DAY 11: LET THEM EAT CAKE!
09.07.2008 Today is about midway through our three-week cruise. Hopes for successful discoveries go up and down with each piece of information we unlock from the deep. There is one thing we can count on every day however. Every afternoon at about 2:30 most of the population of the ship (always this diarist at any rate) follows its nose up to the cafeteria for a cake break!
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text and photos by Courtney Flanagan
For a birthday celebration we had Blottekake, a special Norwegian vanilla cake with whipped cream in the layers, combined with, in our case, strawberries. Another day we had a delicious apple cake. Catering assistant Britta Pletten told us that she thought that knowing there would be a tasty treat every day was good for everyone's spirits when the exploration went awry, and that in fact the smell of good food baking was itself a great attitude shifter. And she's absolutely right! The good humor that is traded over the cake plate, in addition to the good food, is a true energizer for plunging into the rest of one's day!
Although the ship has two ovens, much of the cooking is done in this combined griller, baker, and steamer. A large refrigerator kept at a constant temperature allows for most fruit and vegetables to be kept for s month, the length of time for one round of crew service.
But let's get down to the important stuff, the food!
The variety of food served to us in the middle of the Arctic is remarkable, and to an American palate, often unusual. The lunch buffet in these photos, for example, is typical.First the fish:
The white pots each include herring in a different sauce. Fish servings include the plate with baked salmon and shrimp. On another plate are smoked salmon and two kinds of dried mackerel: the lighter is dried cold; the darker is dried warm with spices. For breakfast, but not shown in these pictures, is a bowl of anchovies. Norwegians like to have them especially with eggs. Cans of sardines are also available. And there are bowls of creamed herring, shrimp salad, etc. Note especially the tubes of flavored mayonnaise. In the picture you can see three: caviar, salmon, and some kind of meat. Today I saw a bacon mayonnaise. I personally tried the caviar with the smoked salmon, and it was delicious!
For a cheese lover, Norwegian food is Heaven. Delicious cheeses abound, and are available 24/7. This diarist takes frequent advantage! The round, grainy looking cheese is Gammelost; this Norwegian word means "old cheese," a cheese that has been put through a preservation process, and one that has been eaten in Norway for a long time. The brown cheese, "Brunnost" is also uniquely Norwegian. What does it taste like? Well, to this taste tester, it is a little like Velveeta.
The meat plate includes chicken, cold ham and other fresh meats, and various dried meats from sheep and pigs. We have also had sliced ostrich and springbok, bought by the staff while the ship was in Africa.
Of course in addition there is always a bowl of salad, fruits(surprisingly delicious)both sliced and whole, yogurt containers, a plate of sliced tomatoes and peppers, sliced eggs, and all kinds of fruit juices and hot drinks.
But this is not all. At every meal a hot dish is served. Sometimes it has been, to this American, rather exotic. We have had "antelope bourguignon," whale in gravy (tastes a bit like calves' liver, and two kinds of delicious mussels.
As you can see we eat well. Too well! Going to the gym has become a necessity
