Cooking on a Boat

OK. Just so you know. Cooking on a boat is more complicated than in the kitchen of a land based house. First of all…and most obvious…a house doesn’t move under you while you are attempting to prepare food (think chopping vegetables or boiling water). Second, due to the lack of storage space available, cooking implements…especially specialized pieces of equipment…must be minimized or eliminated. Especially if they need to be plugged into an electrical outlet. Most cruisers believe that “Everything must have at least three uses.” When it comes to galley equipment, it also needs to be as compact as possible. Last summer, while on another boat, I discovered a wonderful colander that collapses flat and can be stuffed behind the nested pots and pans. I couldn’t wait to add this gem to the inventory on "Faith". One thing that has always given me apoplexy is plastic ware. This includes dishes and glasses (I really hate drinking wine out of plastic) as well as storage items. Tupperware was the boon (and bane) of the housewife of the 60’s and 70’s but, as we all know, it takes up a lot of space and the lids are always disappearing (probably to the same place that one sock goes when it leaves the washing machine). Further, the lids do not hold their seal as long as one would like when they end up sideways and upside down in a marine refrigerator. I must say the new snap-tite storage containers are a major improvement but they still aren’t very good at stacking. So…when it comes to stocking the average boat “kitchen” with needed items it may mean sacrificing some long loved shapes and sizes and improvising at best. Instead of two cookie sheets you may have one (and it will be much smaller because a boat oven is much smaller). Our one mixing bowl was a stainless dog bowl in its previous life. It is big enough to mix up a good sized salad or batch of cookies but fits neatly on the bottom of the nested cooking pots. And…it won’t break or rust. All things considered, I have managed to provide pretty edible fare when we are in port or in a calm anchorage but when the wind comes up or we have a swell running things begin to unravel. When the boat is rocking or rolling most meals scale down to throwing something on the grill and adding a salad or some pasta. Passages are an entirely different animal. I try to make a big pot of Goulash or some other one-dish meal before we leave that can be easily heated up but sometimes even that is a struggle if we have a side swell. That said, I have been trying some new things this season. Last week, while at anchor in Isla San Francisco, we were invited to a potluck dinner on another boat. In addition to the dish I had signed up for I thought it would be fun to make some brownies. I got out the mix (all mixes have been removed from original boxes and stored in Ziploc bags with the cooking instructions) and put it into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients but was puzzled as the instructions were to mix it with an electric mixer. Hmmm. That’s funny. I don’t remember this from the last time. OK. Located the mixer but could find the blades nowhere. Probably decided I wouldn’t need the mixer and left just the blades in the storage unit (or put them in some cubbyhole where they will be discovered when we go through the boat in June). Shoot! OK. I’ll just beat it by hand like in the “olden days”. Hmmm. This looks awfully runny for brownies. Re-read the directions. Shoot! This is a chocolate cake! OK…get the right sized pan out and put it in to bake. The boat was rolling around a bit due to the wind and swell so the cake turned out a bit lopsided. Solution: Even it out with frosting and throw some chopped nuts on top! No one knew the difference and it was a big hit. Right now we are at a dock and I’ve been craving an apple pie for a long time so when I saw Washington Granny Smith apples at the CCC that sealed the deal. Yesterday I got out Grandma’s Perfect Pie Crust recipe and got started. Unfortunately, something had spilled on the recipe card so I couldn’t exactly read the amount of salt needed. Turns out I tripled the required amount. Shoot! I was going to let it go but then thought that if I was going to go to all the trouble of making a pie I might as well make it right. So…out it went and I started over again. Next problem: I couldn’t find a rolling pin anywhere! Shoot! I must have left it in the trailer. Now what? I finally decided a plastic drinking glass would work. It wasn’t perfect but did the job. Everything else went as it should and an hour later a lovely apple pie was cooling on the countertop. Now…if only we had some ice cream……