By Analiese Paik

Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean opportunities to eat food from local farms have all dried up. On the contrary, there are more ways to source local and sustainable ingredients for home cooking than ever before at this time of year thanks to four season farms and plentiful artisan foods. Eating out sustainably can be a challenge, but our list of restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops will help guide you no matter what town you live in. 2012 will usher in at least two new farm-to-table restaurants, and we look forward to covering them here.

Winter 2011-2012 Guide to Eating Green

Fresh winter vegetables

The Saturday winter farmers’ markets at the Granges (Norfield and Greenfield Hill) and the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens on Thursdays are THE places to go to find potatoes, carrots, celeriac, garlic, onions, hardy greens and other winter crops. The Double L Market in Westport is a seven-day-a-week source for seasonal vegetables and The Farmer’s Table in New Canaan has a small selection in winter.

Local and sustainably grown meats and poultry

The Saturday winter farmers’ markets at the Greenfield Hill Grange host vendors Greyledge Farm (pastured chicken, beef and pork) and Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm (lamb). Both vendors can also be found on Thursdays at the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens. Eaglewood Farms offers natural beef and pork each Saturday at the Norfield Grange winter market. The Double L Market in Westport has everything from New York state bison to Vermont grass-fed beef and The Farmer’s Table in New Canaan typically has a small selection of meats from John Boy’s Farm in New York. Saugatuck Craft Butchery in Westport is a whole animal butcher (think oxtail, tongue, and offal in addition to all the regular cuts) specializing in fresh (not frozen) beef, pork and lamb from sustainably run family farms in New York and Connecticut.

Local and organic dairy products

The Farmer’s Cow’s rBST-free milk, cream, eggs and ice cream can be found in supermarkets including Stop ‘n Shop and Big Y. Visit the website for a complete list of retailers.

Cheese

The widest selection of cheeses are available at cheese shops like Fairfield Cheese Company, which is dedicated to sourcing from small artisan producers including Cato Corner Farm & Beltane Farm and other distinguished cheese makers from New England. The Saturday winter farmers’ markets at the Greenfield Hill Grange offers cheeses from Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm. It’s worth asking for their fresh sheep’s milk ricotta for making homemade lasagna, ravioli, tortellini and manicotti. Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm is also a vendor at the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens, along with Beltane Farm, our state’s biggest producer of fresh and aged goat’s milk cheeses. Butterfield Farm sells goat’s milk cheeses at the Norfield Grange farmers’ market each Saturday. Walter Stewart’s Market in New Canaan and The Double L Market in Westport also carry Connecticut artisan and farmstead cheeses. When in New Haven, be sure to head to Caseus, where cheese is both sold at the fromagerie and served in the bistro.

Milk, cream, yogurt

The Double L Market in Westport carries Arethusa Farm’s (Litchfield) milk, cream and yogurt and milk from Smyth’s Trinity Farm (Enfield). Saugatuck Craft Butchery carries an organic, grass-fed yogurt from New York state that’s fantastic. Visit Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm for sheep’s milk yogurt, both at the winter farmers’ market at the Greenfield Hill Grange and Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens. Beltane Farm does not milk their goats in the winter so there will be no yogurt until the spring. Take a trip to the Norfield Grange winter market for Butterfield Farm’s goat’s milk yogurt.

Eggs

Eggs are typically sold by various farmers at the winter farmers’ markets, but you’ll want to arrive early before they sell out. The Farmer’s Table and The Double L Market also carry local eggs.

Honey, jam, and maple syrup

Daffodil Hill Growers sells honey and maple syrup and The Herb Basket sells honey, maple syrup and their own diverse line of specialty jams at the Greenfield Hill Grange farmers’ market on Saturdays. Daffodil Hill Growers and Gazy Brothers Farm, two vendors at the Norfield Grange farmers’ market, sell honey and maple syrup. Winding Drive, an award-winning producer of jams made from Connecticut fruit, is a regular vendor at the Westport farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens. The Double L Market in Westport carries honey from a Fairfield beekeeper, an enticing variety of jams from Red Jacket Orchards in New York, and estate maple syrups from Vermont. Fairfield Cheese Company, Catch a Healthy Habit Café, Michele’s Pies (Norwalk/Westport), Aux Delices (Greenwich/Darien), Plum Pure Foods (Old Greenwich),  Practically Green (Ridgefield), and Jones Winery (Shelton) sell single nectar source honeys and honeycomb from Red Bee Honey (Weston).

Home delivery of local and organic foods

Farm-to-door delivery services are practical and convenient for busy families. Order online and they’ll deliver to your door. Connecticut Farm Fresh Express serves all of CT and sells exclusively CT Grown and made foods, Graze (Fairfield County only) specializes in VT Grown and made foods, Concierge Foods (Stamford, Greenwich, New Canaan only) sells local, farm-fresh and sustainable foods and now sources from at least two Connecticut farms (Chef Alvarez will also cater your private party), Mike’s Organic Delivery (Stamford, Greenwich, Darien only) focuses on market baskets from small, sustainably run NY farms.

Eating Out

Fairfield County has watched the number of farm-to-table restaurants grow over the last year, and there are more to come. Bill Taibe, celebrated chef/owner of LeFarm in Westport and a James Beard Foundation Award 2011 Semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast, will be opening a new eatery in Saugatuck Center directly across from Saugatuck Craft Butchery in January. Chef Brian Lewis, best known for his collaboration with Richard Gere and Carey Lowell in creating the Bedford Post, will be opening Elm in New Canaan in early 2012. Chef Lewis describes his modern American cuisine as rooted in tradition and inspired by the seasons.

Restaurants serving farm-to-table and/or organic food and drink, from casual to fine dining.

• Boxcar Cantina (Green Restaurant Certified), Greenwich, Southwestern food, also a regular lunch vendor at the Westport farmers’ market
• Le Pain Quotidien, Greenwich and New Canaan (source organic ingredients whenever possible and have green business practices)
• LeFarm, Westport (innovative local farm-to-table cuisine; Chef Bill Taibe is a James Beard Foundation Award 2011 Semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast)
• Farmer’s Table, New Canaan (Southwestern casual fare made with local meats and vegetables; features in-store mini farmers’ market)
• Harvest Supper, New Canaan (seasonal farm-to-table, named one of top 4 chefs in New Canaan by Patch in 5/11)
• Schoolhouse at Cannondale, Wilton (elegant and refined regional farm-to-table cuisine)
• The Dressing Room, Westport (white tablecloth regional farm-to-table cuisine)
• The Boathouse at Saugatuck, Westport (refined regional farm-to-table cuisine)
• Health in a Hurry, Fairfield (organic vegetarian food to go)
• Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe, Fairfield (organic, raw food cafe)
• Green Gourmet to Go, Black Rock (organic vegetarian food by weekly order only)
• Bloodroot, Bridgeport (organic vegetarian/vegan restaurant)
• The Filling Station, New Canaan (hamburgers, hot dogs and sloppy joes made with organic raised beef from local farms, organic French fries, and hormone free & anti biotic free milkshakes)
• Napa & Co., Stamford (“innovative wine country cuisine made from organic, farm-fresh, seasonal ingredients”)
• Fat Cat Pie Company, Norwalk (pizza and salads made with organic and local ingredients)
• Sugar & Olives, (Green Restaurant Certified) Norwalk (local, sustainable farm-sourced ingredients for a seasonal menu)
• The Stand Juice Company, Norwalk & Fairfield(organic juice cleanses and casual menu using organic ingredients when possible)
• Restaurant North, Armonk (refined farm-to-table new American fare)
• Tarry Lodge, Westport & Port Chester (Green Restaurant Certified; some sourcing from local farms, sustainably farmed ingredients)
• Artisan, Southport, (“seasonally inspired” New England cuisine)
• West Street Grill, Litchfield
• The Perennial Chef, Ridgefield & Bedford, prepared foods and catering using their own organically-grown vegetables, locally sourced ingredients and sustainable seafood.
• The Organic Market, Westport (also has a lunch counter, hot buffet and seating area). 285 Post Road East Westport, CT 06880-3613 - (203) 227-9007
• Port Coffeehouse, Black Rock, Bridgeport, organic/Fair Trade coffee http://www.portcoffeehouse.com/
• Michele’s Pies, 666 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT and 180 Post Road East, Westport, organic/Fair Trade coffee from Bean & Leaf, some local ingredients used in her award-winning pies www.michelespies.com

Do you have a resource to share? Please post in the comments below and/or on our Facebook page.

by Neil Gluckin

Neil Gluckin is a writer, communications consultant and local food advocate who lives in Wilton, CT. He explores the links between food, self and community in his blog at forageprimeval.com.

photos courtesy of Stephanie Webster, Founder/Editor CTBites

Tapping maples goes high tech

After firing up the generator that runs the vacuum pump, Mark Harran watches intently as liquid begins to flow through plastic tubing connected to a sleek spout protruding from the trunk of a tree. We are a long way from wooden buckets, tanks of sap on horse-drawn sleds and rustic smoke-filled sugar houses, but Harran is aiming at the same result: maple syrup, the addictive nectar that Americans have been distilling from the sap of the sugar maple since the legendary Chief Wokis first struck a tree with his tomahawk and made it weep sweet tears.

Sap being collected from a maple tree tap and bucket system

A 30-year veteran of the food industry, Harran, now retired, has returned to his roots. He grew up on a farm in upstate New York that hung buckets from 5,700 taps, and he lives on one now, in Litchfeld, where he does the same thing albeit on a smaller scale. In addition to being a private farmer, he also serves as President of the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut. In both roles, Harran is a zealous advocate of sustainable forest management and a promoter of modern production techniques.

It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon syrup, so efficiency matters.

But the issue that really engages this modern local food artisan goes considerably beyond a love of trees and technology. You’ll see it for yourself next time you buy maple syrup. Where does the stuff sold in your store come from? Vermont is sure to be represented, Canada without doubt, and possibly New York, Massachusetts or Pennsylvania. And how much syrup from Connecticut? Unless you’re at a farmers market, you’re not likely to find any.

“We currently tap about one-tenth of one percent of all the sugar maples in the state,” Harran says, noting that the resulting annual yield of syrup and other maple sugar products is worth about $1 million. That places Connecticut in last place behind the 9 other states where maple syrup is made. “If Connecticut tapped the same percentage of its trees as Vermont does – 2.1% — the annual contribution to the state’s economy would exceed $20 million in ten years,” he calculates. For that matter, Harran adds, if all the U.S. States producing maple products raised their tapping percentage to Vermont’s level (the current nationwide average is .4%), the value produced would exceed $300 million and the U.S would eclipse Quebec, the current world leader.

The evaporator at work boiling down the sap into maple syrup

No matter what the amount, the process of creating maple syrup from tree sap is a miracle of arboreal and human ingenuity. For most of the year, the sap of the sugar maple is an inedible mixture of water and various starches. But in February and March, in preparation for the growing season that lies ahead, enzymes in the tree convert starch to sugar. Taps and buckets (or vacuum tubing) at the ready, maple syrup makers everywhere pray the process will start early and continue as long as possible. “Typically the season begins on February 1 and continues for 6 to 8 weeks,” Harran explains, “although cold weather this year has delayed the start considerably. “My rule of thumb is that when the baseball season begins, the maple sugar season is over.”

Vats of rare CT maple syrup await storage and bottling for retail sale.

Daylight is the main driver of the process. At this time of the year, as the days get longer and the temperature of the wood reaches 40 degrees, the starch-converting enzymes get busy. Cold nights and sunny days cause pressure inside the tree to rise, driving energy-rich sap – as much as 200 to 300 gallons per day — upwards to still-dormant buds. The same pressure that pushes the sap up also pushes it out of the tree through the maple syrup maker’s taps and spouts. In mid to late March, when the temperature of the wood reaches 45 degrees, the starch-converting enzymes stop functioning, and shouts of “play ball!” are soon heard across the land.

At 66 brix, it's syrup!

While the sap is running, it needs to be collected frequently; otherwise it will begin to ferment, just as milk might if left out too long. On the same day as he collects sap, Mark Harran boils it, evaporating the water away until the sugar content of the resulting liquid reaches 66% (or “66 brix” in the lingo of the trade). Sap collected in the cooler, early part of season tends to have sugar content as high as 4% and relatively little fermentation. This sap therefore requires less cooking, and consequently produces the paler and more delicately flavored “A” grades of syrup. Sap collected later in the season has lower sugar and will tend to ferment more because daytime temperatures are higher. More boiling is required to get this later-season sap to 66 brix, which in turn produces the darker, more strongly-flavored “B” grade. Early or late, as the sap cooks, its various constituent sugars interact and the resulting chemical reaction creates both the color and depth of flavor that are the characteristic hallmarks of maple syrup.

Visit a farm that does maple sugaring demonstrations to learn about our food heritage and who the family farmers are that keep the tradition alive.

Harran’s approach to making maple syrup is a model of environmentally compatible technology. That means he employs techniques that produce more syrup without increasing energy use, carbon emissions or stress to either tree, forest or syrup maker. The newly developed vacuum-pumping system that he uses on 300 of his 500 trees, for instance, allows him to increase annual yields from 10 gallons of sap per tap to 40 or more.  In his sugarhouse, he saves energy by using the steam from his evaporator to pre-heat sap to 200 degrees as it flows into the boiling pan. The bottom line for these improvements is that Harran gets six times more syrup from the same amount of energy. He notes that there other techniques now being refined, such as using reverse osmosis to increase the brix of the sap before it gets to the evaporator, that further reduces the amount of cooking required. Considering that it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup – in other words, a whole lot of boiling — these gains in efficiency are significant.

Mark Harran's efficient system for tapping trees

To turn Connecticut maple syrup into a $20+ million a year revenue generator, in Harran’s view, calls for more than sophisticated production techniques. Protecting not only the state’s sugar maples for the long haul (a single tree will be productive for 300 years or more) but also its forests is an obvious and essential requirement. And so is a modern marketing system, one in which farmers collaborate in order to guarantee uninterrupted supply and efficient order fulfillment to large grocery chains and other sizeable buyers here and abroad.

Harran is optimistic about the prospects for a robust local food infrastructure in our state. “There’s a new generation of farmers coming of age in Connecticut,” he says, “who combine technological smarts with business acumen. They’re the reason that smaller specialty farms are showing signs of growth.” For all his enthusiasm for 21st century farming, Mark Harran, who describes himself as a  “maple worshipper,” is clearly in love with making syrup, as he has been all his life. Says he: “there’s nothing like a night in the sugar house, producing a few gallons an hour, making the real stuff. There’s just no greater satisfaction.” Well, there might be just one satisfaction sweeter than making maple syrup, and that would be eating it.

Got a craving for syrup?

Maple syrup producers are normally happy to welcome visitors, explain the process and of course sell their products. This 2010 guide to Connecticut Sugarhouses [PDF] will help you locate one near you. There may also be other local maple sugar producers where you live running special programs. Ambler Farm in Wilton, CT, for instance, has a maple syrup open house from 12:30 to 1:30 this coming Saturday, March 6 (there’s more information on their website at www.amblerfarm.org), and a maple syrup sale on April 3. Winter Farmers’ Markets including Norwalk, Fairfield, Coventry, Litchfield and Wooster Square in New Haven sell local syrup. For a complete list of winter markets, visit this CT Department of Agriculture website at http://www.ct.gov/doag/cwp/view.asp?a=3260&q=449350.=

Editor’s Note: My family and I visited Warrup’s Farm in Redding last year to learn about maple sugaring and it was both fun and educational. Here’s a link to the story.