Provisioning a Galley

Provisioning a Galley - By Bernice Houle, Cook on Impulse

As published in the March, 2018 Newlines

I am honored to write this guest article on provisioning a boat. While I have opinions about provisioning the salon and equipping the galley, this article focuses on what I believe is the intent of the Cruising Fleet Captain’s request: provisioning consumables (a.k.a. food) and preparing meals for a cruise.

The main goal of a galley cook should be to keep the crew nourished and healthy. Secondary goals include minimizing time in the galley and containing a mess/ allowing easy clean up. With a little planning and prep work, all goals are easily attainable. The following are some tips and tricks that I find useful regardless of whether it is for an overnight in Kingston or a two week cruise to Block Island.

First, prior to and throughout the cruise it is important to communicate with the captain and the crew. How many days is the cruise? Will there be any predawn or early morning departures? What are the weather conditions likely to be? Additional questions to answer: How many people (adults and children) will need meals? Are there dietary/health needs of the crew (food allergies, lactose or gluten intolerance, vegetarians)? When are the possible opportunities for the crew to eat ashore? What is the potential to get provisions during the trip? What refrigeration is available (coolers, ice box, small refrigerator) and is there an oven or just a stove top? The answers to each of these questions will help the cook plan meals and provision the galley appropriately.

Think ahead and freeze as much as possible. Food that is already frozen helps to keep the refrigerator/ice box cooled and takes time to defrost. If you want to serve chicken, use boneless chicken and marinate it prior to freezing it. Make and pre-cook meatballs and freeze them (or just buy premade, frozen meatballs). Frozen shrimp? Fabulous! A ham steak? Yum. Sausages (hot and sweet Italian, Polish, or Chorizo) are also easy to freeze and quite versatile. When planning meals try to be flexible and have items that are interchangeable.

Prepare more than you need and think about how you can incorporate leftovers into other meals. For example, with a little onion, celery, and mayo, the prior night’s leftover shrimp can easily turn into shrimp salad over lettuce for an easy, healthy lunch. Leftover cooked chicken can quickly become chicken enchiladas for another dinner. Leftover ham? How about a ham salad sandwich. Or ham and eggs for breakfast.

Ah breakfast, that first meal of the day. Some folks are particular about their coffee and others are not. Find out. I prefer to use coffee filters and drip into a thermos or pot thus needing just a kettle of boiling water (that can be filled before going to bed). Clean up consists of throwing out the used filter. This is a quick and easy method that eliminates (or at least greatly minimizes) coffee grounds accidentally going down the sink drain. It only needs to happen once to try a different strategy (sorry for that clogged kitchen drain, Mark). That same kettle of hot water can be used for tea or hot chocolate.

Some crew are content with having a bowl of cold cereal for breakfast. I would prefer to provide a larger, hot breakfast if possible and then a lighter lunch while underway. Eggs are a good source of protein and easy to cook in a variety of ways. The easiest are scrambled with some kind of breakfast meat and/or cheese. Sausage, ham, Taylor ham (I’m a Jersey girl – try it, it’s good), last night’s leftovers – any meat can be used (slice and heat or chop and sauté’ with onions) to accompany scrambled eggs. Notice I left out bacon. While delicious, the bacon smell permeates the entire area below and leaves tons of grease behind. Remember one of our goals: allow easy clean up. That is not bacon.

Consider supplementing real eggs with egg beaters. The containers can be frozen and easy to use while underway. Be careful with bread, for it gets moldy fast. An alternative is to bring a bag of tortillas. They travel well, last forever and are quite versatile. Add a bag of pre-shredded cheese to your list and you have the base for multiple meals. How about a breakfast burrito for breakfast, chicken salad wrap for lunch, and a cheese quesadilla for a snack with a nice cold beer after a day of sailing. It is delicious and will keep the crew happy.

Do not shy away from canned goods. Canned chicken makes a great chicken salad or buffalo chicken dip. Canned salmon is a nice change from tuna and I find it to be less “fishy.” Canned green beans can be either heated or made into a quick green bean salad by adding chopped onion, vinegar, and oil.

Vegetables that store well are carrots, onions, potatoes, and cabbage. Add fresh garlic to that list. Additional vegetables that are handy to have available are celery, green/red pepper, fresh tomatoes, and lettuce, though these will likely need to be used early in the trip.

Spices are versatile and do not take up a lot of room. I recommend having salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, chili flakes, olive oil, canola/corn oil, red wine vinegar, and white vinegar available. Look for a smallish bin to hold the spices so they do not fly around in the compartment while sailing.

Additional items for the “pantry” include pasta (long and short), a can or two of tomato sauce and/or canned diced tomatoes, and rice. Peanut butter or other nut butter is good in a pinch or for picky crew. I also recommend you explore boxed milk (doesn’t have to be refrigerated until opened) and again, consider egg beaters (which can be frozen ahead of time – and make perfectly good scrambled eggs) as two convenience items.

So, what do you say? Are you ready to test your galley with some “gourmet” meals? Remember, everything tastes better when you are on a boat, so it is hard to go wrong. For more tips and tricks about provisioning and more, I recommend you visit theboatgalley.com.