At a time when “local” and “sustainable” are the watchwords of all culinarians and the public at large, there is no better way to acquire a natural sweetener than to tap a tree. You can be sure that, with a campus of
Naturally Sweet
be used in Chef Greweling’s classes and incorporated into desserts at the CIA’s restaurants on campus. This year’s harvest netted a dark syrup. It was suggested by the
approximately 170 acres, much
team that the long, harsh winter,
of it wooded, the college is in
which resulted in tree tapping
possession of a number of sugar
late in the season, was the reason
maples. Up until now, these trees
the resulting syrup was darker
have been left alone to grow,
and had a stronger flavor than
shade passersby, and provide
most people are used to.
us with a splendid display of
Looking ahead to next year,
color in the fall. But this winter, two of our professors decided it
four gallons of syrup, which will
Students tap trees on campus
Chef Greweling hopes to set
was time to utilize the resources
up an outdoor sugar shack so
in our own backyard to teach
boiling the sap can take place
an important lesson. Students,
amongst the trees, which is how
all of whom hailed from Chef
it’s traditionally done. “Making
Peter Greweling’s Chocolate
maple syrup is a natural fit for
and Confectionery Technology
our students; it is as much an
and Techniques class and Dr.
integral part of the culture of
Deidre Murphy’s Ecology of
the Hudson Valley as making
Food bachelor’s degree course,
wine is in California,” said Chef
volunteered to take part in
Greweling. He is hoping to use
harvesting sap to make maple
this experience to develop an
syrup—a first for the college.
undergraduate course at the
The students helped tap 16 maple trees on the north side of campus; moving through each phase of the
CIA that will include the history, culture, and technology of maple syrup making. A sweet idea!
process from tapping, collecting the sap, boiling, straining, and testing to bottling the resulting syrup. “It is pretty miraculous to watch the nearly clear, barely sweet sap transform into rich, sweet syrup through the process of evaporation,” says Chef Greweling. It can take up to five gallons of sap to produce just one gallon of syrup. The intrepid team of students and faculty produced
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www.ciaalumninetwork.com