Veggie Power!

I have booked lots of Vegetarian and Vegan passengers over the years and most airlines, hotels and cruise lines say they will accommodate them and do their best. Sometimes if they are lucky they get more than one choice of dish.

Side tracking a little I did have a funny experience in a little café in Paris when on a visit with a colleague. She was a vegetarian and had advised the restaurant in advance of this. When we arrived they were a little confused about what a vegetarian was I think as they brought her onion soup! Ok you say what is wrong with that? Nothing except it had ham floating around in it. After some deliberation they offered to cook her an omelette. Not exciting but it would suffice. When it came she cut into it to find, yes you guessed it chicken pieces!!! We proceeded in our very stilted French to explain that she did not eat meat of any kind. The waiter went away and came back saying the chef could do her a cheese sandwich. She nodded, starving at this point. When it came she lifted the top and inside was cheese. Eureka! She bit into it and yes you guessed it again. The chef had slipped and nice slice of ham under the cheese for flavour… She gave up at this point.

Anyway. Back to the reason for this post.

As I said many cruise lines now offer vegan or vegetarian options as standard but Costa Cruises are upping the ante. As part of their on-board culinary offering Costa Cruises have created a dedicated vegan and vegetarian menu that will be available on their cruise ships. No longer will you have one or two dishes to choose from but a menu like everyone else. Great News!

It goes one step further as well as the menu cuts out all dairy products and even eggs, instead using ingredients derived from plants that will produce the same bold Italian flavours that reflect Costa’s proud Mediterranean Heritage.

Plus it’s not just the dinner menu.  Costa have advised ‘The comprehensive menu covers breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers and dessert, and includes an array of Italian delicacies such as Venetian ‘ris e bisi’ soup, and a delicious trenette with pesto as part of the Luguria regional menu. Other culinary specials include a dish consisting of celeriac and creamy caciocavallo cheese, a vegan burger made with kidney beans, a delicious rocket and apricot salad, and a subtle cauliflower and fig tempura with porcini mushrooms.’ Sounds great Costa.

Antonio Brizzi, Costa corporate travelling chef, said: “Vegetarian dishes have always been part of Italian culinary tradition and we are delighted to introduce them as a full and separate menu on board our cruise ships.’

“We aim to fulfil the needs of our customers and ensure they enjoy their time on our ships.”

So what do you think? About time, do I hear you say?

Do you think other Cruise lines need to follow their example and start treating Vegetarians and Vegans more seriously instead of an insignificant minority?

Do you sometimes feel awkward for having to ask if they have anything suitable or if a dish contains this or that ingredient that you cannot eat?

I would love to hear your experiences and feedback on this.