GALLEY TOUR

Chef Ramon de Bernard who took us on a galley tour, is Executive Chef on the Silver Spirit. He heads a team of 69 chefs at different levels, plus the kitchen support team. The ship can hold up to 600, and there are 450 of us on this cruise. There are 6 outlets on board plus round the clock in-suite dining to cover breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The Le Terrazza prides itself as the flag carrier of Silversea's Italian culinary traditions, 'the first and only Slow Food restaurant in the cruise world', the brochure claims.

The Chef is definitive that safety comes before quality. 'We are surrounded by water and we must ensure that whatever we serve is safe, first and foremost, even before quality'. I think what he means is 'safety of food stuff is his primary concern when he assesses quality' as the food quality on board has been good. Other considerations such as nationalities, diet preferences, restrictions, purchase of ingredients at ports of call, managing wastage ... just to name a few, are his daily priorities.

Trivial statistics of interests : 128 dishes as basis to develop menus from, 20 cheeses on menu but 35 in storage, 1400 eggs / 128 pounds of oranges / 250 pound of potatoes used daily for 450 guests, aim to stock organic and hormone free meats but cannot reach 100% consistency due to supply logistics along the way, by the way sous-vide cooking is not allowed on board as long as the question of safety of plastic bags for vacuum is not resolved. One last thing ... chefs on cruises almost never become seasick, except at the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand where no soul is spared. Presumably the smell of food, which tends to aggravate those who succumb to motion sickness, does not affect them.

I always have nothing but the highest respect for these unsung heroes behind restaurants, in fact any restaurant, whether it is successful or not. Working on a cruise ship is at least one of not mote notches up in terms of challenges. All power to them!