Food on Board the Ship

Published 03th Jul 2007

Menu on board:

Sunday, July 1st:

Supper: Organic sausages made of beef and potato salat. Night box: Coffee, coco, soup, chocolate, liquorice, biscuits, cake.

Monday, July 2nd:

Breakfast: porridge. Lunch: Bread with topping from the lunch box. Supper: Food in rough weather: Freeze-dried foods, curry chicken, spaghetti bolognese, spinach salmon. Night box: Coffee, coco, soup, chocolate, liquorice, biscuits, cake.

Tuesday, July 3rd:

Breakfast: Coffee, tea, freshly baked bread, cheese and dairy products.

 

Further information:

The fare on board the Sea Stallion is somewhat different from that eaten by the Vikings a thousand years ago.

Today, the crew are given a much more varied diet with greater quantities of vegetables and fruit.

It is important that the supplies have good keeping qualities as there is no refrigerator on board. Therefore tinned food, such as sweet corn, tomatoes and liver pate, as well as dried products, such as rice, pasta and oats, make up an important part of the provisions. Frozen meat is brought along in cool boxes and fresh meat is purchased en route. Further to this, fresh vegetables and fruit, such as carrots, cabbage, parsnips and apples, which do not rot too quickly, are also brought along.

But just like the Vikings, the crew on board the Sea Stallion are also served porridge and dried meat.

Each morning the crew is served a breakfast of hot porridge and coffee or tea so that they have something warm on which to start the day after a long and perhaps cold night of sailing.

Lunch consists of ordinary sandwiches. Each section of 10-12 men shares two lunch boxes with rye bread, butter and meat/fish of good keeping quality, such as tinned tuna, tinned mackerel in tomato sauce and smoked salami. The boxes are not placed by the galley but around the ship, and it is the men from the provisions group who ensure that the boxes are filled up again as the food in them is eaten.

Supper, however, varies according to the weather and the ship's location.

If the ship is not sailing, it is possible to have a barbecue and to do some shopping and obtain fresh produce.

When the ship is sailing under calm conditions the stewards are able to serve a hot meal, for example soup, stews, boiled sausages or pasta with meat sauce – i.e. meals that are easy to cook in large portions in one or two large pots.

In rough weather and with high winds the ship is very unstable. Then it is dangerous to light the gas rings and have pots filled with hot food. The stewards have therefore brought dried and smoked meat and smoked sausages that can be eaten with a slice of bread. Freeze-dried foods, which only require the addition of some water, are also taken along. These are given to the crew if cooking is impossible.

In addition to all this, each section has a night box containing tea, coffee, chocolate, biscuits, apples and nuts, serving as a store for the night watchmen. Night service can be hard because the men are tired and use a lot of energy keeping warm. It is therefore important that they have access to hot drinks and sugar from the night box to keep their energy and spirits up. On last year’s summer expedition 30 kg of chocolate was consumed.


Created by Solvej Lyng Jørgensen