Ever wonder what’s cooking at ICE? Five Course Friday gives you a snapshot of what we are whipping up weekly. Whether you pop in to a recreational class, catch a professional demo or watch the transformation from student to chef, there is something scrumptious happening daily.

Soufflés d’Alencon en Timbales (cheese souffles in mushroom sauce)

Rabbit braised with prosciutto red onions and white wine, served with sautéed broccoli rabe 

Cotes de Porc Normande from French cooking course in culinary arts program

Focused on frosting this week in pastry and baking classes

Chocolate bar with color splash from pastry and baking class

Have a delicious weekend!

Yesterday, ICE students were treated to a talk and tasting with Angela Miller of Consider Bardwell Farm. Miller wrote Hay Fever: How Chasing a Dream on a Vermont Farm Changed My Life about her journey from literary agent to farmstead cheese maker. The talk was lead by ICE Instructor Alexandra Leaf who asked Miller about her experience on the farm and guided the students through five different Consider Bardwell cheeses.

Miller was a successful literary agent, counting Mark Bittman, Amy Scherber, Sarabeth Levine and Max McCalman among the authors she worked with. Shortly after her and her husband bought a 300-acre farm in Vermont, they began keeping goats. Now, their award-winning cheeses can be found at farmers’ markets, specialty cheese shops and some of the city’s finest restaurants, including Jean Georges and Daniel. In November, three Consider Bardwell cheese won awards at the prestigious World Cheese Awards. More…

When ICE President Rick Smilow and Anne E. McBride wrote Culinary Careers: How to Get Your Dream Job in Food they discovered a plethora of food jobs they had never heard of before. Since the book’s release, they have been discovering even more interesting career paths in the food world. DICED shares some of them with you in a reoccurring feature, “Unique Culinary Careers.”

There are certain types of foods that can be overwhelming. The world of cheese is both vast and complex. Understanding the flavor of cheese involved know what type of milk was used, how the animals were raised, how the cheese was made, how the cheese was stored, how the cheese is served and so on. Sometimes, you need to call in an expert to help navigate the landscape of available cheeses. Max Shrem is currently working on Ph.D. in French literature, focusing on food in literature in the 18th century, but he also moonlights as a cheese expert, writing for cheese-focused magazine, Culture and blogging for Slashfood. He also works as a cheese monger in Paris for a few weeks each year. We asked Max about how he got into dairy and developed his knowledge for fine cheese.

How would you describe your position?
In my academic life I’m looking at literary depictions of milk, dairy and cheese. A lot of it is overlapping with my professional life writing about cheese for Culture. For Slashfood, I’m doing more “how to” posts. For example, how to pick a cheese, how to store cheese, and what cheese is best of Thanksgiving — my focus is informational, service-oriented posts. I’m not really a cheese monger anymore, but I’ m working seasonally in a cheese shop in Paris. It keeps me physically involved with the cheese. More…

The butchering team hard at work selling different cuts of meat.

The food world is buzzing with talk about the opening of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Lidia Bastianich’s new venture, Eataly. A spinoff of Turin’s famed Eataly, the 50,000 sq. ft. marketplace is stocked with cheeses, salamis, breads, wines, pizzas, produce and much, much more. The giant specialty food store is directly across 23rd St. from ICE. President Rick Smilow ventured out to the grand opening celebrtion and snapped a few snapshots. Take a look.

A view of hanging meats and fresh mozzarella inside Eataly.

A large meat slicer for charcuterie.

Mario Batali being interviewed by a member of the press.

More…