Food at Sea
Dear Readers,
The number one question I was asked by my family before coming here was what are you going to eat? As a vegetarian who loves cooking (and eating) I was concerned about the same thing. But after a couple weeks on board, I can happily report we are well taken care of food wise. We have a couple of lovely chefs (John and Chantel) who absolutely know what they are doing. Let’s start with the basics: We have 3 main meal times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They’re pretty strict about these times so if you’re sleeping in, expect scraps or nothing at all from whatever meal you’re missing.
Breakfast includes the usual suspects. Eggs. Carbohydrate in the forms of potatoes, biscuits, or occasionally pancakes or waffles. Rotating breakfast meat of choice. This paired with miscellaneous fresh fruit has been a pleasant start to every day. A personal highlight of mine were the special overnight chia oat pudding made with coconut milk and topped with toasted coconut flakes. My fellow plant based passengers thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. While this isn’t a breakfast exclusive drink, especially on a research vessel like this, the coffee station is stacked with every addition you can think of. Along with a fully stocked fridge of various milks and yogurt flavors, there are plenty of options to choose from to start your day off right. Regardless of if you are on the day or night shift.
Now lunch is where things get interesting. There are some constants which include a veggie friendly soup/bean based dish alongside an omnivore soup. A lunchtime staple of french fries, onion rings, or sweet potato fries depending on the day. A variety of rice is commonly there and they oscillate between a seasoned rice dish and plain white rice. What the chefs play around with the most are the proteins provided which are usually on the lighter side. Think poultry or some type of fish. Once again as a vegetarian, I am biased and cannot speak much to those but I can assure you that they have been delicious. In particular, the chicken caesar wrap, sweet potato fry combo was a favorite amongst the science party. On the weekends, there seems to be a slight shift toward comfort foods, so think mac and cheese and chicken tenders as opposed to a healthier option. No complaints here for that. In international waters, a comfort meal can do wonders for the soul.
The real star of the show seems to be the salad bar, snacks, and desserts since that is the life force for the third of the boat scheduled for the night shift. We’re lucky to have a stocked salad bar with all the toppings and vegetables you’d expect. There is always an apple, orange, or banana available at the snack counter ironically surrounded by much less nutritious options but fan favorites. I hesitated to include the cereals in the breakfast section because they are the sugary cereal brands, but they’re also featured in this corner. Having this counter also be the place where there are rotating desserts and pastries feels like some sort of test. But I try not to over think it. However, an unlikely favorite of the science party has been the saltines. What started as a non-stomach upsetting calorie for our seasick friends, ended up a staple snack down in the main lab. The day we run out will be a sad day for us, indeed. Another common occurrence has been the dessert sharing culture. If you are craving a dessert or eyeing a particular pastry, you can assuredly find someone to split it with you. Things get tricky if things aren’t allocated immediately though.
Dinner, or more like supper since it’s served at 5pm, the chefs have been especially creative. My fellow crewmembers relayed to me they’ve enjoyed dinner being pretty diverse with prime rib being served a couple times along with cultural staples like jerk chicken thighs and jambalaya. My plant based friends and I have also been eating good with potatoes au gratin and sesame tofu (served separately of course). But there’s something that I want to note for dinner in particular. As much as the food has been delicious, I’ve noticed folks linger the longest in the mess hall after dinner, catching up and sharing stories. People making creative after dinner treats end up setting trends, and then conspire on what to make next. There’s a really beautiful camaraderie that grows throughout the cruise and the energy around dinner time exemplifies that.
All in all, food has been great. The shared laughs have been even better. Excited to get more of both as the cruise goes on :)
Signing off,
Kenni
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