Seldom does a week go by without my receiving a dozen or more of emails, phone calls or text messages, all looking for answers. "Do you have a recipe for...?" "Have you ever tried...?" “What would happen if…?” Far from being a burden, I happily participate in these personal exchanges because I believe there should be no secrets in cooking.

When it comes to healthy, delicious cooking, there are few ingredients more tasty or versatile than nuts and seeds. That's why it's no surprise that the latest cookbook from the ICE family, In a Nutshell, is making big waves in the food community.

As the Executive Chef and Owner of Cull & Pistol in Chelsea Market, ICE Culinary Management alum David Seigal is literally at the center of New York City’s food scene. His refined take on seafood-centric dining has received raves in the Wall Street Journal, Zagat, Tasting Table and other publications. Today, David credits his success with 12 years of “blood, sweat and tears” cooking on the line, as well as his entrepreneurial business training at ICE.

It’s been nearly two years since Super Storm Sandy crashed onto the shores of New York City, particularly ravaging the up-and-coming neighborhood of Red Hook. ICE Culinary Arts alum Sohui Kim was a pioneer in the community’s restaurant scene, and her story emerged as one of the great Red Hook triumphs in the aftermath of Sandy. Today, her restaurant, The Good Fork, has become one of the landmarks of Brooklyn cuisine, bridging the gap between comfort food and fine dining.

Often, chefs demand perfection in the kitchen, obsessing over every minute detail. But sometimes, an ingredient's imperfections are exactly what makes a dish stand out. Take broken steamed rice: a bi-product of the milling process, the result is grain that, when cooked, has a softer and stickier texture than provided by perfect grains. Less expensive than intact varieties, broken steamed rice —occasionally referred to as Mali rice — is the base of many rich, homey dishes commonly found throughout Southeast Asia and West Africa.

Tariq Hanna’s first job may have been working the sandwich board at Sol’s Deli in Southfield, Michigan, but today he’s at the top of the food chain, running one of the country’s premier pastry shops, Sucré.

As a young ICE graduate, Sabrina Sexton launched her career in two innovative kitchens whose exceptional food and casual bistro style would forever change New York City’s downtown dining scene: Chanterelle and Gramercy Tavern. Today, she has returned to ICE as our lead Culinary Arts instructor, training the next generation of game-changing chefs.

Whether as an executive chef, butcher or co-founder of a traveling pop-up dinner series, ICE Culinary Arts and Management alum Alex Pope has received numerous accolades for his progressive style of cooking. Most notably, in 2011, he received a nomination for Food & Wine’s “People’s Best New Chef,” establishing Alex among Kansas City’s most exciting culinary leaders. In his most recent venture, as the CEO and co-owner of a sustainable butcher shop, Local Pig, Alex has earned praise from the likes of the New York Times for his homemade sausages, expert cuts of meat and hands-on fabrication classes.

I recently chanced upon the work of artist Kara Walker, titled “A Subtlety Or the Marvelous Sugar Baby ”. The mammoth sphinx structure, installed in the old Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, was 35 feet high and took about four tons of sugar to create. She described it as a “homage to the unpaid and overworked artisans who have refined our sweet tastes from the cane fields to the kitchens of the new world.”