Part of The Underway Gourmet by Suzy O'Keefe
"The Underway Gourmet" is intended to provide sailors, cruisers, and boaters of all kinds with a means of preparing many dishes on board. In this text are shortcuts, substitutions, tips, and tricks to make cooking almost anything possible on board. Most of the recipies shown are fairly simple and are intended to peak your interest, wet your taste buds, and get your own creative juices flowing. If you could cook it at home in a tricked out kitchen, chances are that you can cook it on board your vessel with only minor modifications.
Provisioning & Storage is more an exercise in being innovative than anything else. It isn't a chore. It's a challenge! A challenge to find many & varied foods that you can easily stow, quickly cook, and enjoy. Understand that you don't need to buy 6 months worth of ANY food unless it's something you simply can't live without and can only get from a gourmet market. If you really must have a particular type of freshly ground coffee, then by all means stock up because often the third world coffees just won't please you. On the other hand, you may discover to your amazement that instant coffee tastes just fine since it's easy to make. You may want a cup to wake up when you come on watch and not want to drink 14 hour old stuff. No need to run the coffee grinder and wake up the off watch...
And while I'm on the subject... you'll know you've provisioned incorrectly when you're using your precious Melita Coffee Filters as toilet paper!!! But don't try to stow 96 rolls of toilet paper on board if you only use 8 rolls a month. You can use your available storage space much more efficiently than that. And contrary to popular opinion, you will be able to buy more in even the smallest Mexican village.
Ideally, you should be able to continue cooking all your favorite dishes on board. Some procedures may need to be varied, some ingredients may be canned instead of fresh, but don't believe you have to eat canned meat, peanut butter sandwiched, and soup out of Styrofoam cups. I use a 3 burner propane stove with oven and consistently make all of the things I talk about in these pages and more! My work space is a 37 footer size galley with a 4 and 1/2 cubic foot reefer and small freezer box.
I recommend that your first provisioning trip be one of value shopping. Don't go with a list, just go and see what looks good to you, what's on sale, and what will stow easily on board. Consider packaging and size. Yes, large bulk packages generally save lots of money, but you'll probably need to repackage them into smaller portions for stowing and to make the use of the item more convenient. Can this be done with zip-locks or plastic containers you already have? But consider, can the item be easily transferred, stored, and used without waste? For example, a large jar of mayo may be a great value, but you must refrigerate it once opened and if you repackage it, all the small containers must be refrigerated. I've found that smaller containers are generally much better for both use & storage. The unopened items keep much longer and the open containers fit better in my handy use space. Certain containers don't re-seal well and leak once opened. Examine the packaging to determine if this is the case before you buy it. This is more often true with foreign brands... a perfect example is Mexican bleach. I ALWAYS have to decant it into some other bottle.
Stow these items away and check off what might actually have been on your list and hit the store again to get the remaining items you know you want. Stow all that away and see if you have any room left for more.
As you stow things away consider this. It's your watch and it's an easy sail. You decide to cook a favorite dish in-between doing your watch duties, but the ingredients you need are under your sleeping partner's bunk. Ooooops! Whenever possible try to keep your food items convenient to the galley and out of the sleeping areas.
I know you've already learned to label your cans with an indelible marking pen, but leave the labels attached unless you know the cans are going to be rolling around in a wet bilge. It will be much easier for you to identify what you're looking for in the locker. As you stow canned goods, don't put all your spinach on the bottom, the peas next, and the mushroom soup on top of that. Alternate your stock so that there is probably a can of whatever you want near the top of the locker. Determine if the locker shape & size is better for standing the cans up or laying them down. There can be advantages to each method. I try to lay the cans on their side as I alternate the varieties. That way as I remove one can, another settles into it's place and the volume of the locker is almost self leveling. Until it gets very empty, there is no rattling and if there is, just put a towel or pillow inside the locker.
Many dry goods are packaged in cardboard boxes without plastic bag liners. You can usually determine whether or not there is a bag by shaking the box. Those unlined cardboard boxes are magnets for bugs and I highly recommend you avoid them unless you intend to repackage the contents. As a matter of fact, it is generally a good idea to get rid of all cardboard anyway to help prevent a bug problem. If you get bugs anyway, use the non-toxic Roach Motels that look like a box of kitchen matches. Did you know that the dying act of a female roach is to lay her eggs??? The roach crawls in, gets stuck, lays her eggs, the eggs get stuck, the babies hatch and get stuck... the cycle is broken and no more bugs! And, no dead bugs scattered around the boat.
If you have room, supplement your drinking water with lots and lots of fruit & vegetable juice in 1 liter aseptic box packaging. These stow very well. They have a long shelf life and the size is just about right for the 2 of you to finish once opened. The box flattens easily when empty and has little impact on the size of the trash bag. Milk is also sold in this packaging and keeps about 3 months without refrigeration. It tastes just like the real thing because it is!
Some fruit & vegetable storage techniques are covered a little later. If in the cold chest when you buy it, you should expect to have to keep it in your reefer also. Go to the open air market and buy un-refrigerated fruits & veggies whenever possible. They generally last much longer and suffer no shock from the temperature change of life in a net bag. If you do plan to use net bags, remember that these nets will swing underway and will need to be well secured to prevent unnecessary rubbing & bumping which will invariably lead to rotting & dripping onto your cushions.
Cheese keeps longer if you avoid touching it with your hands or cutting it with a knife you've used for something else (much the same as a jar of Mayonnaise can be contaminated). Try to always keep the package between your fingers and the unused piece of cheese.
Vacuum Packing is a wonderful method of keeping meat fresh longer. If you don't have a home vacuum packer, ask the butcher or supermarket to package it for you. Many do this at no charge. During a passage with refrigeration, but no freezer, vacuum packed meat (beef, pork & chicken) was still fresh at the end of 3 weeks. If vacuum packing isn't an option, at least repackage all your meat into usable size packages (meal-size portions). Bear in mind that once frozen, you'll either have to plan far ahead to allow thawing time, or microwave defrost. To help lessen this problem, put a piece of plastic wrap between pieces of steak. pork, or chicken. For ground beef, flatten your package to the thickness of a hamburger patty. You'll at least be able to cut the frozen ground beef into small pieces that quickly thaw if you're making spaghetti sauce. Always smell and examine meat for freshness before cooking.
Meat Tenderizer is a less effective alternative to vacuum packing, but still worthwhile for cruisers without freezer space. Sprinkle the surface of any fresh meat as you repackage it. The tenderizer helps preserve the meat and can keep it fresh up to 3 days longer than un-treated meat. Again always smell and inspect meat for freshness before cooking.
Box Wine (generally in 5 liter bags) is a fine addition to any cruising vessel. Oh, I know you still want the good wine in bottles for special occasions, but look at the volume you can carry in the bladders! Remove the bladders from the cardboard and you'll find that it conform to the shape of the storage compartment. Many folks stow them in the bilge. You can even line the bottom of the reefer. Once opened, rig a net bag to carry & hang your in-use wine bladder. Great for parties or just to hang over your salon table like you would a lantern.
Vegetable Storage Techniques vary greatly with the veggies and the conditions. Some vegetables like to be dry & ventilated. Some like to be kept moist. Some covered. Some not washed until you're ready to eat them. Some of the techniques you can use to get the most out of your vegetables and your storage space are discussed here. In general, when cruising, I wash all fruits & vegetables (except for onions, garlic, and cabbage) in microdine (iodine) solution and allow them to dry on deck before putting them away. Broccoli & Cauliflower will last the longest if you cut the pieces off the stalk. Wash them thoroughly and let them dry. Cut the individual heads from the stalk and discard the parts you won't be using. Place the pieces into a hard-sided container with a top. Use a piece of Tupperware or re-use a large yogurt or cottage cheese container. This prevents crushing, keeps the air out, and slows the process of spoiling. Keep in refrigerator.
Cilantro is generally purchased in bunches with the roots (and dirt) still attached. First, cut away the root and part of the stem. Wash and dry thoroughly. Store in a large yogurt container that has a top and allows the cilantro to stand up. (Putting a paper towel in the bottom of the container also helps) It's the hard-sided container that really makes the difference. If you can prevent squashing, cilantro and many other fruits & veggies will last much longer. Refrigerate. Cilantro stored this way can stay fresh for up to 3 weeks.
Citrus keeps pretty well anyway, but to make it last longer and retain moisture inside the peel, try wrapping each individual fruit in a small square of aluminum foil. The foil wrap will also prevent one bad fruit from spoiling any of the others. No need to refrigerate.
Romaine Lettuce seems to last much longer if you separate the individual leaves from the head, shake off the excess water, let them air dry or pat with a paper towel, and store them loosely in a sealed plastic bag or flat plastic container. Once again, leaving a paper towel in the bag will help.
Celery reacts similarly and keeps best if cut from the head and stored flat & lose in a plastic container. Wash & dry each stalk and cut them to fit the storage container. You won't be wasting any of this celery. Any odd size pieces or excess celery can just be put in a zip-lock and used first.
Cabbage lasts many, many days un-refrigerated. Don't wash it and leave the original outer leaves attached. When you're ready to use some, throw away the outer leaves and use a few inner ones (wash as needed). Stow it away again un-refrigerated and go thru the same process the next time. Try not to cut into the head until you plan to use it all.
Sun Dried Tomatoes last almost forever if you store them in a jar filled with olive oil.
Listed here are many of the items I'd try to keep on board for my own eating enjoyment. But your eating enjoyment is what matters here... provision with imagination!
| Copyright © 1998 | Suzy O'Keefe |