Okay, let’s start off with where we should have been, which was San Juan, Puerto Rico. When we boarded Riviera, we were advised that this port of call was canceled because, of course, of Covid and CFC and local restrictions. This did not come as a total shock, as the entire Itinerary has been in a state of flux for months. It’s a big disappointment, especially for Steve. He has friends that he works with at the Spanish Community of Wallingford who emigrated from there, and it would have been fun to discuss our visit with them.
So we are sailing past there instead of stopping, but, have no fear, Cathy has organized many errands to do and places to visit on the ship. We arise at 6:15, walk to the Executive Lounge that our Penthouse Suite entitles us to use and get cups of Cappuccino and small rolls. We’re up this early because every passenger must get a Covid-19 antigen test per requirements of the Barbados government. We arrive at 6:30, right when they open, and are the second and third passengers to be tested! We’re out of there in five minutes. The test takes place in Toscana, one of the “signature” restaurants. No doubt it’ll be mobbed later on. Test results will be announced later in the day – unless, of course, you test positive. Then there is a huge ceremony on the Pool Deck where anyone testing positive walks the plank as the rest of the passengers cheer! It’s one of the most popular cocktail party ideas that Oceania has ever had, we’re told.
Today we eat for the first time at the Terrace Café, on the stern of Deck 12. It’s an enormous buffet, and we have a ridiculously large breakfast. Steve is especially enamored of the enormous “sticky buns” that, were we counting calories, would be forbidden. He has one on his plate and a tall British lady comes up and asks what that is. He points to the location on the buffet where they can be obtained and says “These are probably not what I should be having,” to which she responds: “Who cares. We’re on Holiday!” Great attitude!
Because of the extra Sea Day, we have an opportunity to go to the Red Ginger Food Demo. There is a culinary center on board Riviera where a celebrity chef puts on demonstrations on how to prepare some of the dishes served in the four specialty restaurants on board. Red Ginger is the one that features Asian cuisine.
The name of the celebrity chef on this cruise is Stephanie Hersh. Chef Steph is the name she goes by, and her background is incredible. For thirteen years back in the ‘80s, she was the Executive Assistant of the world-famous Julia Child. Julia began her career on the Boston PBS station WGBH with a cooking show named The French Chef. At a point a few years into her career, Julia needed to add a part-time secretary to keep up with all of the fan mail she was getting.
By both pure serendipity and outright persistence, Stephanie landed the job. At first, she was only to do secretarial chores, but her background as a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York paid off on the first day of her job. Julia was being interviewed by a television station, and needed to prepare lunch for the interviewers and their staff. Stephanie was asked to do it, prepared a fantastic meal, and instantly found her job description grow. Obviously, her job grew from twelve hours a week to full-time, especially when the full-time secretary gratefully gave her job up after twenty years. More on remarkable Chef Steph later on in this post.
The food demo begins at 10am, and there are eight of us in attendance. Chef Steph opens by explaining that, due to Covid, the CDC has severely limited how these Culinary Centers can operate. In a non-pandemic environment, the twenty or so attendees would follow the chef step-by-step in preparing the dishes, including handling all the ingredients, working side by side with the chef, and actually eating the food that they prepared. Unfortunately, we are relegated to just watching the Chef Steph prepare the dishes (accompanied by a great deal of running commentary, of course). We can’t even touch the food, nor, Heaven Forbid!, actually taste any of it. Fortunately, Stephanie Hersh has a wonderful sense of humor, phenomenal knowledge of her profession, and a million stories. She is a fascinating, fun person, and the two hours we are with her pass all too quickly.
After an introduction to herself and some basic biographical information, she begins. First she describes every ingredient that she will be using in great detail: what its used for, what could be used as a substitute if need be, some of the brand names she likes best, and the information.
Now, to chronicle this event from a foodie’s perspective, Cathy will take over this post: we watched her make lobster pad thai, miso braised sea bass, and spring rolls. We were happy to learn that our knife skills are good! Chef Steph is just delightful and very informative as to Asian ingredients and techniques. We do wish we could be doing the hands-on lesson but…next time. Also learned that we could have signed up online when we did our other reservations. We will indeed do that! Also I bought an apron.
Steve, because he had no idea what Chef was talking about most of the time, took some great notes of odd food facts:
- Asian cooking is all about balance: crunchy and smooth, sweet and bitter, etc. Also, usually only four ingredients are used to achieve this. Many Asian chefs were followers of the philosophy of peace taught by Confuscius.
- The origin of pad Thai: in 1938 the country gained independence. The new prime minister wanted people to be proud of their culture.
- Pad Thai simply means “Chinese noodles the Thai way.”
- A good definition of umami is the difference in taste between white bread and toast.
- Never stick chopsticks straight up in food. This is a sign of death.
- The reason all Asian food is cut up before cooking is so that no knives are needed on the table. They are considered weapons.
- Handy way to crush peanuts: make small pile on cutting board. Crush peanuts with a glass measuring cup. If you try to use a knife, they fly all over the place.
Below are the results of the food demonstration. We just wish we could have tasted it!
Our next event besides lunch is at 2pm. Not content with just two hours with Chef Steph, we attend a lecture in the Riviera Lounge on Deck 5.
Chef Steph is as captivating as we knew she would be, having been to her food demo earlier this morning. She gives quite a bit of bio info to begin with and then spends another hour regaling us with stories of her life as the Executive Personal Assistant to Julia Child. We are spellbound. She’s a wonderful storyteller, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. Unfortunately, no recap of this lecture would possibly do her justice, so we won’t try. She speaks to us for an hour and a quarter, and would have been willing to continue for who knows how much longer, but the lights blinked. The lounge director is politely telling her that another lecturer is due on stage and she must finish.
The rest of the afternoon is occupied as are most Sea Days: Steve blogs and edits photos, Cathy reads, and we both nap.
This evening, we are in for a special treat: dinner at the specialty restaurant Jacgues at 6:30. Oceania Cruises describes Jacques Pepin as their consulting chef or some such title. The food and its presentation are how Oceania Cruises very effectively sets itself apart from its equally upscale competitors. Every single meal, no matter what it is, is presented exquisitely, in perfect proportions, and is five-star delicious.
Cathy now will describe the meal we have been anticipating all day:
The décor is lovely, light colors and “bistro style” furniture. The menu: amazing. We had trouble deciding but ended up with:
- Amuse Bouche. I actually can’t remember … a little tiny tart with pate and a tiny cream puff with cheese?
- Hors d’oeuvres. Steve had traditional escargots and Cathy had duck foie gras with roasted pineapple which sounds weird but was quite yummy.
- Soup. Cathy had chilled green pea vichyssoise with Iberian ham.
- Entrée. We both had the dover sole with lemon and caper butter. The waiter was masterful. Right at our table he carefully deboned and served the lovely (perfectly cooked) fillets from the brass cooking pan. The sauce made it a very rich dish even though the fish was lean. We had cauliflower gratin and potato gratin dauphinois for side dishes. The cauliflower was especially good.
- Dessert. Cathy had choux a la crème. Small cream puff. It was delicious but too much cream. Steve had pistachio crème brulee.
We have been trying to lighten up a bit on the food but it’s hard because everything is so good. Especially the desserts, which are especially tempting because we are not drinking.
Well, a day where we happily emersed ourselves in food culture. Cathy has been in heaven. Steve has been pleased to follow along and learn. A very fun and interesting day.
