Better food

Food prices are going up again next year 4.5%. What is the Chief Steward going to cook with the budget he has now? I know what seafarers are eating is far from ideal with a limited menu rotation. Officers suffer a lot. On top of that, the skills of the chief cooks are deteriorating as the market dried up and less experienced ones are sourced, hence the mushrooming of training centers. (Even these are inconsistent in value)
Solution: What if the Chief Cook could buy customized meal kits 100% consumable with increased seafood products at a fixed long term price around the world and still be in budget? No more waste, less complaints from officers about variety etc etc. It’s got to be better than now right?

What would be nice is something that’s not packed full of preservatives, steroids and antibiotics. Until that happens its a moot point. You could put enough MSG on cardboard to make it taste like Lobster.

Wow, really interesting point. If you want i can send you a copy of our brochure / menu samples we currently send to a major shipping company. Anyone who’s interested drop me a line gmsvernon@me.com.

Spam.

Yes, we need a daily ration of spam.

Maybe you need a new cook or chef. Our cook makes us anything we ask her to do or at leasts tries. Making from scratch is the only way to beat cost. You realize how many biscuits you can make from scratch compared to 8 biscuits from a $1.29 can? Guess which taste better also. I will change boats if I get one a boat that has a out of the box cook. I can’t stand process food and having to eat it is not for me since I can cook.

A good cook can make a Bad Boat much better and a Bad Cook can and will make a Good Boat Suck! As for packaged food, I think it’s a bad idea. I have worked with some great cooks that made everything from scratch. Back in the 333 days in N.Y. the cooks got a fixed and finite amount of money for grub. If they went over it they were S.O.L. We had some really great cooks but I also sailed with some so so cooks that made up for their inexperience but trying really hard and also listening to the crew and learning.

In mud boat land it’s hit or miss. For every good everything made from scratch super star cook you get five prison cooks. Usually their only qualifications were they made hamburger helper once when they were teenagers or worked in the cafeteria last time they were locked up. In some cases it’s where they are allowed to buy food. Some companies give you a boat credit card an you can shop where ever you want. Some companies restrict you to some local store where they probably get a kick back and everything there is double priced for boat orders. The other option is a distributor where you email your order and they deliver it to the dock. This means you get the vegetables that are half rotten and milk two days from expiring. You get grade F meat and pre battered chicken, country fired steak etc. Of course you are always missing a bunch of items by the time it gets there. A good cook is worth their weight in gold. Especially one that can make something out of nothing and stretch a dollar. Too bad there isn’t an academy for cooks and I don’t wanna hear anyone say piney point. I’ve had plenty of bad meals at the school and from its graduates.

In N.Y. Harbor before the 333 Strike you could tell if a Cook had been accused of “Belly Robbing” (Stealing), there would be a place in the Galley where all of the grub receipts would be posted. One time I remember having a Cook (I used the term Loosely) and the food really sucked plus there seemed like there was not enough there. So, I take a look at the receipts that he had posted and yes the amount totaled up to what he should have spent but there was one problem, some of the receipts were dated a couple of days when we were still at sea. I wanted to Captain to fire him but there was something about poker losses that the cook still owed the Captain.

I let it slide for the tour but told the Captain that is he came back and pulled it again I would go to the Union (Yes, I said the BAD word) and the company. As it turned out he turned out to be a pretty good cook, so I was glad that I let it slide. One thing though the receipts always matched what he bought from that day on.

One time we had a Cook that was a Stone Cold Drunk. The Captain had told him if he messed up one more time he was gone. Now, this guy was a really good cook so we all kind of watched out for him.

We were out in Port Jefferson, Long Island N.Y. and we (the cook and me C/E) went up the street for a couple of cold ones. This was years ago when they looked the other way a lot.

So, after having a few beers I dragged the cook back to the boat, it was around 0200 by the time we walked back the the boat.

The cook made breakfast and Lunch then disappeared, i thought he had gone to his room. Well, this was an old boat and had a Oil Fired Stove in the galley. I walked into the galley around 1530-1600 and the stove was ice cold. I found the cook passed out with a bottle. I woke him up and went out to light the stove off. After a couple of minutes the cook was still in his room. I walked in there and splashed cold water on him which got him up.

Anyone that remembers these old stoves will know that is you pump enough fuel into it the top will glow cheery red., which is what his did. Well after getting the stove red hot he thru a Prime Rib into it. All that I can say is that was one of the best pieces of beef that I have ever had.

I wish I could say that the Cook learned his lesson but a little while but got fired a couple of months later.

Interesting stories. i agree home made food is best. totally against packaged food with all the chemicals in it. I saw half a dozen chief cook menus and hardly saw any seafood in the diet. i guess coz it costs too much and takes too long to prepare.

How much seafood is in your menu each week? Am i correct in saying the food cost is still floating around $8 a day per person?

Maybe some people catch their own seafood.

We do. And out here, it’s about $20 a day, per man.

Same here, we get salmon and halibut as we want it.

I’ll trade you some Mahi and Ono for some Salmon and Halibut.

Sounds pretty fair to me!

I guess you guys are lucky. $20 a day per man is high to the global average on commercial ships.

I had heard you can’t fish off the OSV’s or near the rigs anymore. Is that correct?

It is with Hornbeck and I am sure most of the other large companies as well.

[QUOTE=dredgeboater;86585]It is with Hornbeck and I am sure most of the other large companies as well.[/QUOTE]

If you can’t fish, whats the point of going to sea?
What’s next? not allow sailors to have deck knives? splice wire or fiber rope?

Oh, wait, nevermind.

In all reality how are you expected to eat a half decent meal on $8 a day?..let alone purchase seafood??