Then & Now
Remembering years of onboard cooking
Taste: Recipes from Acclaimed BVI Restaurants & Chefs, was just published by the British Virgin Islands’ own aLookingGlass (also the publisher of this magazine), and I’m delighted to be included in this gorgeous new book. Although I consider myself a highly competent boat cook who regularly receives compliments from friends about my cooking, I’m not entirely sure I should be in a book whose title includes “acclaimed.” Still, I’m flattered that one of my past VIPY recipes, Citrus Granita with Mango-Mint Topping, is in the cookbook, and I urge readers of my column to check out the book, available at locations throughout the BVI.
Being published in Taste reminded me of my enormous improvements as a boat chef since my maiden charter voyage. Most people have a good recollection of their first sailing charter, a big sailing milestone. My memories, not surprisingly, focus as much on food and drink as sailing.
My first charter occurred during my university days. My friends and I wanted a spring break with sunshine, beaches and fruity cocktails, but we were far too adventurous for a generic travel experience such as Cancun. Some University of Wisconsin sailing team friends—led by my now-husband Matt—had the wildly ambitious idea to charter a sailboat in Florida for spring break. Back then, the BVI weren’t even on our radar—Florida seemed like a sufficiently exotic destination for a group of college kids who had learned to sail on the Great Lakes.
Although our collective sailing references were solid, I still don’t know how we convinced a reputable charter company to lend a 40-foot boat named Spice of Life to college students. We had an amazing week and returned the boat safely, likely in better condition than we received it (thanks to my friend Ben, an engineering student with a penchant for fixing temperamental diesel engines).
While we showed our maturity as sailors, we were clearly novices in the galley. Our cooking abilities were decent for college students, but no one had cooked much on boats—that would come after graduation. Additionally, after paying the charter fee, we didn’t have the funds for extravagant food on board. Instead, our galley was filled with college-student staples such as pasta, tomato sauce and seasoned rice, all from a warehouse-type store. We may have lacked a knowledgeable boat chef and quality ingredients, but we had seven competent bartenders and plenty of good rum aboard. Our priority was obviously drinking well over eating well back in those days.
Yet, there were certainly some culinary highlights to the trip. We caught and grilled a delicious mahi mahi, my introduction to just-caught ocean fish. Later in the trip, some successful bottom fishing landed us tasty yellowtail snappers that my friend Sean pan-fried to perfection. There were also numerous cooking disasters. Since we had so much rum aboard and so few condiments and seasonings, we experimented with adding rum to food. Rum in scrambled eggs? Disastrous. In tomato sauce with pasta? Tolerable. In French toast and atop ice cream? Finally, tasty results.
Fast forward 12 years to the day Matt and I cast off the lines of the 40-foot cruising sailboat we purchased in the BVI, as we set sail for Caribbean sailing adventures. Sure, our liquor cabinet was filled with a variety of quality rums, but we were also well stocked with excellent food for cooking adventures as well as sailing adventures. This time around, the rum was wisely limited to drinks and occasional desserts.
