Cassidy Tryon, a 12 year-old Horseheads native and winner on the popular television show Chopped Junior, stopped by CALS on Aug. 8 to learn more about the fascinating science behind food.
The young chef started off her tour with food science department chair Olga Padilla-Zakour before an in-depth tour of various CALS facilities, like the product development labs, Sensory Evaluation Center, and Dairy Processing Plant.
Doctoral students Michelle Duong and Belen Vila demonstrated the process of creating mint-infused boba, the chewy tapioca found in the popular drink bubble tea. Cassidy also learned about gummy-worm formation from graduate student Brenda Margolies. The products she and Margolies made in the lab looked like candy, but lacked any sugar.
In the Sensory Evaluation Center, Cassidy put her palate to the test with Alina Stelick, who walked her through an evaluation of juice samples. Afterwards, undergraduate student ambassador Ana Vigueras chatted with Cassidy over ice cream at the Dairy Bar. Cassidy’s tour of Stocking Hall ended at the Dairy Plant with Deanna Simons, who showed her how to experiment with ingredients when creating her own ice cream flavor.
Cassidy then spent time with Dean Kathryn J. Boor, who is also from Horseheads.
Cassidy’s episode of Chopped Junior aired on June 28 via Food Network, where she beat out three other chefs for the prize.
