In Chef Annie’s cookbook At Home, At Sea you’ll find lots of recipes, details about a week at sea on the Schooner J&E Riggin, photos and my personal favorite part of the book – the vignettes. On a page with a great recipe for New England Boiled Dinner and a killer Mustard Sauce is a vignette about the lack of counter space in the galley. It reads:
“The galley of the Riggin has about 3 feet of counter space (give or take 3 inches). I’m often asked how I manage to prepare meals for 30 people all summer long in such a small space. One passenger, whose wife was angling for a new kitchen, even came to measure the exact amount of counter space so he could use this information as his rebuttal.
I am not by nature a terribly organized person, but cooking well requires that you have all your ingredients on hand and prepared before you start cooking. Chefs call it “mise en place”. This takes a level of stress away and insures consistent success. It helps that my mess cook does a lot of the chopping and cutting, as well as a number of passengers.”
Having a small kitchen is often thought of as a downside, but Chef Annie makes it all seems so easy… in a very small space… on a boat… on the ocean. Sharon Kitchens, a long time friend and Riggin passenger, posted yesterday on her blog Delicious Musings about this very topic. At one point she asks “Who has the best job on earth?” I have to tell you – I couldn’t agree more with her answer.
Email this • Share on Facebook • Twitter • Digg This! • Save to del.icio.us • Stumble It!
One Comment
Now may I have a congo bar???? Pretty please.