I left the USA last May and found myself back in France once again. Although the Mediterranean season starts when the spring air blows, melts the snow and Easter is on its way, I was still in Florida (and then New York) with my last boat. I kept my word to my last Captain and did not leave until we took the boat up north. I was a bit anxious the first few days since most jobs that had been offered in early spring were already taken. But I knew, somehow,there would be a job for me. It was just a matter of time and patience. Lucky for me, one of my former captains and his wife adopted me until I found something. I let another of my former captains, Hubb, know that I was back in Europe, hoping we could catch up.
I met Huub a long way back when I had just started in boating. I was a junior stewardess on that boat. Years later, we were again working together on another boat and I was the chief stewardess. One day, he told me he was going to see another boat in Hamburg and asked if I wanted to come along to work with him if he gets the job. He got the job, but I chose to return with my old boat.

Yes, it would be great catching up.
A few days later, he rang me up to see if I would accept a job on his boat, not as a chief stewardess, but as a chef.

Chef? Cooking for the guests and crew? I told him I was not too sure about this. I have cooked for some previous bosses of mine and for a small crew of 10 or so, but Chef? He explained the owners do not want a culinary trained chef. They only want simple home cooking, clean and healthy.
“What makes you think I am capable of that?”, I asked.
“Because I have tasted your food!”, was the reply.
I had two days to think about it. My last Captain, Axel, told me that I should be a chef. I sat down with Captain Benjamin and discussed the prospect.

Could I see my hobby and passion turning into a job? A few days later, I was checking in at the airport for Valencia, Spain. Who would have thought that years later I would re-join Huub as a chef?
When I arrived, his first word was, “Finally!”

A few days after joining the boat, we left Valencia for Italy with a pit stop at Mahon, Menorca, seemingly endless days on sea while the guests fished. One afternoon, while I was soundly asleep on the foredeck, the boat suddenly rolled. Odd. I dashed to the bridge to know what was happening. One of the guests caught a tuna. The boss asked if I needed help to fillet it. I said don’t worry I can handle it…
That was before I found out it was 11 kilos of tuna! A few hours later, we caught another one…23 kilos! The crew looked at me, horrified, wondering how I was going to clean that one up! But I successfully filleted it and the next day served sashimi!

That huge tuna felt like my initiation to the cooking world. Other than the cooking itself, I also dealt with shopping at different places with my very basic Italian, little sleep, cut fingers, scaldings…I even poured a quiche mixture onto the tin with out the pastry. Despite a few disasters, new recipes to test, and different guests coming my way, I have successfully made a lot of bellies happy. Without my vast network of chef friends, from whom I ask advice and beg for recipes (especially Victoria), I don’t know if I could have survived. Yet here I am, still standing and enjoying every moment of it!
In less than a month we will head back to Spain. I still need to pinch myself, still wonder at the end of every day how beautiful it is to cook. I’ve turned into a baking fairy as well. One treat I made that the guests really enjoyed is a fig, prune & mascarpone tart recipe that I found in a Jamie magazine I picked up at the Nice airport (Jamie now has a monthly magazine). The recipe is from the Pam Tal cookbook, A La Greque, and is a perfect summer tart when figs are in season, scrumptious and easy to make.

330 g plain flour
110 g caster sugar
220 g chilled unsalted butter, diced
4 egg yolks

6 dried figs, sliced
12 pitted prunes
125ml port
3 eggs
80g caster sugar
250 g mascarpone
250 g pouring cream

1. Heat the oven to 180C and grease a 23cm loose based tart tin
2. Combine the flour and sugar in a food processor. Add the butter and whiz until it look like breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and whiz until the pastry just come together to form a ball. Wrap in a cling film and rest in fridge for an hour.
3. Dust the tart tin lightly with flour. Roll the pastry out to 5mm thick then lift it onto the tin and ease into the edges and up the sides, leaving an overhang of about 2cm. Refrigrirate for 20 mins.
4. Remove from the fridge and roll over the edges of the tin with a rolling pin to trim the edges neatly, Prick the pastry with a fork then line with a baking paper and dried beans.
5. Bake for 20 mins then remove the paper and beans and cook for further 10 mins until the pastry is just cooked.

FILLING

1. Combine the figs, prunes and port in a heavy based saucepan and simmer gently until the fruit is soft and all the liquid been absorbed. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Spoon evenly to tart shell
3. In an electric mixer , whisk the eggs until light and fluffy.
4. Whisk in the sugar, followed by mascarpone and then the cream.
5. Pour mixture over the fruit in the tart tin and bake for 45- 50 mins until set and golden.

Thank you to Stephen my ex crew mate on Mitseaah, my fellow foodie for reminding me that the readers might think he has not cooked for a while… and to Karl for proof reading my post.

It all started asking Stephen suggestions what to bake. Of all crew mates he is pretty much involved with food ideas what to feed to the crew. Perhaps because he loves food and cooking himself and loves to try any food.

One day he simply said APPLE PIE. Oh dear it has been ages I have not baked apple pie and my most trusted recipe is at home. I found some recipes at Martha Stewart Living cookbook and at Bon Appetit, but I also checked what BBC food has to offer.

Hmm the crew does not seem to trust an american recipe so at the end found this recipe for the filling:

700 g bramley
80 – 125 g soft brown sugar
grated rind of orange
1 tsp mix spice
1 tbsp plain sifted flour
25 g butter

Except of course I did not use bramley. I only had macintosh and some granny smiths.
Somehow they turned out fine. I used the mandolin so the apples are thinly sliced.

And to add a bit of more twist I grated nutmeg and lemon rinds too.

For the crust, I used the one from Bon Appetit cook book

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c unsalted butter
4 tbsp iced water

Mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and use the food processor by using turn on and off until powdered. Blend ice water to gather the dough then chill.

The best part of this apple pie issue on our boat was whether I should do my custard or as the British suggested I should buy Bird’s custard.

Well the captain suggested I should make my own and do the Bird’s custard to compare. Easy…. they sell the custard at Publix (for non US readers its the supermarket chain in Florida, USA).

But then the whole apple pie idea went further more about the crust. The captain , Axel, suggested that I should try putting cheddar on it. This really horrified the Brits.

Cheddar on the apple pie!!!

Quelle horreur!

As he explained its like eating Thai food, sweet and sour.

The day I made the pie, it was one of our crew mate’s last weekend with us. The boys went to North Miami for biking. I was so excited for them to come back and devour the pie that I even was sending mms photos to Stephen so they could hurry up.

The biggest joy of all, seeing their faces happy. Since then I have been making the pie whenever I have time and always with the Birds custard. I was the only one who dared eating it with cheddar cheese.

This post is for my dearest crew mates aboard SY Mitseaah, who made life less lonelier, to Axel who believed in me that I can feed his crew well…

but mostly to Stephen …. who patiently pushed my shopping cart and who have memorised every aisle in Publix above all, also my constant food inspiration.

The boat is now in Long Island , NY while the my ex crew mates are scattered everywhere. But I know time will come we will meet up and reminisce our past aboard this boat.

I am now writing here in South of France and now craving for a slice of apple pie.