Previously harvested, fermented and dried at origin, cocoa beans arrive at ICE’s Chocolate Lab ready to transform from raw bean to finished chocolate bar through cleaning, roasting, winnowing, milling, refining, conching and tempering.

Whether you believe in making resolutions or not, the beginning of a new year is a time we associate with starting over and making a change—especially when it comes to dietary choices. Vegetables get a lot of love in the January push toward healthy eating. As a chef, I would advocate an increased focus on vegetables for dozens of other reasons—especially for the incredible range of creative ways you can cook them.

When we think about international cuisine, it's usually on the level of countries: French, Italian, Chinese, American, etc. Yet within each culinary culture, there are regional variations—from coastal seafood to hearty cold weather fare, poverty-inspired vegetable dishes to luxurious desserts.

Did you know that each year more than 24,000 cookbooks are published worldwide? Our unyielding appetite for new recipes and cooking techniques has made compiling a single “must-read” book list a daunting task for even the most well-read chef. So instead, I’m sharing a few short lists of game-changing texts—from food science tomes to classic pastry cookbooks—that have broadened my horizons as a culinary professional. First up, let's take a closer look at the core ingredients so many of us take for granted, from cheese to chocolate.

It may sound obvious, but the first step in the chocolate making process is bean selection. No two beans are alike, each offering distinctive flavor characteristics impacted by genetics, origin, farming and post-harvest handling—before they ever arrive at a chocolate production facility.

As 2015 comes to a close, it’s incredible to look back over my last six months as an ICE culinary student. I’ve gotten my hands dirty with knife skills and butchery, learned the full range of hot and moist cooking methods, and even journeyed through the cuisines of France, Italy and Asia. It’s challenging to choose just a handful of my favorite moments from the program thus far, but below I’ve compiled my top five culinary school experiences of 2015.

At ICE, we’re constantly challenging ourselves to identify the issues, trends and ideas that will shape professional kitchens for years to come. In 2015, the topic of food waste was on the tip of everyone’s tongue. For Thanksgiving, my fellow ICE Chef Instructor Jenny McCoy shared two simple recipes utilizing sweet potato scraps and apple cores. In turn, I’ve been challenged to elevate these eco-friendly ideas with a modernist take on food waste. Utilizing leftover vegetables, egg whites and red wine, you can create a sustainable panna cotta that’s fit for fine dining.

When we think about the skills required to open a restaurant, our minds automatically think of culinary technique and business know-how. Yet what about that all-important profit driver: alcohol? In ICE’s Mixology Center, students bridge the gap between beverage management theory and practice behind our state-of-the-art educational bar.

When ICE set out to develop a Culinary Technology Lab to represent the evolution of cooking, we embarked on a time-traveling mission. Not only were we looking to the future with modernist equipment, but we also wanted to delve deep into the history of culinary techniques.

Deciding where to go to culinary school? Seeking inspiration for your externship placement? Wondering what it really takes to own your own restaurant? In our new Alumni Stories video series, we take you behind the scenes in the industry and answer the questions that can help guide your culinary career. First in our series is ICE graduate Matt Hyland, the chef/owner of Emily pizzeria in Brooklyn.