May 5, 2017
La
Volume 38, No. 6
Papillote
“Let’s Roast!”: Irving Farms Coffee Roasters
BY: Francesca Zani, BBA Food Business Management
A few of the writers for La Papillote had the pleasure of getting a personal tour of the Irving Farm roasting warehouse in Millerton NY. One of Irving Farms sales representatives and a former CIA grad, Jake Griffin, was ecstatic to give us the tour. One of his favorite quotes is, “coffee is a seed of a fruit that grows on a tree.” It may surprise the you to know that the coffee fruit is actually a cherry. As Griffin speaks it’s clear that what’s great about coffee is that it portrays its own personality; bitter, sweet, dark, light, and sometimes mysterious, the “I don’t know what I’m tasting factor.” Some say that coffee is more complex than wine. The process of wine tasting is similar to that of sampling coffee; sniffing, swooshing, repeat; however this may be an argument saved for another time. Coffee beans come from many parts of the world, but famously found in
Asia and South America, always growing in two forms, robusta and arabica. Irving Farms started brewing coffee in 1996. The two men behind the coffee shop, Steve Leven and David Elwell, were interested in operating a casual cafe, welcoming people to come in and chat over a cup of hot brew. In the beginning they weren’t roasting their own coffee beans, but eventually remodeled a carriage house in Northern Dutchess county and started putting roasters to work. During the tour Griffin talked us through coffee history, how the machines process the beans from their raw state, and how the business sources coffee from farmers in other countries. Irving Farms prides themselves in having a relationship with their farmers; sort of like “farm to table” or “coffee to table” in this instance. Jake spoke about coffee harvesting and trading in other countries. He said in El Salvador coffee is a hot commodity where the economy is
E-Cigarettes
BY: Katherine Miller, Staff Contributor
It’s important that you know the American Lung Association’s position on e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are getting a lot of attention and there are still many unknowns, including the short- and long- term health effects of using these products. We’re particularly concerned about the rapid rise in the number of youth and young adults using e-cigarettes, including a 900 percent increase for high school and college students from 2011 to 2015. In December 2016, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a groundbreaking report: E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults.This report can be reviewed at https://ecigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/ What are e-cigarettes? Electronic cigarettes, along with e-cigars, e-hookah, hookah pens and vape pens, are collectively known as ENDS, or electronic nicotine delivery systems. Ecigarettes are battery-powered
devices that heat a liquid containing nicotine, flavoring and other substances into an aerosol, which the user then inhales. E-cigarettes can also be used as a delivery system for marijuana and other illicit drugs. This is a rapidly growing and diversifying market with new products emerging all the time. Are e-cigarettes harmless? The 2016 Surgeon General’s Report stated that e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless. In addition to nicotine, the aerosol can contain ultrafine particles that can make their way deep into the user’s lungs, volatile organic compounds such as benzene and heavy metals including nickel, tin and lead. Flavors in e-cigarettes are also a cause for concern. Not only are flavors used to target kids and young adults, but they may be harmful when inhaled. Diacetyl, a buttery-flavored chemical often added to popcorn and caramel, has been found in some e-cigarettes with flavors. Diacetyl can cause a serious and irreversible
Cont’d on Pg 4
“From the Editor’s Desk”
“Campus” Midwest Wildfires
P2
concerned that gangs are hired on farms to fend off other gangs from taking their crops. Griffin said last year Irving Farms Coffee Roasters sold 330,000 pounds of coffee alone. They have locations in NYC including Gramercy, Lower East Side, Upper West Side, Grand Central Terminal and the one in Millerton NY. The coffee roasters location in northern Dutchess County- just down the road from their coffee shop- is where all the large burlap sacks of raw green coffee beans get shipped too. They wait in their designated areas of the warehouse before they are sent through shiny stainless steel roasting machines that use recycled air to roast and process the beans. The beans are only roasted to order. Each machine yields a twenty pound batch of any varietal coffee bean. They are also members of the Special Coffee Association of America, and the only mem-
photo courtesy: www.newyorkcoffeefestival.com
bers in NYC to offer classes on coffee production, educating the general public on coffee and offering coffee tastings. Some of the coffee they sell and the ones we got to try were from China, Peru, Colombia, New Guinea, and Brazil; each kind with its own distinct aroma, color, essence, and viscosity. Griffen explained that there are two ways to define specialty coffee. The first factor is that there are no more than five
The Making of Chef McCue
BY: Kori Hogan, BBA Food Business Management
Every student at the Culinary Institute of America has heard the name Chef McCue at least once during their time here, whether they have had him as an instructor or not. He is known as strict, but funny. Whether you’ve had his class or not, many people have seen how he reacts to student mistakes in the kitchen; with a witty retort and a nickname for the person that screwed up. However, many people do not know anything else about him and why he reacts the way he does. Answering questions about your life and what lead you to teaching students to be chefs while also paying attention to the students and making sure no one loses a finger while cutting vegetables for service does not sound like it would be easy. However, McCue did it like it was just another normal day. After getting everyone in the class working on production for A La Carte, McCue sat down to talk about how he came to be a chef. It’s hard to believe that
being a chef was not his first career path. “I went to college to be an engineer,” he said. McCue has been cooking since he was about fourteen, but always thought of it as a job rather than a passion. He worked in a deli first, and worked during high school in a local restaurant. While in college, he worked in a restaurant and then a got a job on a ski mountain. It wasn’t until after graduating college that the thought of being a chef as a career crossed his mind. “[The ski mountain] offered me the Chef position. I really enjoy cooking. If I want to do this my whole life, I really should research it.” Being Italian, food was a part of his life. It wasn’t until he arrived at the CIA, at the age of 23, that he realized “this job can take me anywhere.” Some learning experiences seem simple, like when McCue would watch his grandmother make fresh pasta for every Sunday dinner. Other experiences are major and stick with you. When he was at the CIA,
Papillote
En P3
defects in a sample of coffee. The second factor being that the coffee bean must undergo a method of grading, scoring at least eighty out of a hundred. Drinking coffee for a caffeine fix should not be used as the only excuse to trying new brands. If you want to take a little trip then your next cup of joe is waiting for you at Irving Farms.
CENTER SPREAD
“Feature” Sugar Paste Artist
P 4-5
BACK PAGE
photo courtesy: www.ciachef. com
Cont’d on Pg 5
P 6-7
P8
“Graduation”
“Sports” Tennis Championship