What’s Cooking?

I’m loving the current series of Masterchef and always feel inspired to get more adventurous with my culinary creations after watching an episode. Having said that, I also felt the same inspiration when I won 2 cookery books in a recent raffle but sadly they remain unopened.

One of the most enjoyable part of a cruise holiday is the amazing food. What goes on behind the scenes all day every day to bring these delights to your table is incredible. I have been lucky to have visited the galleys the a few ships and am in awe of the scale of ingredients and fresh produce consumed daily. Imagine how much stock to feed around 3,000 passengers and 1,254 staff on the Queen Mary 2 for example on a 7 night Transatlantic crossing with nowhere en route to stop and replenish the larders!

Did you know that on many sailings, you too can cook?

On P&O’s Britannia on certain dates throughout the year you can attend the Britannia Cookery Club where, for a fee starting at around £100, you can have a 2 hour class with a P&O Food Hero such as Marco Pierre White, James Martin or Atul Kochhar. They even have wine tasting masterclasses with Olly Smith.

Holland America Line have a Culinary Arts Center on board the beautiful Koningsdam where foodies are taken on shore to local markets and have hands-on cookery classes with the chefs.

Celebrity Cruises offer Summer Camp At Sea involving pizza making and cupcake decorating on 2017 European sailings and certain Caribbean cruises at no extra charge. They also have barbecuing at the Lawn Club Grill on Silhouette and Reflection where you can grill your own food.

Regent Seven Seas has a Culinary Arts Kitchen where you can pick up new skills in many areas from French and Italian cuisine to afternoon teas and Oceania has The Culinary Center on Marina and Riviera where guests are shown how to prepare dishes and can then take part in Culinary Discovery Tours ranging from wineries to fish markets all over the world.

Well, my dinner is in the slow cooker as I type this! Working days don’t leave much time for experimenting but at least on holiday I get the chance to diversify and try out my skills