours in advance, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

Pull out the oven rack halfway. Place the baking dish on the paper towel in the bain-marie and place in the center of the oven rack. Carefully pour the hot water from the kettle into the bain-marie to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Gently slide the rack into place. Bake the pudding until the blade of a paring knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean, 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the depth of the baking dish. The top of the pudding should be firm and pale and the edges should begin to pull away from the sides of the baking dish.

Remove the bain-marie from the oven. With oven mitts and/or a long, wide offset spatula, carefully transfer the baking dish from the bain-marie to a cooling rack. Let cool 5 minutes for pudding to set up a bit before serving.

Serves 6-8