The Trauma When a Foodie Goes Liveaboard

[vonchris7]

The transition from landlubber to live aboard has been a bit traumatic for me.

I'm a serious foodie. It's been an adjustment...

Curious about your favorite/must have:
gadgets
appliances
food staples
etc... for the galley

Surely we're not all living on red beans and rice??

[LLCoolDave]

There is a facebook group called "cooking on a boat!" lots of foodies there.

[Sea Dreaming]

Eh...most of the world is living on less than rice and beans. No sympathy. But I am discovering that gadgets etc mean little. Use your skills and imagination, eat simply and you wI'll find the world is full of good food to create with.

[JPA Cate]

vonchris 7,

Bearing in mind the amount of storage space on a 36 foot boat, one way to approach it is to go antique. Seriously, you don't need any appliance on board that has been invented since 1900. You might want something, that's different, but especially where a food processor is concerned, it's a lot of extra water for washing the bits, as well as takes up a lot of space. You don't need a blender (though we know people who have them) or a mixer.

Instead, give up pureeing ability, [my hummus is a little chunky, mashed with a potato masher] settle for fine chopped, or minced, and a Chinese cleaver, wooden spoons for beating, and a whisk for egg whites.

If you have an oven for baking, all you need are bowls for mixing ingredients in and tins for baking.

Now, if you are a coffee lover, we know people who have tiny little stove top expresso makers. Jim is okay with French press coffee. There have been threads here devoted to coffee, see if you can check the archives if it is of interest to you.

As to staples, no mixes. I started out with them, but they became unavailable where we were, and I've never gone back.

I do understand this minimalist approach may not work for everyone, so I'm not trying to get you to try it or anything; however, it is how we've cruised for over 30 years!

Ann

[Copacabana]

It shouldn't be so hard to make the transition- small fridge notwithstanding! I try to cook the same meals on the boat as I do at home, although with only 2 burners I have to plan things well. I have few gadgets and appliances at home (I prefer a good knife), so I don't miss them on the boat. I think the only limitation is the size of the fridge, but this can be overcome by shopping more often and only putting things in the fridge that really need to be there. On the positive side, I cook a lot more seafood on the boat as I can always buy fresh fish, shrimp, squid etc. from a fishing boat. There really is no reason your cuisine should suffer on the boat.

[barnakiel]

Food addiction is just like any other obsessive addiction - can be cured. Much as most of us do not want to be cured. That's how we know we are addicted.

The same applies to sailing, I think ;-)

My boss says we are always overstocked with cocoa. I do not know what she means ;-)

Bon appetit,
b.

[zeehag]

shrimp escobeche and camarones al mojo de ajo... cakes cookies biscuits whatever i wish for is cookable in a boat. donot limit your experiences by remaining inside your tiny box for thought.

as long as that cocoa is dark chocolate cocoa, there is no such thing as too much. i will make do with regular, but the dark is bestest stuff ever.

[sck5]

my favorite gadget is a really sharp knife. Its kind of retro but it works!

[jcapo]

Stove, pots and pans, pressure cooker, utensils, ingredients.

[SV DestinyAscen]

I'm genuinely puzzled by the OP... What's a foodie?

I learned how to cook from my mother, but new Zealand isn't known for its food and boiled mutton and plain potatoes is embarrassing once you leave and realize the "third world" eat much better while using less fuel and resources.

Once I got to Singapore, Vietnam, Formosa - learned a little bit about cooking and spices - it becomes easy to add flavor with spice tray. You just need the basic utensils and spices.

Beans take too long to cook and who eats plain rice without other side dishes.

Just learn how to cook.

[Delancey]

I am at a loss to understand the nature of the OP.

Why would a serious foodie would find the transition to living aboard traumatic unless the were not a very good cook to begin with?

Though I have seen some serious "foodie" types fault the kitchen and equipment for their shortcomings before. Prolly not very helpful commentary, I know.

Here's my contribution - get a stickblender you can run off a small inverter.

[Vasco]

There's no need to change your eating habits once you move aboard. Just prepare your meals as you always do. Sometimes you have to be a bit flexible and make some changes. We had a 12 pound turkey for Christmas but we had to take the breastbone out to make it fit in our small oven. No big deal. The bird was just as delicious. And there was a lot more stuffing too

[Scott Berg]

Taking the OP at his word: We are also serious cooks... what we consider necessary: Stick Blender, Pressure Cooker, at least one cast iron skillet. We do a LOT of sous vide cooking so a Vacuum Packer and Immersion Circulator (we like the Polyscience) are a necessity (they work fine on the inverter). We also think a GOOD BBQ is a must; we're fond of the Sovereign line from Australia but believe there are others as well. The key is to use local ingredients and learn the techniques of those you meet along the way as well as holding to your historical cooking techniques... that's what cruising is all about...

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Scott Berg

Taking the OP at his word: We are also serious cooks... what we consider necessary: Stick Blender, Pressure Cooker, at least one cast iron skillet. We do a LOT of sous vide cooking so a Vacuum Packer and Immersion Circulator (we like the Polyscience) are a necessity (they work fine on the inverter). We also think a GOOD BBQ is a must; we're fond of the Sovereign line from Australia but believe there are others as well. The key is to use local ingredients and learn the techniques of those you meet along the way as well as holding to your historical cooking techniques... that's what cruising is all about...

Got rid of the barbecue many years ago and replaced it with a great cast iron skillet.

[seamountie]

Originally Posted by Vasco

There's no need to change your eating habits once you move aboard. Just prepare your meals as you always do. Sometimes you have to be a bit flexible and make some changes. We had a 12 pound turkey for Christmas but we had to take the breastbone out to make it fit in our small oven. No big deal. The bird was just as delicious. And there was a lot more stuffing too

Same same here - but try taking out the back bone, much easier than the breast. Also beats the hell out of putting a board across it and jumping on it...yes we really did that one year.