Tag Archives: Cruise Culinary

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.

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.

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.

Culinary Nightmares For Cruise Ship Chefs

Pic : luis_molinero / Freepik

Cruise ship chefs jobs can be tough. Cooking for thousands of people three times a day is no mean feat and can be a nightmare. Cruise lines have standard operating procedures to follow for smooth running of the system. But there are always a few fears that cruise ship chefs hope never materialise.

UNTIDY STAFF

This doesn’t seem like much but if you have juniors working under you who do not clean up after themselves, it can be very frustrating. Having a poorly managed work-space can throw cruise ship chefs off their game, and no one wants to get started on a bad note when there are hundreds of hungry mouths to feed.

MALFUNCTIONING EQUIPMENT

One of the worst nightmares for cruise ship chefs is dealing with equipment giving out. A simple thing as having the stand mixer stop in the middle of kneading can add many more minutes to your already long day. Imagine not realising that the ice cream churner gave up 5 minutes after you left it to do its job. It means having to start from scratch all over again.

Malfunctioning equipment can also stretch to huge ovens and electric chafing dish warmers. There are engineers on board to help fix these issues but it might not be immediate.

BAD WEATHER

Sudden nasty climatic conditions can ruin anyone’s trip. With global warming and climate change very real now, cruise ships sometimes have no choice but to weather a sudden storm. Most guests on board are not used to a tossing ship and can get seasick easily.

This means that cruise ship chefs must work accordingly. First, their estimates of meal types and numbers go askew as some people do not eat at all when feeling sick, while others like to have a good wholesome meal. Secondly, they might need to make food that’s easy on the stomach – like soups, brews and stews, which do not hold very well in their serving dishes on a ship trying to ride very large waves.

SERIOUS FOOD ALLERGIES

Guests can be rather careless at times. Most are required to let cruise companies know of any dietary restrictions so cruise ship chefs can cook food accordingly. However, in the rare case that a guest has left out allergen information or is unaware of it, it can be a bit problematic for cruise ship chefs.

It may not be their fault at all, but no chef wants the trauma of someone else’s severe allergic reactions connected with them at all.

DELAYED VENDORS

One of the biggest attractions on cruise ships is its food. To maintain high standards, ingredients need to meet the mark on quality and freshness. Cruise ships can only access fresh produce in port, so if a vendor is delayed, cruise ship chefs can be in a fix.

Typically it is then the onus of the vendor to ensure that the shipment reaches the next port on time, but this still presents a problem to cruise ship chefs who must now make do until that time.

FOOD POISONING

The last thing cruise ship chefs want on board is for guests to have a case of food poisoning. It might not even be the cruise line’s fault. Perhaps the guests ate something dodgy in port and fell sick after the ship set sail. If a significant number of guests fall sick, it could be bad business for the company. There will be inspections and analyses of how the issue occurred. There might even be new procedures put in place if a few – maybe even unrelated – lapses are noticed.

Why Adulterated Food is Bad News For Cruise Ships

Food adulteration involves the addition of chemicals to food which degrades its quality. It is typically carried out to make food seem more fresh, enhance flavour or increase the quantity of food production at a cheaper rate.

According to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act – followed by most cruise ship chefs – adulterated food includes any edible substance that has additives that are injurious to health, has additives that have not yet been deemed safe for consumption, has been packed or stored in unsanitary conditions and has had a valuable ingredient omitted or replaced (completely or partly).

On board, cruise ships chefs jobs require in-depth knowledge of food safety and skills to identify adulterated products. If found, they are kept aside for inspection and a report submitted to higher ups. This keeps the fraudulent adulteration industry in check and helps the cruise ship maintain its quality status.

Adulterants can cause immediate health effects such as diarrhea, nausea and poisoning, but can also have long-term effects (especially if ingested over a prolonged period of time) such as glaucoma, lung and heart disorders.

Bacterial adulterants such as salmonella and bacillus cercus can cause severe abdominal issues. These kinds of adulterants are most easily spread on cruise ships and must be avoided at all costs.

A majority of cruise ships make stops in US ports and therefore, come under US food safety laws. Non-compliance can cause hefty fines, sickness and repercussions for the whole company.

In 2017, the Center for Disease Control Prevention noted 17 instances in which cruise ships failed inspections, according to a MarketWatch analysis. These included a range of issues including minor ones where a mop was stored incorrectly to major ones where crew continued to work despite displaying symptoms of gastrointestinal illnesses.

In situations where cruise ships fail inspections, the vessels are required to submit a Corrective Action Report indicating exactly how they plan to rectify the issue. They must also pay a fee for re-inspection. This fee can go up to almost US$18,000 for the latest large-scale commercial liners.

Vessels that continue to fail on major issues where the health of passengers and crew is at stake maybe given a ‘no sail’ recommendation. During this time, they are expected to stop plying while issues are being fixed. If they continue to sail without fixing the issue, the recommendation turns into an order.

But all food establishments, not just cruise ships, can suffer other consequences of food adulteration if a guest gets affected. If they have enough evidence, guests can sue the company. If many are affected, they could take to social media and the internet to vent their feelings.

Many establishments have felt the backlash of poor reviews online. A study by Checkit in the UK in 2016 suggested that as much as 61 per cent of people would not eat at a restaurant that received poor food hygiene ratings.

The implications can also reach employees who might not take too keenly to working in an unsanitary environment or who might have a grudge against the company and make mention of it on social media.

There are many ways in which adulteration of food can harm the cruise ship industry, so vessels take great precaution to avoid safety hazards as far as possible.

How Cruise Ship Chefs keep Meals fresh on Board

Passengers rarely wonder how the high quality scrumptious meals each day make it to the table while far out at sea. Cruise ship chefs jobs require specific training and knowledge on how to maintain freshness during each trip.

It all begins with the provisions team, who make notes on how much of each item will be required for an upcoming trip and place the orders well in advance. Provisions are typically ordered with a couple of days to spare, in case of emergencies or bad weather not permitting the ship to get to port.

The provisions team also bases its orders on the expected demographic of guests. Europeans, for example, prefer lighter wines such as Riesling and Pinot Noir; Australians like heavy breakfasts; Europeans like craft beers; and Asian passengers will, overall, have a different palate for food compared to Westerners.

Vendors ensure that stocks reach port in time for loading, and as soon as the ship is berthed, crew get round to checking each shipment. If they find any that are not up to standard, the shipment is returned and replaced before the ship leaves port. With fresh produce, vendors pack them in various stages of ripeness so they last a longer while. All items are also transferred from wooden pallets to metal trays as the latter are more easily cleaned and less likely to carry contamination from the wood onto the ship.

Once on board, the crew stores them in specially designed refrigerators, each holding a separate item. Bananas are stored separately as they give off chemicals that can easily spoil other fruit. The temperature and humidity levels in each refrigerator are set specifically for the item it holds, to ensure it remains at optimum freshness.

Fish is often very fresh when it comes on board, and cruise ship chefs will determine how much is required for the first four to five days and put that amount on ice. The rest is immediately frozen. Shellfish is typically already frozen on arrival. If the number of days between ports is fewer, the ship will pick up fresh fish and produce more often, instead of relying on frozen goods.

Salads and raw food are pretty popular on menus during initial sailing days, and taper out towards the end. The menus are also fairly simple – perhaps just one main version of meat, seafood and poultry, so that cruise ship chefs can hold dishes at a food-safe temperature and prepare food to order.

At every point, the provisions team ensures that food is used in a first-in first-out manner. This means that food with an earlier use by date is utilised first. These are all prepped in separate cool rooms to avoid cross-contamination – and thereby unnecessary wastage – before heading to the galleys.

The crew is constantly keeping an eye on depleting provisions and produce that might go past its use by date. Fruit, in particular, must be used appropriately. Unused items from fruit baskets in state rooms are repurposed into desserts and sweet snacks. Peach sorbet, bananas foster, cherries jubilee and strawberry flambé are excellent ways of using up fruit that are ripening faster than the guests consume them.

In addition, vegetables such as carrots and beets are pickled, cabbage can be made in sauerkraut, particularly if there are many Germans expected on board. Meat is generally frozen until required, when it is defrosted in a safe manner before being used.

How Food Drives Cruise Culture

Food is intrinsic to cruises, a far cry from the days of old when passengers made do with whatever the cruise ship chefs could make. Today, technology helps produce stay fresh longer and allows a wider range to be transported, helping to satiate the growing culinary demands of clients.

Currently, there are cruises that focus solely on the culinary experience, from offering cooking demos to wine tours during port excursions and even an on board cooking school. As a member of staff, cruise ship chefs jobs on such liners will demand good galley experience and extensive skills.

ON BOARD

In March this year, Silversea Cruises announced its latest immersive culinary enrichment programme tailored according to the itinerary in a way that incorporates ship-based and shore-side events. Cruise ship chefs jobs on board will involve taking guests through market trips, winery visits and meals at port eateries, as well as guest hosts, food lectures and demonstrations on board.

In 2015, its L’Ecole des Chefs by Relais & Châteaux offered knife skills workshops, cooking competitions, a market-to-plate tour and a lunch and learn session where the cruise ship chef prepared an entire meal in front of guests.

Celebrity Cruises attempted to give guests a closer look at what goes into their beautiful dishes. It offers a popular Excite the Senses Culinary Theme Cruise with a behind the scenes experience including a private tour of the ship’s galley. In the past, guests have been able to meet upcoming chefs including Jacques von Staden and Junior Merino.

On board cooking demonstrations are popular on many cruise ships around the world, some given by celebrity chefs such as Jacques Pépin on Oceania. The cruise ship company boasts a state-of-the-art galley where chefs host cooking classes and demos on board its vessels Marina and Riviera.

Other vessels demand greater skills from their many cruise ship chefs – Paul Gauguin Cruises, for example, plates a sumptuous variety of Polynesian dishes using local ingredients during its voyages to South Pacific ports in Tahiti, Fiji, Bora Bora and French Polynesia.

Social media is playing an interesting part in cruises too. Le Petit Chef on Celebrity Edge offers a 3D dining experience for Instagram-loving patrons, created in collaboration with TableMation Studios, that screens an animated character beside your plate preparing your dish before it is served.

Holland America Line took food-themed cruising to another level with an itinerary that included special viewings of America’s Test Kitchen, showing the reality show’s live demonstrations up close, encouraging participation in hands-on workshops, getting tips from professional chefs and also on-screen test cooks from the show.

IN PORT

Cruise companies are always on the lookout for something different to offer their guests. Celebrity Cruises hosted a Baked in Alaska specialty cruise that included a food foraging expedition in a remote area of the state and a visit to Ketchikan understand its commercial crabbing industry.

Saga cruises targets the middle-aged crowd and has been offering unique experiences to draw in their guests. Its European cruises offer port excursions to quaint little villages and towns such as Madeira where guests sample local food such as bolo do caco and exotic fruit, and Cádiz where its tapas workshop teaches guests how to make the best local small plates and the appropriate wines to pair them with.

Other cruise ship companies plan a variety of excursions to culinary hotspots such the floating markets of Vietnam or a beer tasting cruise in Germany.

Cruise Chefs: How to Make Your Dish Exciting

Passion and creativity go hand-in-hand for chefs jobs. But with thousands in the fray, it becomes increasingly important to stand out at work. Knowing the basics may not be enough as you grow in the industry; you will need to up your game by making your dish exciting and appealing.

One of the main ways to create a new dish or make an existing dish exciting is to eat. Eat the dish you’re looking at changing and also other food, particularly those you are unfamiliar with. This will help you understand flavour profiles and expand your range. It will also give you the chance to pick up on tiny details of the dish and give you ideas for elements to change. You will be able to create interesting new pairings, or even swap a small element in an existing dish to completely change the flavours.

Another way to change a regular dish is to play with existing elements. Often, young students follow the book to the ‘T’, making sure every step of a recipe is followed through thoroughly. At a later stage in one’s career, you can look at taking your favourite dish that you have made beautifully for years, and switching it up. This can be done by playing with elements such as textures, plating and portion sizes.

You could take a curry and carb dish and make it exciting by introducing a crunchy element. You may not need to change the flavour, but just changing the texture can make the dish exciting. For example, instead of regular steamed rice, you could use rice crackers. Or instead of a boiled vegetable, you could use a purée.

Guests are becoming more adventurous with food, even on cruise ships. Watching food shows and reality TV contests can give you ideas of how to hero one ingredient on the plate and complement it with simple additions. Perhaps you could put the focus on beef or mushrooms and use even items like coffee or chocolate unusually in a savoury dish. The flavour changes can be subtle, but even so can make a dish different and interesting.

Talk to other chefs about ideas for your dish. You might find that a little tweak to an original idea could make it even more interesting. You can bounce off ideas for flavour combinations, thematic interpretations, and even presentation.

Finally, plating can be as important as the dish itself. A poorly presented dish will not be appetising to look at, thereby ruining the experience of the diner before he or she even puts a morsel in his or her mouth.

Plating is so important that when chefs are developing new dishes they sketch out several potential designs of presentations before the dish even comes into being. The kind of serving dishes, their size, shape and colour can make a difference too. Placement of the various elements on the plate is important as well, focusing on which ones the diner is likely to eat together.

Remember to pay attention to detail. Contrast colours of vegetables and meat, use long elements to create the illusion of height and create beautiful designs using sauces. Gorgeous and technically difficult garnishes are also a great way to catch your diner’s eyes. Meshes, chocolate shards, edible flowers and other similar elements can add an interesting component to your dish.

American College Of Culinary & Language Arts

Cruise Life