Cooking tips from the Galley of the Galloping Gourmet; where cooking is done on a bucking bronco, holding the frying pan in one hand and grasping the reins for dear life with the other. There is an art to cooking in 30 knots of wind, pounding into a choppy seas and surfing down the face of waves without losing your cookies. The following are some things I have learned from experience, from beans on the ceiling to eggs on the floor. Even before you start cooking a critical key in producing a fine meal is the daily inspection and coddling of the fresh produce. Things need to be rotated, ventilated, and culled, this helps extend the life of fresh fruits and veggies and prevents unnecessary waste. This is also how I determine what’s for dinner that evening. After I figure out what needs to be used and how I’ll prepare it, I make a list of all the ingredients I will need for the meal. Often times I’ll have to crawl deep into storage to retrieve some items and I only want to go there once, rummaging is when I start getting queasy. With all my ingredients out I assume the cooking position, legs apart, knees bent, hips braced against the counter top ready to do my motion of the ocean dance. I begin with the chopping of the veggies, giving all the round veggies a flat surface so they don’t go rolling off the counter onto the floor and down the companionway to be discovered days later as a smelly, mushy blob. After the chopping is done, with fingers all still intact, I secure the frying pan to the stove top with fiddles, pour oil into the pan, light the burner and anxiously await the explosion of flame that occurs every time because the gas regulator is not working properly (don’t worry so far it hasn’t been dangerous). Then I wait, carefully calculating the pounding of waves with the transfer of veggies from the cutting board to the frying pan, my timing keeps getting better. At this point I might mention another key factor in successful cooking onboard. It is the chefs “special cooking oil”, comes in a box marked Gallo Red Table Wine, is easily accessible and helps add inspiration to every meal. It ain’t award winning but out here in the middle of the Pacific I cherish every drop. This voyage has forced me to face and conquer my greatest fear, the pressure cooker. I began with baby steps, kidney beans. I now know how refried beans are made; over-cooked kidney beans (mashed), oil, cream cheese, chili powder, lime juice and Mexican spices, yum. My second attempt at kidney beans ended with an explosion that spewed beans over the entire cabin. It wasn’t my fault though, it was a defect in the pressure cooker, I know this because Elizabeth had the same experience. This episode only made me more determined to tame the pressure cooker, and after bravely persevering I can now pull out my pressure cooker with confidence and produce an awesome Mexican pulled pork meal. Because we have no idea how long it will take to cross the pacific I did research on various methods of preserving the fresh staples as long as possible. For eggs I chose the sliming method. I had our swab coat each egg gingerly with Vaseline. Without complaint Dan greased 200 eggs. Carrots were individually wrapped in aluminum foil, cabbage was wrapped in paper and the onions and potatoes were placed separately in plastic mesh baskets. Three weeks into our passage I am pleased with the results of the methods I chose. In conclusion, I hope my experiences and suggestions may be of some help to you for any upcoming voyages you may have.

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