I had a topic awhile back that was horror stories. Curious about your best meals at sea, favorites, special touches(garnishes etc) from actual work boats. I tried to think of one to start with but I can’t come up with one specific meal someone else cooked. When I was cooking for Christmas instead of lunch I would make three kinds of fudge, 7 or 8 different types of cookies, and a bunch of hor d’oeuvre platters. Everyone seemed to like that.
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Important caveat, otherwise the thread would be owned by the superyacht crowd.
Your question reminds me of that scene in The Silent World (?) where a diver gets the bends while hunting langusts and has to sit out dinner in the hyperbaric chamber 
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Man, this goes back, and it is a tie, both on the same ship. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners on the SS MONTANA in 78. Of course by Christmas, the company was bankrupt, and our itinerary changed by the day. But those meals were outstanding. States lines had a lot of the stewards from the old PFE passenger ships, and they could really put out a meal. . . .
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Was there anything particularly memorable?
The best story about the best meal has got to be this one.
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Chevron for me. I can’t recall a specific meal but they are feeders, A lot of those outfits that work the far north put out some of the best food too.
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Not any one thing. Just the overall quality and quantity. . oh, and even wine being served. Both States Lines AND APL (at the time) did a great job for food, and it wasn’t just because of the passenger compliment. We carried passengers on the Lykes ships I sailed on, and I don’t recall any meals as being memorable. . .
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When I was surveying for ABS, I rather enjoyed spending time on the foreign Chevron fleet. Didn’t see too many of the US flag ships in the Houston/Galveston area, other than one or two of the GT tankers.
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Lobster everyday would be fine with me. Some of you cooks are going to kill us with all the fatty meals. The wife wont like the 30lbs I gained either ! Choices is the answer. Always some type of fish and Rice and Beans should always be on the menu
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A big prime rib, twice baked potatoes and roasted asparagus is my favorite. Some of the other guys really enjoy the stuffed gray sole with lobster and scallop stuffing.
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I’ve sailed with too many fantastic cooks to pick out one meal. But what stands out in my memory is the deep water (500’ was deep back then) rig moves back in the '70s. Back then, there were a couple of anchor handling companies that were contracted for the moves. International Mooring and Marine is the last one I remember.
When the anchor crews came on board, their company had the grub bill. I remember porterhouse steaks and prime rib roasts that looked like they came off a brontosaurus. 15# pork loins, live lobster, 9 count shrimp, sea scallops, oysters and any other shellfish obtainable. We didn’t go hungry.
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Funny this came up. We currently have the best steward I’ve ever sailed with in 20 years. Fresh baked sweets. Everything homemade, no packaged food. Even fresh baked buns on cheeseburger day. Cook is excellent as well. Between the 2 of them We are in heaven. Especially when the last steward was literally the laziest I ever had. Open a can and serve
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If uscg cutters count as work boats (genuinely don’t know if they’d be considered a category unto themselves or not)-
I had a cool cook who had a real passion for what he did. The most memorable meal I had was one he cooked and it was steak with made-from-scratch chimichurri sauce. It wasn’t really anything fancy but that is the one meal that really sticks in my memory.
On a sidenote, I’m actually really curious about the Steward route in the maritime industry (civilian, not military). So if any stewards happen to see this, I’d be grateful to you if you visited the topic I started to drop whatever nuggets of wisdom you have on me.
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That can change EVERYTHING about moral on a ship right there. I had a steward like that before, he’s name was Susie Cake (not a play on words, that was really her name) and you would come to the mess hall and there would be everything from pies to fresh baked bread to a salad bar a mile long waiting for you. It was a low paying car carrier but she made the most of it…
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Hard to say, I ate pretty good for the most part. One of the fanciest meals I had was a Crab Imperial dish while at Stewart’s Oil out of Piney Point. They fed crazy good over there and the cook’s were top notch.Having access to fresh seafood and their own grocery storage certainly helped. Top notch steaks too.
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Meals while underway on the Neil Armstrong.
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On a seven man crew with the deckhand being the designated cook I try to always make a couple meals in the 14 day hitch to give the deckhand a break. I do this as an example to the crew to let them know that everybody can chip in, even the captain.
My specialties are a Sautéed onion, Chicken, broccoli, Crabmeat stuffing and Monterey Jack cheese baked pie and a Shrimp, Linguiça, crabmeat stuffing and Monterey Jack cheese baked pie. If we have extra people on board I make two or three of them Seems to be a big crowd crowd pleaser and there’s usually some left over for nightlunch or lunch the next day.
I also do stuffed flounder soaked in OJ. Sounds funny but is great. Broccoli. Rice.
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For a while we had a very special steward. On a person’s birthday she would always make something special just for them. Birthday aboard ship is just another day to me. Somehow she found out mine was coming up and knew I rarely if ever ate deserts or anything sweet for that matter. I was surprised, humbled and speechless when she bought out Creme Brûlée.
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I made carrot cake from scratch on a crew members birthday. Cream cheese frosting. Had to make it the night before, after I got off watch. Mysteriously, some times a piece or two was missing before said crew member recieved it. The little things I did went a long way with my crew.
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Food always was and is an important factor for the wellbeing and atmosphere on board a ship during the voyage. In my time I have seen it all, varying from bad or even very bad to excellent. Generally the food on board Shell tankers was from good to very good. ST was called a ‘dairy butter’ company because that was served with bread meals instead of margarine. It was the only Dutch company who had that policy. Also their was no restriction on the number of eggs per week, rule on other ships was 2 or 3 eggs per week. Only 2 if a slice of cake had been served at some time in the week.
During the time that I was with Shell Tankers I mainly sailed with Chinese crews. Traditionally on every Sunday an Indonesian rice table was served, the main event of the week, also when we sailed without a Chinese crew. To sharpen the appetite most of us skipped breakfast on that day. I remember this Indonesian rice table without any doubt as the best meal I ever had.
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