Another day, another musing. This time whilst eating my very poor dinner (the carrots weren’t even cooked) whilst on ship. Meal times for me when I’m at sea are always a mixed bag. 90% of the time it really is very dire. You look at the choices on offer and wonder what the chefs have been doing with their time.
Now don’t get me wrong. I think being a chef in the military is probably the worst job. Its long hours, up very early to cook breakfast for over 1000 people (on this ship at least), in hot confined conditions, using poor ingredients, only to receive constant moaning from the lads (I never hear the WRENs moan) on board about how shit it is. It’s a thankless job and I wouldn’t want to do it.
I’m not going to lie. I have moaned at the chefs for some of the questionable food they’ve produced. I’ve also gone out of my way to praise the chefs when they’ve produced something delicious as I feel that they never get much praise (as I type that it sounds condescending to me but I hope it doesn’t come across that way to them.)
Anyways as I’m tucking into my chicken wrap, which was small and dry, and not cooked all the way through potatoes and over cooked green beans I found myself just imagining all the delicious foods I could be eating if I wasn’t on board this tin can. This happens pretty much every meal time I have on board and I always long for the day I can return to my own kitchen and cook something delicious.
Oh food how I imagine thee. Roast dinners, pub grub, fine dining, simple cakes and breads. You name it I love it (except mushrooms. Those are the devil’s food.) I cannot wait to get home and start cooking and baking. I make the best scones in my opinion (It’s clotted cream first and then jam) and I also make tasty wraps full of chicken and salad and whatever else I choose to put in there. I have a huge sweet tooth so love to bake cakes when I can.
So I thought I’d write this piece on a few of my favorite meals (this isn’t about whether they are healthy for you or not) and just kind of talk about why I love them so much. So without further ado I’ll start with number one. The mighty roast dinner.
What can be said of the roast dinner that hasn’t already been said before? The key to a good roast, in my eyes, is the humble roast potato. In the UK the best variety is the Maris Piper and the key is to sieve a bit of flour over them before putting them in your pre-cooked oil. I also love putting sausage meat in my stuffing. It just adds to it. Try it and then thank me later. I’m not going to lie. I make a good roast. Honey roasted carrots and parsnips, Yorkshire puddings………..is your mouth watering yet? Christmas only adds to what is already the best meal. I know you Americans make a great big deal about Thanksgiving but the Christmas roast dinner tops that.
Second on my list is a dessert that is native to Turkey. It is call Baklava and I really recommend it. Its pastry dessert made of filo pastry and filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. I remember going to my local kebab shop one night and discovered that the owners were Turkish. When I asked about baklava they said it couldn’t get it anywhere around where I lived but to return in a couple of nights. I did this and one of the owner’s wives had baked some for me. They were amazing and I returned the favor by baking scones and gifting them those along with some clotted cream and a jar of jam.
My next choice is a breakfast choice. Now I won’t choose the obvious and go for the full English (if you thought that was what I was going to pick because I’m British then neh) but I will pick something easy to make and delicious and that’s scrambled eggs on toast with a fruit smoothie. I prefer to cook my eggs in a pan but my mother does it in the microwave. I recently learned that if you add a tiny splash of vinegar just before you plate up then it changes you eggs completely but I’ve been too scared to do that but I will soon. My juice is usually spinach, banana, strawberries, blueberries and a little bit of Greek yogurt. It’s just fantastic and sets you up for the day.
The next item on my list is the scone. I love a nice soft golden scone topped with clotted cream and jam. They just evoke that traditional British afternoon high tea. Small sandwiches, tea and scones whilst discussing events of the day. The late Queen (may she rest in peace) preferred hers with the jam first and then the cream. She was wrong. That is blasphemy. To me it’s like having the peanut butter on your toast first and then putting butter. It’s just wrong. Anyways I use the amazing Mary Berry’s recipe (1) so if you want something quick and easy to make that are delicious then I would recommend these
I now come to the end of my musing about food. This one is for you ladies. This is the meal I cook for a Vulkan date night. I always hope it impresses though it could be considered quite a heavy meal. I make, for a date night, home-made sweet chili and cheesy meatballs with whole-meal pasta in tomato sauce. For dessert I make a white chocolate mascarpone cheese cake on a chocolate digestive base which has grated Cadbury’s chocolate over it. It’s very sickly but delicious.
So there you go. There’s obviously tons of other foods and recipes out there that I’ve tried and eaten. According to some map app I’ve been to over 15% of the world’s countries. These are mostly the countries that are by the sea. I love trying out other countries cuisine. It’s the best part of visiting them. So, readers. What is your go to dish? What’s your favorite meal? Do you have a meal you cook for a significant other or for a date? Please comment. I’d love to hear about them.
I hope I find you happy and healthy
Vulkan
P.S. This is the Mary Berry recipe I use for my scones.
(1) https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tea_time_scones_77839
Who are you? You post one day about words and the next about food and eating. It’s like you live in my brain. While I prefer a fried egg on toast (ideally pumpernickel but or a high-fiber bread), I prefer my scrambled eggs separate from bread. One of the dishes i make the most for others are eggs in a window/basket. Like a savory French toast. Kinda.
Cook tons of pasta for others and sometimes myself.
Am in the most soupy-season of my life. Love how I can make soups with abandon and just throw so many different things in.
So am making a potato-turnip soup soon with a garlic and carmelized onion base. Can’t wait. Just not sure whether or not to add garlic-sautéed mushrooms into the mix. Thoughts?
Potatoes are my new bliss. And sour cream my current favorite condiment.
Also start my day with a spinach and berry-centered smoothie and a lotta other prebiotic nerdiness.
Love salads and my current fave is the Greek salad I’ve been making for myself and friends a lot. Mixed greens, chickpeas, red onions, Kalamata olives, avocado (my former favorite food) and a homemade dressing.
This week I made a Greek but switched to blue cheese and cut up a fried buffalo chicken veggie patty on top. Truly heaven. Trying to spend less in restaurants to working on some special dishes such as this one that scratch a certain kind itch.
I just saw on twitter that bananas are actually berries and my mind is blown. Unless twitter is lying again, which it rarely does ; )
Looks like you have a bright alternative career as a instagram chef. You have so passionately described all the food, that a) I do genuinely feel bad that you are not getting decent food on the ship and b) the post has made me bloody hungry, so I gotta check what's in the refrigerator. For some reason, I am craving a Bolognese.