Media Contact:
Jeff Levine
Communications Manager
845-451-1372
j_levine@culinary.edu
Hyde Park, NY – While many college students were
tapping kegs on their spring break,
some students at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY
were
tapping trees in March. These students—from Chef Peter Greweling's
Chocolate and Confectionery Technology and Techniques class and Dr.
Deirdre
Murphy's Ecology of Food bachelor's degree course—volunteered to take
part in
harvesting sap to make maple syrup at the college for the first time.
Using 16 maple trees on the north side of campus, the
students assisted Professors Greweling and Murphy
with each step of the process, including tapping, collecting the sap, boiling,
straining, testing, and bottling the syrup. "It is pretty miraculous to watch
the nearly clear, barely sweet sap transform into rich, sweet syrup through the
process of evaporation," says Greweling.
After an abnormally long and harsh winter, tree tapping late
in the season produced syrup that is darker and has a stronger flavor
than what
most people are used to, Chef Greweling said. It can
take up to 50 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. The four
gallons
of syrup produced this year will be used in Chef Greweling's class and
incorporated into desserts at the CIA's restaurants on campus.
For next year's syrup season, he hopes to have an outdoor
"sugar shack" set up for boiling the sap right from the tree.
"Making maple syrup is a natural fit for our students; it is
as much an ingrained part of the culture of the Hudson Valley as making wine is
in California," said Chef Greweling, who is seeking
to use this experience to develop an undergraduate course at the CIA that will
include the history, culture, and technology of maple syrup.
Photo Captions and Hi-Res Images
Photo 1: Professor
Peter Greweling (in sunglasses) is joined by students
in The Culinary Institute of America's Food Ecology course (from left)
Brian Shickle, Joonho Jun, and Kristin McGinn in harvesting sap from
maple trees on the college's
Hyde Park, NY campus in late March 2014. (Photo
credit: CIA/Marc Haymon)
Photo 2: The sap
harvested from maple trees and made into syrup by faculty and students at The
Culinary Institute of America came from trees near student housing on the
college's Hyde Park, NY campus. (Photo
credit: CIA/Marc Haymon)
Photo 3: Professor
Deirdre Murphy taps into a maple tree on The Culinary Institute of America's
Hyde Park, NY campus in late March 2014. This first-time effort by students and
faculty yielded about four gallons of maple syrup. (Photo credit: CIA/Marc Haymon)
Photo 4: Real
Hudson Valley maple syrup produced by students and faculty at The Culinary
Institute of America will be incorporated into desserts at the campus
restaurants and used in classes. (Photo
credit: CIA/Marc Haymon)
Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is an independent,
not-for-profit college offering associate and bachelor's degrees with majors in
culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, and culinary science, as well as
certificate programs in culinary arts and wine and beverage studies. As the world's
premier culinary college, the CIA provides thought leadership in the areas of
health & wellness, sustainability, and world cuisines & cultures
through research and conferences. The CIA has a network of 46,000 alumni that
includes industry leaders such as Grant Achatz,
Anthony Bourdain, Roy Choi, Cat Cora, Dan Coudreaut, Steve Ells, Charlie Palmer, and Roy Yamaguchi. The CIA also offers courses for
professionals and enthusiasts, as well as consulting services in support of
innovation for the foodservice and hospitality industry. The college has
campuses in Hyde Park, NY; St. Helena, CA; San Antonio, TX; and Singapore.
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