Culinary Summer Camps - Green Mountain College Summer Academy

Our Culinary summer camps combine fun and learning

The VSA culinary program is aimed at students who love to cook, regardless of skill level.

Our Culinary summer camps combines the art of food with hands on experience in food preparation. The VSA culinary program is aimed at students who love to cook, regardless of skill level.

ENROLLMENT UPDATE:

This class is perfect for the student who would like to try out cooking as a major in college, or as a profession. Our culinary summer camps give the hands-on and real world experience that can ignite a passion for cooking or further grow their interest. Each student will learn basics of kitchen safety and skills to make some culinary masterpieces.

Each day we will create meals from a specific theme such as Breakfast Day, Pizza Day, or even Vegan Day. Together we will make an appetizer, main dish, optional side, and decadent dessert, with the growing trend of using local foods whenever possible.  The idea is that students will eat the food they cook, just as budding chefs do at the top culinary institutes. This will be an amazing and incredible experience for the limited number of students we can accept. Sign up early as this program is expected to sell out well in advance of our campus-based program.

This year in our culinary summer camps we are excited to be using the Farmhouse with it’s commercial kitchen as part of this course! Used year-round by our students at the College, it is connected to and adjacent to Cerridwen Farm, which is a truly fantastic element to the College. Cerridwen farm is a small-scale diversified animal and vegetable farm on the southwestern corner of Green Mountain College’s campus. Surrounding the historic barn and farm buildings are three vegetable fields totaling nearly two acres, and fifteen acres of pasture. The farm is operated with the physical and mental prowess and inspiration of GMC students, with the guidance of faculty mentorship and under the leadership of the farm manager.

Good times at our culinary summer camps

Here are some of the different items created last year at our culinary summer camps:

Herb Crusted Salmon

Roasted Tomato and Squash salad with Avocado and Feta

Buttermilk and Herb Roasted Chicken Sliders

Vegan Orange Cranberry and Date White Chocolate Scones

Pate a Choux

Roasted Garlic and Tomato Lentil Salad

Bechamel Sauce

Eggs Benedict

Summer Berry Compote

Creme Brulee French Toast

COURSEWORK OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN:

On our off days from the kitchen we will spend some time further exploring and discussing the artistry, philosophy, film, media, and sustainable agriculture of food. How food is depicted in our lives and the sweet story behind it all.

Film and Food Day: We discuss modern social media and how to present our food creations to the larger world, as well as looking at how various TV shows and webcasts present food and recipes. We also will screen a documentary pertaining to a specific issue in the industry, after which we have an open group discussion where students get to vocalize their thoughts and comments on some of the following issues:

Sustainable Farming

Food Desert

Food Scarcity

Food Pantry

Food Rescue

Composting

Food Waste

The Slow Food Movement

Additives and Preservatives

Last summer, our students had some sensational field trips. One trip was to Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory in Burlington, Vermont. There, campers were treated to a tour and lesson on the origin and making of chocolate followed by a taste testing session. We also got to explore livestock and farm stewardship at Billings Farm in Woodstock, Vermont. During our day there we get an in depth look at sheep-tending, the supervision of horses, and the safekeeping of Jersey cows being used for milk production. Check back here to see what trips we have confirmed this summer as we get closer to our start day.

At the end of the program each student takes home the binder they used to collect all the recipes they created during the program along with notes from chef so they can make the dishes at home for their family and friends.

More good times at our culinary summer camps!

Last Day:

At the end of each session we come together as a class and choose an item to make and give to family and friends on the last day of camp. This is where students get to use the skills they have built the past two weeks in producing delicious items in larger quantities. Last summer, class decided to make a traditional Vermont staple and bake up dozens of Maple Cookies and to accompany them was a Lemon and White Chocolate Cookie.

The objective of this class is to learn conduct and decorum of the kitchen as a base for the most delicious of stories surrounding food. Food is a labor of love that we share with our students. Our curriculum is aimed at those looking to delve into all aspects of Culinary Arts, one appetizing adventure after another.

DEGREE PROGRAMS OFFERED @ GMC: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production and The Killington School of Resort and Hospitality