Donna McIntyre has a taste of European canal fare.
You start to take it for granted ... every morning a buffet breakfast waiting for you, at lunch the choice of buffet meal in the formal restaurant or a lighter option in the upstairs lounge, or each night a three-course meal plus some special bistro tasting menus. All with white linen tables, table service and panoramic views of the river.
On our Avalon Waterways Remich to Amsterdam canals and vineyards tour of the Moselle and Rhine rivers we eat our way eight days, seven nights, 20 meals, and I lose count of how many cups of tea and coffee we drink.
To gain appreciation into the effort that goes into presenting all those meals to up to just under 130 passengers in 90 minutes, we visit the 70sq m kitchen where executive chef Nemanja Ljacevic, tells us about the precise timing that goes into preparing and serving these meals. And the short turnaround, too, between cruises, to upload provisions.
"Organisation is important. We are a small kitchen on a very small vessel."
Nemanja ("Just call me Nemo!") is Serbian and has been with Avalon for seven years. He runs the kitchen on board Avalon Visionary which can serve up to 127 passengers. There are 10 cooks plus two utility staff covering the food preparation. Areas are separated into prep sections, hot and cold, and dishwashing. Hygiene is crucial.
The crew eat at 6pm and evening meals start being served at 7pm.
Shifts include working 4pm through the night on breakfast buffets, 6.30am to 2pm, and then 5pm to 9pm.
Nemo's own hours are 6am-2pm, then 4.30pm-9pm ... much the same as every hotel in Europe, he says.
Before the start of each cruise season, the corporate chefs change the kitchen teams, set the menus — including calculating ingredient quantities. Most food is delivered at the start of each cruise but Nemo has the flexibility to buy more ingredients along the way or to slightly adjust the menu. For instance if he has a lot of Japanese on board, they will need a lot more fish.
Weekly, a full ship will eat its way through 120kg of potatoes, and 40kg each of carrots and onions. He also provides alternatives for people with allergies, and dietary requirements such as being gluten-free.
He describes the meal portions as manageable. "You can order double portions, for me it's not a problem, I have enough food, butIdon't want to overload the plates."
Chefs and kitchen staff can move between different boats at the start of each season. Seventy per cent of the chefs for 2016 changed ships. "Me, personally, I change every year," he says.
Nemo is allowed to choose two of the staff who will work with him each season. The rest are new or from other ships. "We do it this way so there are not strong or weak teams."
He says it is a demanding job. "We do shout in the kitchen sometimes and afterwards we are friends, we always leave it behind in the kitchen. It is about the moment, after that it is gone.
"There is a lot of expectation from the customers. I am happy at the end of the day if someone comes and asks for a recipe. There is big competition in this industry, people are trying different companies. So we have to compete with the other companies."
Food aboard the Avalon Visionary.
Who takes a cruise?
The tours, run by Avalon Waterways, a Swiss company, are marketed at English speaking travellers, with 60 per cent being from the United States and the average age over 60. The tours appeal to the older age groups because of the convenience and safety of travelling this way. But young families also travel with Avalon.
It's also an attractive option for people travelling on their own. It feels safe and they get to mix and mingle with fellow travellers ... the happy hour each day is especially popular.
The boat can take 127 passengers (on our tour the boat was only half full) and there are 43 crew, mainly Eastern European and Asian.
CHECKLIST
Details: Cruise options include tours through Europe and Asia, South America. European cruises run from the end of March to end of October with some cruises over Christmas and New Year.
