3 February 2020 A Well-Fed Crew is a Happy Crew

A Well-Fed Crew is a Happy Crew.

I was feeling groggy and looking bleary-eyed when I walked into the lab at 11:30pm for the start of my shift and discovered a small group of people staring at a giant TV that displayed the score of the Super Bowl. Matt, our IT wizard, figured out how to get an audio feed of the action, although video of the game was well beyond our data capacity. Nevertheless, out of habit rather than necessity, I pulled up a chair, positioning myself so I could see a screen that showed the slowly-updating stats. Patrick Mahomes (quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs) helped guide my fantasy football team to a league victory last year and I felt like I owed him a great debt for his miraculous play. I believe I have paid that debt back in full, as the Chiefs were down by ten when I started listening and (spoiler alert if you are also in an exceptionally remote location and are planning to watch the game at a later date) ended up scoring three touchdowns in the final five minutes of play to win 31-10, a spectacular comeback that is clearly linked to my engagement with the game. You're welcome, Kansas City. It would be awesome if I had thought to take a picture of the crowd anxiously watching an unchanging TV screen, but I was too caught up in the action myself to grab my camera.

Instead of Aaron's chicken wings and ribs or the chili cook-off at Pete's place, the defining food item for the Super Bowl party on the ship is pretzels handmade by Ariel, one of the amazing cooks we have on the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaker. I am not well-versed in the diversity of cooking-themed television programing that is available today, but I know there is a lot of it - and I am also pretty sure none of the shows feature cooking onboard a ship. Being a cook in the galley (a boat's kitchen) is like combining Cupcake Wars and American Ninja Warrior with the added challenge of limited fresh produce. If you love to cook, are resourceful and have great balance, if you're detail-oriented and a good planner, if you want the chance to travel while doing your job, and if you want to be the most popular person on the crew (assuming you're good at what you do), then you might be a great candidate for ship's cook, and I would happily watch a TV show about you. There are four people on our boat responsible for planning and preparing four meals a day for 59 people. Before the expedition started, they worked with the captain to purchase all the provisions we'd need, which included 100 pounds of sugar, 200 kilos of flour, 2 cases of ranch dressing and (heartbreakingly), zero Diet Cokes.

Chef Ariel Toledo checks the stock in the galley storeroom. The four ship's cooks play an essential role in the business of the ship, ensuring that there are sufficient supplies to keep the crew well-fed throughout our expedition.

Proper planning is one of the real challenges of this job, but Ariel can draw on many years of experience - he started working in food service on oil rigs in 1992 and has been cooking on boats ever since. He came to the Palmer in 2017, excited for the opportunity to work on an icebreaker. Ariel shares his twelve-hour shift with Jack, who had just finished up his Associates Degree in Culinary Science and had never worked on a ship before when he found out he'd gotten the job aboard a research vessel headed to Antarctica. Despite their different backgrounds, these two make a great team. Together, they know to ensure that we have enough cake ingredients so we can celebrate every birthday that happens while we are underway. They know where to stash the watermelons in the cooler so they stay fresh the whole trip. They know if you purchase unripe avocados on the last day before we leave port, there will still be fresh guacamole on day 10 of our journey.

Jack Gilmore, one of the talented and resourceful cooks aboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, pauses in his work cleaning up after the midnight rations meal (mid rats) was served.

Even with lots of planning and a storeroom full of ingredients, it can still be tricky to prepare food that everyone enjoys. While they know other members of the ship's crew pretty well, each new science expedition brings 30 new people from all around the world, along with their favorite dishes and food allergies and particular diets. Jack and Ariel deal with that by providing a range of choices at every meal, confident that diversity means there is something for everyone.

Every meal on the Nathaniel B. Palmer includes multiple dishes, such as this breakfast where foods included: white rice, oatmeal, biscuits, gravy, fired eggs, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, hotdogs, sausage, bacon, and homemade chocolate cherry donuts.

When cooking in a galley, there is no challenge greater than doing your job when the seas are rough. Big waves impact what, how, and when you are able to prepare foods. You can't make onion rings in the deep fat fryer when the boat is tipping side to side. You can't boil a full pot of water or forget to latch the oven door. When things are really bad, you can't use a sharp knife for chopping. When we were in the Drake Passage, I don't think I could've successfully put together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but our cooks had a dazzling array of choices for us at every meal. So I guess in addition to all the other traits I listed that would qualify someone to be an outstanding cook on a ship, perhaps the most important of all is that you love a good challenge.

And that you don't get seasick.

For Further Exploration:

Want to know about what the early Antarctic explorers ate, and even try one of their classic recipes? CoolAntarctica has a PowerPoint presentation that describes how to make your own sledging biscuits. You could even try to mix up some pemmican if you are feeling really bold.