Jamesport: All tapped out at Jedediah Hawkins Inn

He grows his own herbs, he keeps his own chickens. Now Keith Luce, chef-owner of Luce & Hawkins in Jamesport, is making his own maple syrup. It turns out that the grounds of Jedediah Hawkins Inn are blessed with a couple dozen sugar maples. A little over a week ago, Luce and his crew set up their taps.

“You can go to great expense to get specialized equipment,” he said, “or you can just go to the plumbing supply store and get threaded valves which you screw into the trees, attach tubing and a bucket. That’s what we’ve done.

So far Luce’s maples have bestowed about 40 gallons of sap. He has used that raw sap in ice cream and served it, infused with bay, as a liquid amuse bouche. But the bulk of it has been reduced—and reduced and reduced. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of maple syrup. That precious elixir has been showing up on pancakes at breakfast at the inn.

Luce & Hawkins, at Jedediah Hawkins Inn, is at 400 S. Jamesport Ave., Jamesport, 631-722-2900.