My First Weekend at the CIA
Blue Cashew in Rhinebeck, NY
This weekend my roommate and I woke up and realized that our room gets very bright and sunny even with the shades. We realized this before realizing that it was our first time all week sleeping later than sunrise. Welcome to culinary school! It’s a good thing I consider myself a morning person. It’s fair to say that the majority of people who started this week spent a good portion of the weekend sleeping. However, I still wanted to get out and explore the campus some more and check out the two towns that sandwich the CIA campus in Hyde Park.
It hasn’t even been a week and I have already found all the expensive kitchen and food stores within a 10 mile radius of campus. On Saturday my roommate and I took a drive through Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck. We fell in love with Rhinebeck’s charming streets and beautiful restaurant scene. We will definitely be going back soon!
Knives and kitchen supplies galore
Kitchen and dining supplies
Cookbooks and food books
More cookbooks and dish ware
Blue Cashew
Chocolate shop in Rhinebeck
Streets of Rhinebeck
Cafes in Rhinebeck – we went late in the afternoon so most of them were closed for the day
On Sunday the CIA held it’s first ever Spanish Tapas competition. For a one dollar ticket you could taste all of the competitors tapas. Then you could vote on your favorite dish. Food events at the CIA are a great way to get an inexpensive meal on the weekends. Since students prepare all the food for other students and faculty, our meal plan is only offered on class days. I didn’t find it hard, however, to find food on the weekend here! The portions at meals are often large enough to spare some leftovers! Not to mention each dorm is equip with a full kitchen.
CIA’s First Annual Tapas Competition
Piece of paper to cast a vote
No food competition is complete without a judging table lined with chefs
Presentation is all part of the competition
Risotto cakes with ham hock, shredded cabbage and pickled red onions
I enjoyed this one. However, I must say I enjoyed it even more before I knew I was eating ham hock!
Proscuitto
Slider of proscuitto, cheese, tomato and green olive tapenade on a biscuit bun
Sunday was a big day for me as a former vegetarian because at the competition I re-introduced myself to meat. I sampled ham hock, Serrano ham, beer braised shredded beef and prosciutto all in one afternoon – i’m amazed that I didn’t get sick! I decided before coming here that I needed to at least try everything once – so far i’m glad I have stuck to that plan. I would definitely be missing out on a lot of delicious dishes around here.
This team went all out with their presentation
Serrano ham sushi
Littleneck clams with octopus, tomato and texas toast croutons – I did not actually get to try this one!
Beer braised beef on a fried potato with coleslaw – this was an American comfort food take on tapas
Ham and cheese croquette with a fried sage leaf
I thought the fried sage leaf was a unique, tasty garnish
Sangria for those over 21 – all of the competitors offered a wine pairing for their tapa
I was able to try these sodas – lemon ginger and acorn. The lemon ginger was very refreshing, however the acorn soda was far too sweet for me. It tasted like a very sweet cream soda.
And that concluded the tasting! Although they were small bites – they made for a deceivingly filling lunch!
It was a fun first weekend overall spent meeting new people and checking out all the local places near campus. I am excited, however, to hopefully get into NYC next weekend!
Awesome! Wish I were there with you with a fork lol!