Category Archives: Culinary

Treat Home-Schooled Kids To Healthy Food

The risks associated with contracting coronavirus (COVID-19) in public places like educational institutes has led to many children being Home-Schooled. This can often mean constant distractions, and one way to keep children happy with learning is to make their favourite snacks and meals. Here are a few healthy options.

SNACKS

Peanut Butter Sandwiches
Nut butters are wholesome, healthy and filling sandwich spreads. Peanuts are widely available in India so they are easy on the pocket. Peanut butter can be made in large quantities and can last for up to three months in the fridge. Simply slather some on toast and add a few chocolate chips as a treat. For children with nut allergies, coriander chutney sandwiches with crunchy cucumber are a good substitute.

Hummus and Crudités
This Middle Eastern dip made from chickpeas is high in healthy fats and is a good source of proteins and fibre. Its smooth consistency makes it easy to eat for all ages – so your school-age children can share with their toddler siblings too. Team it up with a colourful variety of vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and bell peppers – raw or lightly steamed.

Healthy Fruit Muffins
Muffins seem more like a treat, but this is true of store-bought, high-calorie versions. Try healthier recipes with fresh fruit such as apple, strawberries, mango, pineapple, oranges or banana, sweetened with honey instead of refined sugar and the butter substituted with olive oil. Oat flour or whole wheat flour can be used instead of refined flour. These can be made in batches to last the week.

Easy Energy Bars
This snack can be a fun lesson in cooking for children as well a delicious snack. Some recipes do not require baking either. They often include oats; a sticky sweetener such as dates, honey or jaggery that holds it all together; nuts such as peanuts, almonds and walnuts; dried fruit and seeds. Energy bars only require gentle mixing and are a powerhouse of energy.

MEALS

Mug Meals
Mug meals are perfect when you’re pressed for time. They require minimal effort for cooking and cleanup. There are tons of recipes online for popular children’s favourites including gooey mac and cheese, homemade chicken noodle soup, lasagna, meatloaf and even pizza.

Stuffed Parathas
Parathas are a well-loved children’s meal. They are easy for very young children to eat without a mess and parents can get quite versatile with the fillings. Instead of the usual potato, switch it up for cauliflower, paneer, beetroot or cheese. Parathas are also an easy way to sneak in vegetables that children don’t normally like to eat, including spinach, methi, bottle gourd and radish. Serve it with a favourite chutney and curd dip.

One-pot Pasta
Pasta is possibly an all-time favourite of children around the world. Choose one-pot recipes to help with easy cleanup. To make it a wholesome meal, ensure you include some vegetables and a source of protein such as prawns, calamari, chicken, beef or even tofu. Homemade pasta sauce can be made in advanced and bottled if needed. Béchamel also lasts up to five days in the fridge.

Veggie bake with chicken strips
Vegetable bakes combine lots of fibrous ingredients rich in vitamins and minerals, and lots of cheese that make it an instant winner. They are mild on the spice and are easy to re-heat. Serve portions with a side of breaded chicken strips for an extra punch of protein.

Improve Your Career Prospects by Upgrading Your Skills

Hospitality is one of the world’s biggest industries. Career opportunities are many in the industry, but so is the competition. You will gain a good foundation in being a chef from reputed institutes like ACCLA, but it is important to keep upgrading your skills so you can set yourself apart.

Business management
You may be a great chef, but knowing how to run a business comes in handy when running a restaurant. Even if you are part of a restaurant team, knowing the basics of business management will help you understand how to cook food economically. Learning about budgeting, accounting and keeping tabs on inventory help greatly in any restaurant business, and more importantly if you hope to run a venture yourself sometime in the future.

Kitchen hygiene & sanitation
The most important factor in running a successful restaurant is having a clean kitchen. Learning about the best practices to keep your kitchen clean is an excellent skill to have as a chef. This also involves tips and tricks to deal with stubborn stains, odours and cooking mishaps.

First aid
All kitchens involve fires, sharp and pointy objects, and searing hot utensils. Accidents are bound to happen. Knowing first aid can help you avert disaster during an emergency. Learn about bandages and how to use them, dealing with burns and deep cuts, and also evacuation procedures in case of a fire are useful skills to have.

Creativity & innovation
On most cruise ships, chefs are expected to adhere to a set menu including presentation. However, there are instances when creativity can be utilised. One can attempt to use produce before they go bad in innovative ways, for dishes like soups of the day or daily specials. If they do have freedom, cruise ship chefs – like other chefs working in land-based restaurants – can experiment with menu design, adapting older recipes, creating new dishes, and trying interesting presentations.
In addition, creativity plays a huge part in sustainable cooking as well – using food scraps for stock, swapping imported ingredients for local seasonal produce in popular dishes, finding ways to use energy efficiently in cooking, choosing seafood wisely, and perhaps even nurturing your own kitchen garden for herbs and rudimentaries such as potatoes, onions, tomatoes and chilis.

Organisation & multi-tasking
To a novice, the kitchen or galley can seem a very chaotic place, particularly during service time. And if you do not have a method to the madness, things can get out of hand pretty quickly. Honing your organisation and multi-tasking skills is a great way to help you get ahead as a chef.
It starts with planning your day, even as a line cook, depending on your responsibilities. Knowing what you are going to be doing helps you stay on track. Being a good multi-tasker ensures you stay focused no matter what the unintentional additions to your day.

Being a team player
One of the most important skills to upgrade is learning how to work in a team. On cruise ships, chefs are part of very large teams, each with their own responsibilities but still just a cog in the wheel. Working well with colleagues, covering for others whenever required and lending a helping hand all help towards the end goal – serving good food on time.

How Cruise Ship Chefs Maintain Food Hygiene

In today’s world, personal hygiene and public health are very closely related. Food handling is one of the ways in which microbes – and communicable diseases such as coronavirus – are transferred. Cruise ship chefs jobs have some of the strictest practices when it comes to food safety.

All major cruise line companies include the HACCP approach to food safety. This Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system helps keep food safe from biological, chemical, physical and even radiological threats during the production process.

This is in addition to the personal hygiene standards all crew members are expected to follow, particularly those handling food. Cruise line chefs follow proper hygiene protocol including showering every day, sometimes adding an extra shower after work. They are also expected to be properly groomed every day. This includes ensuring their nails are short and clean, their uniforms are clean and their shoes are shined.

Proper handwashing procedures are strictly followed with special sinks dedicated to washing hands only located in all the galleys. They also use the three bucket or three sink system in the galley to clean dishes and utensils – one for washing, one for rinsing and the last for sanitising.

Within the context of the coronavirus crisis, cruise ship chefs are at a distinct advantage regarding measures to stop cross-contamination. One of the main personal hygiene rules followed on a cruise ship is not touching food contact surfaces such as knives, stockpots and cutting boards, with bare hands. Combined with frequent hand washing and not being permitted to touch their face during food preparation, cruise ship chefs present an extremely low risk particularly during this pandemic.

Different cruise ship companies also have their own sanitation inspections from organisations such as the USPH for the US, Ship Sanitation for the European Union, Health Canada, Anvisa for Brazil and Australian Ship Sanitation. Typically, ships that fail to score a minimum of 86 in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program are considered unsatisfactory on the hygiene scale.

Sanitation inspections look for minute details – from stray coffee grounds under the machine to a single fruit fly at a breakfast station and even leftovers without labels. So cruise ship chefs need to be extremely careful when it comes to hygiene in food handling.

Every step from procuring produce and ingredients to storage, processing, handling and service follows strict hygiene guidelines on board. Cruise ship chefs learn to stick to these rules unwaveringly to help their vessel pass sanitation inspections. The procedures are ingrained from the time they start their courses, refreshed when they join their first contract and revisited during orientation programmes.

According to the World Health Organisation, there is no evidence to date that viruses that cause respiratory illnesses can be transmitted through food or food packaging. Coronaviruses also need an animal or human host to multiply – they cannot do so in food. So as long as all people involved in the food processing chain maintain simple but effective methods of hygiene, everyone can be protected.

These measures include using personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, frequent washing of hands and cleaning or disinfecting of work surfaces and touch points such as door handles, good respiratory hygiene such as covering the nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, maintaining appropriate physical distancing at all stages of food processing, and being aware of symptoms so they can remove themselves from the workplace immediately. Staff involved in delivery of food must also follow hygiene and phyical distancing rules.

COVID-19 need not bring the food service industry to a grinding halt. With stringent processes in place – many already followed by cruise ship chefs, delicious meals can be served to consumers at their homes, bringing joy even during these testing times.

How Cruise Ship Chefs Can Use Meat Substitutes

Vegetarianism and veganism is a growing trend, with plant-based diets seeing an increase across the world. Food-related cruise ship jobs need to follow these trends to ensure they can cater to changing demands. The US and China are two of the biggest cruise economies in the world. According to the Food Revolution Network, the last three years have shown a 600 per cent increase in people identifying as vegan in the US, while the Chinese government has released dietary guidelines to encourage people to reduce meat consumption by 50 per cent. But this doesn’t mean they don’t want their favourite food. Cruise ship chefs can learn how to substitute meat with vegetarian or vegan options that keep the dish just as delicious.

MINCE
Minced beef is a staple in well-loved dishes such as lasagna, tacos, casseroles, meat pies, spaghetti bolognese and chili. For vegetarian and vegan diners, cruise ship chefs have a number of options.
Firm tofu is often pressed under a heavy weight to squeeze out water and then crumbled to form mince, which cooks much faster than ground beef. Textured soy protein, made from soy flour, has the texture and appearance of ground beef. It is quite flavourless so absorbs seasoning very well.
Lentils have also worked as minced meat, and while easily available are probably not the first choice for most chefs.

STEAK
Steaks are a big favourite around the world. Cruise ship chefs will know the regularity with which they are relished on board. To give vegetarians an option, look no further than the humble cauliflower. A thick slice of a whole cauliflower head can easily be stuck into the oven and roasted with oil and herbs, or sautéed in a pan with mushrooms in white wine sauce.
Seitan – which is basically wheat gluten that’s had all its starch removed – is an excellent substitute for steak and can be flavoured with any popular seasoning including barbeque sauce. The texture is fairly close to meat which makes it all the more desirable as a substitute.

PATTIES
Vegetable burgers don’t really sound that appetising, but when the substitutes offer the flavour and texture of meat, it’s hard to argue. One of these is tempeh, a traditional Indonesian product made of fermented soybeans, most often sold in a cake form. It can easily be seasoned and grilled to make delicious burger patties.
Other options for burgers are black beans which are typically used from a can. But they are also available dried, and then need to be steamed before being drained well, ground to a paste with other ingredients and flavourings and then pressed into a patty.

RIBS & HOT DOGS
Seitan is perfect for ribs since they offer that ‘meaty’ pull and can also be used as the filling in hot dogs, the casing of which is made of cellulose or other plant-based ingredients instead of the usual intestine.
One of the most popular companies selling meat-like vegetarian products is Quorn, which was first marketed back in 1985. It is now one of the largest companies selling meat-replacement food in the UK, including hot dogs.

SANDWICH FILLING
Sandwiches are one of the top quick-service meals ordered on board. Cruise ship chefs can offer delicious versions of favourites such as croque monsieur, reubens, po’boys and more with easy substitutes.
Shiitake mushrooms are a popular substitute for croque monsieurs, sautéed generously to develop that sweet-salty taste associated with the original ham. Jackfruit is an unlikely ingredient here, but quite useful. In such cases, it is used raw and has a flesh-like texture that is perfect in tacos and for a filling similar to pulled pork.
The flaky texture of tempeh is popular as a substitute for the seafood filling in po’boys as well as to make ‘crab’ cakes and ‘fish’ fillets.

HOT WINGS
Seitan is a great substitute for this incredibly well-loved snack, but the ubiquitous cauliflower is on the list as well. The stem of the florets even mimics the wing end, with a sticky hot sauce just the right accompaniment for its spicy and crispy coating.

Food, Culture & Visual Representation

Food can be a study in culture. Every dish, method of preparation, and even flavour preference can be indicative of the region it comes from or the people who make it. Cruise ship chefs can use this knowledge to tap into the subconscious associations guests have with their own cultures – comfort flavours of sorts.

The mixing of cultures is far more frequent now than it has ever been before. Migration is very common and the fusion of foods is often a trend. But that certainly does not take away the roots of the culture they were born from.

For example, many Italians migrated to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, bringing with them the Neapolitan and Sicilian food cultures, such as risotto, white sauce and polenta from the north, and pasta, tomato sauce and olive oil from the south. Today, spaghetti and meatballs, and pasta alla carbonara are associated with Italian food but these were in fact created from ingredients more readily available in the US.

Still, visually, just an image of plump red tomatoes, vibrant green basil and stark white cheese will immediately stimulate an association with Italian food rather than any other cuisine. This could possibly have come about because of the deep connections between visual stimuli and the perception of taste, smell and flavour.

One culture where the appearance of dishes is given a lot of importance is Japan. Influences from Chinese and Korean cultures over more than 2000 years helped develop the Japanese cuisine we are familiar with today. In addition, Buddhist and Shinto religious practices modified it too, by looking down on meat consumption. With fish as the most easily available substitute, fermentation was widely used for preservation before the focus was shifted to fresh fish that we now enjoy in sushi and sashimi.

With the arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch came the notion of frying food as a way of cooking and the Japanese developed methods like tempura. But what truly sets Japanese cuisine apart from its neighbours is its focus on appearance since they believe that food is to be looked at, as well as eaten.

A lot of ritual goes into cooking, plating and service. For example, they never arrange four elements on a plate since the homonym for four in Japanese is death. We are also well aware of their famous tea ceremony, a cultural activity with precise ways of preparing and presenting matcha tea.

Around the world, certain food items and dishes have become cultural icons. Foie gras, a specialty product made of duck or goose liver, is associated with France. So is the croissant, even though this flaky, buttery pastry actually originated in Austria in the early 1800s which later inspired the French.

In other places in Europe, we are familiar with fish and chips, and a full English breakfast in England; Gouda cheese in the Netherlands; haggis in Scotland; and paella and sangria in Spain. In a similar way, Australia is popular for vegemite on toast, Mexico for tacos, Greece for gyros, South Africa for peri-peri and bunny chow, and the Middle East for mezze.

Indian food culture is extremely varied, but its cultural icon is curry, even though this is a blanket term for what is in fact a very diverse range of gravies with multiple methods of preparation, flavours and origins.

Aromas and visual cues can jog people’s memories of their favourite food from their childhoods, without them even tasting it. Cruise ship chefs can use this knowledge to stimulate interest in passengers, particularly with daily specials or when creating exclusive meals for occasions or even for fussy children.

Different Knives & Their Uses

One of the most important tools in any kitchen, including a cruise ship galley, is a knife. But to be adept at your cruise ship job, it’s important to know how to distinguish between different types of knives and how to use them. Here are a few common ones.

This is the most common kitchen knife. Many chefs prefer having their own knives – they become comfortable with the weight, handling and versatility. These knives are most often between 8-10 inches long.

This is basically a smaller version of a chef’s knife, but not as hardy. A paring knife is used mostly for peeling fruit and vegetables and cutting with precision. Chefs use caution with a paring knife as too much force can damage it.

These special knives are between 6-10 inches long with serrations and an offset handle to ensure your knuckles avoid contact with the board when slicing bread. The serrated blade helps slice through loaves cleanly in both directions.

This is an important knife, particularly in the butchery section of a cruise ship galley. These are heavy and large to help cut through big chunks of meat, cartilage and hard bone. Some chefs also use cleavers to crush food such as garlic, but it’s important to clean knives thoroughly before using them with different food items.

Cheese is a popular food item around the world, and specialised knives are available to slice through different varieties. Soft cheeses require knives with holes so that their surface contact reduces and they don’t stick to the metal as much. Harder cheeses require sharper knives.

If you’ve watched cooking show host Nigella Lawson, you’ll notice she often brings out a semi-circular knife that helps her quickly chop ingredients quite finely. Held with both hands, chefs rock it back and forth to turn vegetables and herbs into small pieces with little work.

Most sushi and sashimi is made using yanagi ba, although specialised sushi chefs will use a number of different types when working with whole fish, cutting razor-thin slices of fugu blowfish with intricate presentation. The yanagi ba is long, thin and slightly concave along the back, with a sharp tip and single-sided edge which makes it perfect for slicing fish in a solid motion without it sticking to the knife. An usuba is used to cut and peel vegetables and garnishes. Its peculiarity is that it has a single bevel so left-handed chefs must get a left-handed version. A takobiki features a blunt tip and a long blade for thin, long slices of ingredients like sashimi and octopus. Other, more specialised, sushi knives are also available.

These knives are popular among diners too as they help slice through meat dishes at the table. Most often, they have serrated blades and wooden handles, and are the only sharp knife found at a dining table. At meal times, they are sometimes used by diners to cut up other cooked foods and also to spread butter.

With the festive season upon us, it’s important for soon-to-be cruise ship chefs to know the value of carving knives. These feature long blades narrower and thinner than a chef’s knife to reduce drag and ensure uniform slices of meat, particularly from whole roasted poultry, roasts and ham.

Decoding Michelin Stars

The Michelin Guides are considered the Academy Awards of the culinary world. Each year, Michelin publishes its Red Guide and Green Guides, that list the best eating establishments around the world. Restaurants receive between one and three Michelin stars based on anonymous reviews from ‘inspectors’, who can visit multiple times a year to ensure an accurate rating. The stars are difficult to obtain, and therefore an absolute honour for restaurant owners and chefs. They offer great prestige, exposure and an increase in business, and the opposite when they lose stars.

The history of the Michelin Guide and its stars is interesting. The most coveted restaurant reviews in the world were introduced by the eponymous Paris-based tyre company as a way to drive business. In the 1900s, when there were fewer than 3000 cars in France, Michelin published a travel guide to Europe to encourage people to drive to local attractions, which included restaurants and places of interest, as well as information for motorists such as mechanics listings, petrol stations, tyre repair and replacement instructions, and the like.

The restaurant review section became increasingly popular and a team was recruited to anonymously visit restaurants. In 1926, it started awarding a single star, which increased to the now well-recognised hierarchy of three stars.

The original 1936 rating explanations suggested that a single star indicates ‘a very good restaurant in its category’. Two stars indicate ‘excellent cooking, worth a detour’, while three stars meant the restaurant served ‘exceptional cuisine’ and was ‘worth a special journey’.

The ratings and reviews focus solely on the food, and in no way indicate anything other than that, including quality of service, interiors, table setting, etc. Any rating is considered praise, but with a one-star rating, Michelin inspectors typically mean that the restaurant offers quality menu and consistently good food, but largely lacks something singular that will command visits time and again.

With two-star ratings, restaurants can be rest assured that inspectors are suggesting they are worth a detour from a road trip to visit, offering something exceptional and unique. With three stars, the guide indicates that the restaurant is the destination itself and is worth a trip solely to visit, with dishes that are distinct and executed perfectly.

Michelin guides currently cover only specific areas – 25 countries, with the first Asia guide recognising Japanese cuisine only in 2007. India is not covered by the guides, but there are Indian chefs who have earned Michelin stars at their restaurants in other countries. These include Vineet Bhatia for his restaurant Zaika in London (2001), Alfred Prasad for Tamarind of Mayfair in London (2002), Atul Kocchar for Tamarind (2001) and Benares (2007) both in London, Karunesh Khanna for Amaya in London (2006), Sriram Aylur for Quilon in London (2008), Vikas Khanna for Junoon in New York for three consecutive years (2012) and Manjunath Mural for The Song of India in Singapore (2016). Gaggan Anand was the first Indian to win two Michelin stars with his eponymous restaurant in Thailand in 2018, the year Garima Arora became the first Indian woman to receive a Michelin star for Gaa in Thailand.

Of these, Atul Kocchar has teamed up with P & O Cruises for his restaurant Sindhu where he serves scrumptious Indian food on board, and also went to Antarctica in 2017 on a private charter cruise organised by luxury travel company The Q Experiences.

It’s important to note that Michelin stars are not only awarded to swanky, posh restaurants. Sushi Saito is a three-starred restaurant in Tokyo considered the holy grail of sushi but features a small wooden counter in a multi-storey car park.

American College Of Culinary & Language Arts

Cruise Life