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The contestants were set and ready to go at 1:00pm for the judges tasting…

The judges were Lalitha (South Africa), Christian (Germany), Nicholas (Kenya), Anne (England), Tyrone (United States) and representing the voice of the kids, Grace (United States).

As Peter hosted (quite like the chairmen on the American Iron Chef series) Introducing each team and having them describe their dish and a little bit about how they came to their choices in recipe, preparation, and use of ingredients.

This is the order they came out to present their meals: First we had Team Tatyana (with sidekick Christine), Second we had the good Doctors Mark & Peggy, and Third Josh & Peter (affectionately known as ‘The Boys’).

I think most of us could agree whether we individually liked a dish, food item, or overall presentation or not these contestants did a great job at cooking some good meals that are probably ‘do-able’ at the ‘whole crew’ level (400+).

Here is how the 6 judge panel scored and my own personal thoughts:

Mark and Peggy (came out on top after Peter ‘The BossMan’ made the tie breaking decision) With a Lamb, Rice, Humus, and Pita meal that was very creative and tasty. Mind you I couldn’t eat lamb near as much as I could eat the Curry Chicken or Seafood Pasta the other contestants cooked up BUT the rice was nicely seasoned, the lamb was edible (and that in itself is hard to do) but the sauce probably could have been ‘kicked up a notch’…I am still leery of whether the pita bread will get done for 400+ people, but the humus was ’spot-on’ I would say.

Tatyana (& sidekick Christine) came in second AFTER the tie was broken…but that was because The BossMan knew there was no way he could pull ‘The Boys’ back up to the #1 spot since they came in Third (because The BossMan really wanted to put the The Boys back on top after reminding him of food ‘like back home’).Their meal ~ Curry Chicken, Rice, Pasta & Cabbage salad, and Green Bean Vegetables. I loved the curry chicken and it was cooked right, not overdone but not chewy like when it barely gets done. Alas I didn’t really think the pineapple helped (but that’s a personal preference) and the Almonds needed a little toasting. But the white rice was fine because I would have just pushed it into the curry sauce anyway…maybe a spice and/or herb or two could have picked up the taste on the pasta and cabbage salad, but I personally thought it may work. The thing about this meal is I think you could eat it more consecutive times than either of the other two…and so did the voice for the kids, Grace.

Josh & Peter ‘The Boys’ came in Third with a Seafood Pasta Salad & Roasted Asparagus with garlic sauteed in butter. A valiant effort, really! I know what the shrimp (they were really to small to be called prawns, those are the bigger ones) tastes like and to make this pasta salad taste even halfway decent you were doing good, and they were. Their meal is totally do-able and the shortest of the three to prepare but I had to also take in to consideration the black garlic in my overcooked asparagus. Less cooking time on the vegetables and more sauce on the pasta…Oh, that would be a winner. But they provided an entertainment and comedy value to the whole dining experience for the ‘tasting’ & judging that I would like them to reproduce for us in the dining room during a full meal. But I guess that would be asking too much wouldn’t it? —>[but yes, I will probably still be stealing this idea and putting it on the menu, it would work especially well on a fire drill day when half to a whole hour of time is taken away from our dinner preparation...time is of the essence cooking for so many]

The BossMan and I will be anxious to see how the winners fair at translating their meals to feed everyone at dinner time!

If you missed pt1 of the Culinary Challenge…well, you missed a great time! After collecting perspectives from the ‘audience’ we think this could be a hit event and would be willing to do it again, but then of course this one isn’t finished yet!

Saturday May 10th ~ Doctors Mark & Peggy will debut their meal for the whole crew.

Sunday May 11th ~ Tatyana (& sidekick?) will debut their meal for the whole crew.

At that time make sure and come back and visit the blog to vote BECAUSE THIS TIME ITS YOUR TURN TO PICK WHO WINS!

PLEASE REMEMBER TO BOOKMARK OR FAVORITE THIS WEBSITE SO YOU CAN VISIT THE AFM MENU AFTER THE SWITCH TO NAVIGATOR

There coming tonight!

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Dear Crew,

The Culinary Challenge has officially begun! The three teams/participants entered are:

- Tatyana Silva

- Mark and Peggy Shrime

- Josh Becker and Peter Fullerton

These contestants, using ingredients available on board, will create a full meal (main entrée, side dish, and vegetable) and submit it for tasting and judgment on Saturday April 26th in the Dining Room at 13:00 (1pm).

The judging panel will be decided this week but all crew are invited to come join in the fun!

The judges will decide the top two entrants who will then move on to assisting the cooking teams in preparing their meal for the entire crew. This will happen back to back on Saturday May 10th and Sunday May 11th (this is the Saturday and Sunday of the 4 day ships holiday). You, as a crew, will then be able to judge for your favorite of the two meals to determine the ultimate champion by voting on the AFM Menu blog that is accessible from the Intranet Main Page. You will have until Monday night to vote. The winner will be announced Tuesday morning at the 07:45 Community Prayer and Communication Meeting.

Please feel free to email or call me if you have any questions.

Blessings,

Peter

Freddie brings up usually at least 100 kilos (220 pounds) of potato for 400 plus people.

Hand picked over by several galley staff. Rinsed. Then the potatoes are machine washed. Yes thats right, machine washed. (no not the potato peeler, we do have an automatic one of those which we may discuss in another post)

Then picked over again. Rotten spots cut off, eyes gouged out, and panned up in steamer pans and then baked. It takes at least an hour maybe more to bake them all. The steamer pans are used so the air circulates more fully when baking the potatoes.

Can you guess which kind of machine we use to clean hundreds of kilos/pounds of potato in one afternoon in order to make a lovely dinner? (leave answer by commenting)

Hello Crew,

Effective immediately all requests for food for Bong Mines trips must be submitted to me via email no later than 15:00 (3pm) on the Wednesday of the week you will be going. I need to know how many people will be going at that time. I will give you further instructions on receipt of your email.

Blessings, Peter

[Photo Courtesy of Megan Petock]

This Sunday we will have another go at Semi-Vegetarian Night.

What’s semi?  Its when you can eat the whole meal without actually choosing a meat because its an option to go with the rest of the meal. So you can still have a wonderful dinner without relenting to your carnivorous side. (but still have that option).

Last Semi-Vegetarian Night we had a little confusion. Yes, the potatoes were baked in the oven, but no, I did not mean for them to be peeled. But sometimes its too late when a mistake is realized, and apparently I didn’t use the English term ‘jacket potatoes’ otherwise they may have understood me quicker. But no worries…

The real confusion came at assembly.

Apparently some people came thru the line oblivious to the fact that you should ASSEMBLE, that’s right ‘build’ your potato up with toppings making a wonderful mountain of a meal, loaded baked potato style!!! And after seeing several other peoples plate resembling a loaded baked potato realized what they were missing. But it was too late.

So this Sunday we will be having the Mashed Potato Bar with toppings (sorry no martini glass supplied), and side dishes of mixed vegetable  and lentils cooked by our very own on site vegetarian Michal. So just remember…

Some Assembly Required.

…accidents happen. Here’s the story:

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Guilty.

** A crew member that allegedly hit the alarm with the corner of a schafing dish/hotel pan while entering the walk-in cooler is currently in custody being charged with ‘creating more work than necessary’ in the galley **