Another day with no internet, however tomorrow afternoon it should (finally) be available once more. More reading and more touching up my blog posts, eating, drinking… I know it Sounds tedious, but it really isn’t. 😊
Given that tomorrow is also packing day (as Friday is disembarkation day), I really need to ensure my posts and pictures are ready to go. As soon as the internet is available, I am going to hog bandwidth, I’m sure, with all the uploading that needs be done. It also means that you, dear readers, are going to be inundated with my posts flooding your email in-basket. I hope the reading of same is a reasonable offset to the annoyance. 😊
Princess Live is hosting another culinary experience today which bears some investigation, I think. The Executive Chef and staff will present a short introduction and demonstration on initial meat preparation.
As always, the Chef shows his good-natured side right off.
“Are the any vegetarians here today?” Several hands go up.
“1…2…3… Why are you here?” A chuckle passes through the audience. Hey…I thought it was a reasonable question. 😊
There are 14 butchers on board this ship and 2 rooms dedicated to that butchery. One is for fish, the other for meat. All the fish is previously filleted (with some exceptions) so portions of each are all that are required to be created. Interestingly enough, all meat or fish brought on board must be frozen then thawed as necessary. In fact, the only fresh fish that is allowed to be brought onboard is when they are in Alaska. Health regulation stipulation.
A variety of meats are laid out in front of us – Veal, beef, pork, Ribeye, Tenderloin, Striploin, Lamb
The biggest piece is referred to as the Chicago Round. Not positive on why the name is what it is, but essentially it is the leg of a cow from the hip down to the knee. One assistant is beginning to work on the main bone removal. Coming in frozen it takes over a week in the fridge to defrost properly. Fridge defrosting is best for anything frozen but if you need it quicker, cold water rinse will work. However, if you do it that way, make sure you use the thawed item right away. It’s not meant to be kept for any extended period of time. Once deboned, the meat is wrapped and enhanced with a dry marinade, then slow cooked in an oven for about 14 hours. VERY Slow cooked. The bone is used for the beef stock that is used as a base for so many of the wonderful sauces, soups, gravies and stews we became easily accustomed to.
Scrapings and bones are apparently also used to feed the 400 dogs they have at the back of the ship…or so says the Chef. 😉
Deboning a sea bass is made to appear much easier than my personal experience would suggest.
The heads and tails are also used for many things, stocks, soups, etc as well as feeding the 300 cats they also have at the back of the ship.
I’m not sure the Chef is being totally honest with us.
When all is said and done, what is left is a mouth-watering presentation of delights that are available on just about any night scattered throughout the many restaurants on the beautiful vessel.
I think I have finally caught up entirely. All that remains (I hope) is to get everything posted as quickly as possible tomorrow. It’s going to be a bit of a hectic day. Our bags must be packed and outside our door prior to us leaving for dinner. The clothes etc that we initially brought along aren’t the real concern. It is more the ‘goodies’ we are bringing back that need some care and attention when putting in to the luggage. Breakage is Not an option.
See you tomorrow…and maybe you’ll even see these posts. 😊