Karla.

1. Notes for cooking at sea…..
   Most of these quantities will do crews from 25 to 75. Always remember that you usually have a second choice as well as soup, salad and sandwich. That’s what I do. You have to think of , or get to know the crew as well. This can be quite challenging if, like me, you work in a fleet where you bounce around from ship to ship, crew to crew. It makes life hard. On one ship there will be tall skinny guy—who eats just about everything as if he refrained from snacking all day and save his appetite for meal times only. Could he ever pack it away! Or, three plater, the guy piles it high and eats it all, or throws most of it away. No cost to him. So as a rule always go over by 15 percent to be safe. Often more than that and this may give you a couple menu items for later on.
   On one ship I had two sailors from Scotland that would eat fish for every meal. EVERY MEAL. So in the morning, kippers or fishcakes. One mistake was deciding (because you have to use things up as well) to do stuffed parrot fish. I scaled over 75 parrot fish—a tedious task as the scales were the size of my thumb nail, stuffed them, baked them only to see the two Scotsman as the takers, but they relished in having seconds and thirds!
   Also all quantities will differ based on the storage, handling and serving equipment you have on board each ship. Also the quantities you get in stores will vary by ship (other cook’s), country, region and ship’s chandler. This includes weight, packaging and brand names. When you are not sure, use the enclosed pan guide for help. I made the mistake of ordering all my beef hamburgers in the Canary Islands one time only to find out in the Canadian arctic that hambergeusa in Spain meant ground pork! Also my large quantity of deveined, shell off 20-30 count shrimp would come shell on and not cleaned. This caused a lot of problems in the arctic with labor time, and menu redevelopment!
   On my latest trips I have been working on a ship where the way that the stores (supplies) comes on board also dictates where things go. It goes kind of like this; the pipe (announcement) is `stores on the dock, stores on the dock`. Usually that means those that can help get them aboard will as for whatever reason, they usually come during meal times. Or when the rest of the crew is busy.
   The crane brings the supplies aboard in a metal box , you hear the scrape of the container being dragged across the deck. A hatch is opened, a small ladder in place, I stand on it precariously as boxes and bags are hand bombed down the hatch and if we are lucky there are others there to help put them away. Quite often this is not the case and you end up with a confusing mess around the mess and galley while serving a meal.
   On another ship they were dumped on the dock and I had to lug (with the pleading help of a sailor) most of them aboard myself. And on anther they came down a hatch from 4, or 5 decks up and quickly `stored`. It was like a maze and for days we were digging through locating items in the wrong area. A couple of weeks went by when we finally found the plums, underneath three cases of coffee. Time for pie or pudding!
   Quantities 20 plus crew.
   5kg’s stew beef =1 4 inch insert of stew
   10kg top sirloin will do for a roast dinner (usually 2 pieces)
   prime rib for 20-one large, for 30 two
   10kg ground beef =40 250gram burgers
   1 large box of ribs for 20(usually about 10kgs a box)
   5kg ground beef for meat sauce
   2 box of chicken legs for 20-30
   2 inch half insert will serve 20-30 mash potato
   1 inch for corn and gravy
   1000grams macaroni (2 boxes) =1 2inch deep insert of mac and cheese
   3 legs of lamb for 20-30
   2 pork chops per person
   salt cod/corned cod 20lbs
   panfried cod 15lbs
   chicken breasts 2 cases, same as legs
   4 sides of salmon per 20 people
   4 boxes of wings (5kg’s each) for 30 people
   10kg cooked ground beef equals meat sauce for 20 and taco beef for 20.
   7-8 large pizzas
   Larger quantities 75 plus crew.
   Pizzas-15 big
   wings, 100lb
   3 large pork loins equals 60 appx, 1 inch chops bone in
   1 20lt container equals I meal of any style fries
   20kgs ground beef equals 40 plus swiss style steak or hot hamburger.
   1 4 inch long deep pan, perforated equals 50 portions duchesse potato after mashed and piped, or 100 mash portions medium(4 oz?) scoop
   6 decent size tenderloins trimmed equals 60 portions about 6-7 oz
   1 2 inch long pan equals 75 portions of rice
   5 prime ribs (usually enough left over for secondary meal and soup)
   I 2 inch long hotel pan of any veg is plenty
   80lbs ribs
   soup 20lts
   sandwiches as a second -3- depending on what it is up against
   A main sandwich like a club will require near 1 per person so about 75-80 for 90 appx
   8 to 10 sides of decent salmon
   3 large ham or 5 small picnics
   4 20lb plus turkeys
   8 large roaster chickens equals 70 to 80 pieces.
   20kg hamburger equals 90 5 oz burgers
   2 pieces of top sirloin will yield approximately 4, 2inch long hotel pans of Rouladen.
   4kg dry pasta will feed 75
   Ideas for a good sea cook
   Lead by example. Put the job first, not attitudes. Always have an open mind. Remember that people have different culinary cultures, skill and tolerance levels. In the galley, acrimony kills morale. Bullying, sexism and all the `isms` can be quite the detriment to working at sea. Try to help each other out as getting the job done timely, neatly and efficiently means that all benefit. We all have strength and weaknesses. Always get a job done. Try not to leave work areas untidy or messy when leaving the galley. By putting forward a good effort no one can get leverage on you. What I mean by that is there will always be someone I galley or kitchen looking to knock you down a peg or two. Comes with life, not just the job. So to get around that just do a good job.
   Learn the way of the cook on each ship you go onto. Whether or not you are the chief cook or the 2^nd, learn the nuances of each galley, right or wrong and take from that. The same goes for following recipes; learn how things are made and then once mastered try your hand at variations.
   Learn the food type; meat and potatoes, meaters, picky dieters, finicky sorts, special diets, and those that like food that they have learned about in the course of life outside the home. Respect all kinds of eaters; even those that want `real cheese`( meaning process cheese slices on burgers) to those claiming to be vegetarians but you find munching down at wing nite. There are no simple rules.
   Taste is very important—TASTE YOUR FOOD. Having said that though, people often eat with their eyes so presentation is important as well. Remember as well that hygiene and appearance play a role when serving. Remember to keep plates clean, do not slop or thumb print plates as you serve. It will leave an impression on the eater; you either care about the job you have or you don’t give a fuck.
   Decide what kind of cook do you want to be—one who looks for short cuts so you do not have to `cook`. One who is interested in learning new and better ways to cook. Or somewhere in between. This will define your attitude in the workplace. If you wish to succeed and challenge yourself to be better you WILL succeed because that is part of the journey. No doubt.
   Carry a notebook, invaluable for when you are traveling a lot; on new ships with new crews; in a hurry; having to be the baker. Also for simply writing ideas, thoughts and recipes. A pocket knife, thermometer and knife kit are important as well. It is important as well to pack items that will make your hitches easier; games, laptop, treats, etc.
   Be prepared. All kinds of circumstances will pop up depending on the weather, type of ship, crew, equipment malfunctions, etc. Think ahead. Prepare ahead. Think of completing two or three jobs at once based on your menu ideas. Timing is a key aspect as well.
   Always be aware of stock limitations. Items that go bad quickly like fresh fruit, spinach and greens, dairy (including the forgotten dairy products like sour cream and cottage cheese) and other vegetables that go off fast. Plan menus based on this along with; mixing in frozen and canned goods. When starting out write down a simple menu plan for the first week. Once you get comfortable with a regular routine and pulling food for the next day begin to change it up. Mix in new items based on stock, menu rotation and any and all special requests or suggestions.
   A combination of menu planning, food on hand, things that HAVE to be used up( things that are perishable but also items that previous cooks tend to continuously order but never use, they stockpile and take up valuable, limited space, especially on smaller vessels) and creativity will help in a day to day basis.
   Always help your stewards (if of course they help you!)…these people will work hand in hand with you in most cases-although some will do nothing but again, each ship and crew are different. Same goes for the deckhands. Also remember that on many ships you are the steward as well.
   Let the equipment make your job easier. I for instance, in the morning get the bread in the Hobart right away so you can move on to other tasks. It is a good idea as you plan and write up menus days in advance to look at them as strategies as well. Plan ahead, multitask and the job will be easier.
   I’ve missed a few things no doubt but all in all you get the idea. In the long run you will become more efficient and will eventually be able to pass your talent, skill and knowledge on to fellow cooks. I hope. In writing this to you I’ve become a better cook.
   
2. seaworthy notes from the past....not that long ago....

   Fleece does not do well on the back of a quad in Resolute bay. I found this out last night. I was going ashore to meet up with a few of the crew already there. Derm said he would drop me off by the town but first had to pick up the ol man (skipper) at the oil pump house. I was about to help skipper and bacon boy (all 300 plus) in to the boat a couple of quads pulled up. At first I thought this was a couple of locals just dropping by. Speedy quads are the everyday way to get around these parts (earlier in Pangnirtung, as I awaited the boys outside the store a quad pulled up with what looked like mom, baby and grandma crammed aboard).
   It turned out to be the boys from the ship. They had rented (for 20 bucks) a couple of quad for an hour. One guy decided to go back to the ship so I waved the rest down and hopped aboard. Man, the dust was something else. Resolute is nothing but gravel, dirt and bald hills that have not seen a tree in a very, very long time, if ever. I dusted off when we came to a laughing stop twenty minutes later I pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Stoney eyed we drove out to a point, looked at old abandoned katimaviks, and those motorized snowmobile buses from a long time ago.
   After a quick tour around the town the boys headed off and I could not find one to rent. But this made the day. A great bit of fun.
   Rolling
   Last Saturday I pinballed down to the galley. Six am and she was rolling quite a bit. Picture looking out a porthole and one minute there is just the lighter blue of the sky filling the glass. The next you are staring at the dark blue ocean.
   I quickly picked up the pots and pans that found a way to break free during the night and began getting set up for breakfast. Slant walking becomes second hand after a few trips and I began setting up the stove with the t bar square. It keeps the pots in four separate squares so they roll but stay on the stove. I awaited the first order and as we did not have the proper pans for eggs or omelet’s (more on this later—section on cooking on ship’s with limited gear, each cook’s methods, ordering, etc) I had to cook them in a tilt skillet.
   This large piece of equipment is more at home in a hotel kitchen that a ship’s galley. The first order is two eggs over easy. What a laugh as I two large eggs hit the heated skillet and ran with the ship. Two large now elongated into extra long’s! It took a few orders to get the cracking and pouring of eggs down but you never get it completely. Ship’s roll with the sea. So do the eggs. As the sea dictates.
   Guy asks “what kind of cheese is this?”
   I look over and say “shitty feta”.
   He goes “what?”
   The thing is that I quickly realized that while it was shitty factory feta-an non descript plastic bag that came in a corrugated brown box from suburban somewhere- it was unknown to him. Old cheddar from Kraft was a wild cheese in his parts.
   So I quickly retort, “Just feta”. I wanted to talk about where feta comes from and the different kinds but that was too much. I wanted to tell how I made feta on a farm in Queensland, Australia, along with quark, yogurt, and havarti. How we worked all day with funny nets on our heads that reminded me of my Nan wearing my brother’s underwear on her head while `mixin` a batch of bread. But no, “just feta” was all I could muster.
   Sometimes with cooking it is the camaraderie that I miss on ships. It is usually just you. If you are lucky enough to have a second in the galley helping out, quite often food knowledge is not there forte. This is just a job and the culinary aspect is secondary. It kind of reminds me of working in the hotel in Charlottetown.
   I had just moved there to get an understanding of how large scale kitchens really worked. I took the advice of an acquaintance in Toronto. He worked across the street from where I lived in Chinatown, in a French bistro. I use to hang out my easy bake oven window (I lived above a restaurant kitchen, and the heat….) and nagged him to let me come over and try out. He suggested that I try a hotel system to learn more. You see they put me to task on a simple culinary school task; turning carrots into roses. I failed miserably but I did take his advice and begun searching out hotel jobs. Later that year I ended up in Canadian Pacific’s Hotel Prince Edward in Charlottetown.
   I quickly learned that while I took the job, all gung ho, wanting to improve my culinary skills, there were those that cooked for a living. Just that, a paycheck. There was no passion, no wanting to learn more, just punching a clock, getting paid and bitching about life. Eventually I came to look at hotel jobs as grunt work. Mechanical work, devoid of passion. The more you worked there, the more robotic you became.
   On the ship it sometimes gets that way but you learn to see small glimpses off pride in the little things; rice becomes a nice rice pilaf; grilled lamb chops are finished with a lemon and rosemary dusting; pan seared scallops are seared just right, a nice crust on each side while the center borders on rare. All in all these small attempts fall by the wayside once the trough has been filled (the hot trays in the mess room) and the squeeze of the ketchup bottle is heard. But you try, and try again.
   I think it is Monday……headed out of Pond Inlet yesterday morning as a cruise ship came in. The only other ship we have seen on this trip.
   Wednesday morning, at Broughton Island. Spent yesterday morning bouncing through an ice flow and of course I was on polar bear watch. No luck but when Paul walked into the galley at 6 am and said that they had just spotted one, well it was time to suit up and get on deck. Suiting up for me wasn’t coveralls and a hard hat but long johns and a wool cap!
   Had planned to get up last night as the skipper told me that the cliffs of this island are a good spot for seeing bears. I looked out the porthole around 10pm and it was very, very dark and foggy. Not much luck at seeing anything. This morning I felt I was at home. The fog was as thick as pea soup and even now at 10 am it is still hard to pick out land.
   The food ordering problem.
   Picture this; I recently placed a stores order (the marine term for food ordering aboard ship) for Come By Chance our next port of call. I excitedly looked forward to it since it was in getting stores that I stood a chance at honing my craft aboard the ship. I often try to order a few small things that would enable me to enhance not only the meals but my ability to maintain some semblance of culinary integrity.
   So I eagerly awaited the arrival of the stores order. Eventually they came and began to help put them away. It is here that your journeys are either a bit of fun or not. This last order was a complete let down. Many of the small items that I had wanted that would afford a simple meal to be something tweaked into a repast where not on the order or the wrong products were shipped.
   In these situations two reasons are usually given; one, someone in head office vetoed said items or, and this is usually the case, someone at the ship’s chandlers did not understand the order, the items in question, and either submitted substitutes or did not bother. It is the latter that usually happens. It is here that I blow gaskets and wish I could somehow offer a short course in supplying stores for a ship. A few examples are in order.
   A ship’s crew, like all people, have their likes and dislikes when it comes to food. Whether you are talking about why someone has ketchup on fries but not mash, or prefer a particular brand of bologna to another the point is the same. Choice.
   On this last ship the crew would not eat any other brand of bologna besides Maple leaf. Some guys would argue that they could taste the difference. Bologna? Well this is the argument. What got under my skin was that the stores where not ordered in Montreal, or Quebec City, two locations that when you order bologna you get a local or regional brand .Rather stores were ordered right here in the heart of Maple Leaf bologna loving country, NL. So it begs the question, who cannot read a simple order that states Maple Leaf Bologna, 4 sticks? The person picking the order I guess
   This problem is a regular pain in the ass. Stores are ordered repeatedly from the same couple of companies wherever the ships ports of call are. So why do they continuously mess up the order? I ordered 3 crates of eggs one time (that is 15 dozen per crate) in Sorel, Quebec one time only to receive 3 dozen! The same company for years, How far was a ship going to go on 3 dozen eggs? Or as we planned to head north to the arctic again I ordered 48 cases of bottled water but received only 29.
   So a few questions popped into my head; who exactly picked the order? Where did they go to get the order? Sometimes you can tell that they went to a local supermarket by a few tell tale giveaways; the stores own brand name; the 4 squeezable 250 ml salsa products that were suppose to be 4, 4 liter jugs of medium salsa; the 200lb of potatoes come in neat 5 lb bags. That kind of thing. But the blowing of a gasket really happens when inane choices come up and you really wonder if the person picking the order has never shopped before let alone for a ship’s chandler company. This is usually when items are shorted in the following way; a case of biscuits becomes a pack; a case of bacon becomes individual packs of the cheapest brand; fresh dill is rotten chives?????; that kind of thing.
   You take it in stride of course but still the idea lingers that it would be great to meet the person picking the order.
   Many days later and I am at home. Nothing new about this spot though. My trip was great and the return south was one filled with anxiety as you know you are getting near the end. I hope that all on this list got all 3 emails…let me know…fred