For anyone looking to launch a career in the culinary industry quickly, earning a cooking certificate or a culinary arts diploma are options to consider. Programs are completed in 8-12 months and offer flexible class schedules. These often intensive courses start students on their way to secure careers in a wide variety of fields in the food industry upon graduation.

My name is Gary Chan, I'm the founder and main proprietor of Bibble & Sip, and a 2014 graduate of ICC's Pastry Techniques Program.

Pursuing a career in the pastry world requires creativity, precise technique and (of course) passion. But beyond having a love for pâte à choux and other sweet treats, what does a pastry chef do on a day-to-day basis? Get a glimpse at a day-in-the-life of a working chef and learn about the variety of pastry careers.

Restaurants around the world strive to earn the coveted Michelin star status — but what exactly are Michelin stars for chefs, and why are they so important?

Lee Anne Wong is an American chef and was one of the final contestants on the first season of Bravo’s reality show "Top Chef." She was the culinary producer for the next four seasons of "Top Chef," a blogger for the show and host of the webcast "Top Recipe: The Wong Way to Cook," where she demonstrated how to prepare various winning dishes invented by the program contestants.

Chef Angie Mar, graduate of ICC’s Classic Culinary Arts program in 2011, has spent most of her life around the world of food. A native of Seattle, Washington, she comes from a family of food lovers and restaurateurs. Her aunt was the infamous Ruby Chow who pioneered Chinese cuisine in Seattle and these deep rooted ties have given Angie an innate love for bringing people together around a dining table.

DAN BARBER is the Executive Chef of Blue Hill, a restaurant in Manhattan’s West Village, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, located within the nonprofit farm Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. His opinions on food and agricultural policy have appeared in The New York Times, along with many other publications.

Braising is a moist heat method in which an item is placed into a flavorful liquid, often containing alcohol and stock, and cooked slowly in an oven or on the stovetop until fork tender. It is best used to prepare tough proteins which contain a great deal of connective tissue or fat, breaking down the collagen over a long period of time and transforming it into gelatin which offers a great deal of flavor and texture.

In culinary school, you spend an entire day just on eggs. That’s how important they are. Before you try to impress a chef about your knowledge of sous-vide cooking, you have to master the basics. And to help the students nail them down, the school invited the master himself, Jacques Pepin, to demo every possible egg preparation. He made them look easy. Really easy. But with years of practice, that’s what happens. We flagged five of his most memorable tips.