Gourmet Galley
Gourmet Galley from both sides of the Panama Canal.
Atlantic - San Blas Islands – Paradise Produce
Walrus was anchored off the white sands of Canbombia Island, when we were approached by a wooden dugout longboat paddled by two Guna Yala islanders. The adeptness and speed with which they pulled in alongside Walrus suggested much practice in the art of selling their wares to passing yachties.
We could see an indeterminate number of freshly caught bluey-black lobster-like creatures, with thick armour coated torso and tiny claws and two spider crabs climbing over each other and very much alive.
No shared language was needed. The Guna Yala fishermen pointed to the treasure trove of crustacea moving around in the seawater at the bottom of the longboat and one guy held up ten fingers on his hands twice. Not difficult to interpret - $20 was required but for how many and what?
I gestured agreement to the deal and the main course for that night’s menu was decided.
Next - How to get the crustacean on board? Establishing what I had bought? and working out how to deal with live crustacea on board Walrus, given her limited galley facilities
I passed a Co-op bag to Gerald, who was preparing the dinghy for going ashore, and endeavoured to point out the largest of the lobster-like creatures as our preferred purchase – I needn’t have worried, the entire contents of the bottom of the boat were dumped unceremoniously into the Co-op bag and the Guna Yala fishermen were off to get their next catch of the day, with a cheery wave goodbye.
Those of you who read Walrus Around the World newsletter will know already of the ambitious escape attempt of one of the ill-fated lobsters and Dicky and my alarmed reaction. Once we had pulled up our socks, steeled ourselves and, as a wonderful ex-colleague used to say, I had put on my big girl pants, the crustacea were firmly put in their place, trapped in seawater in the sink with my second biggest pot and a chopping board covering their exit.
My biggest pot was full of water on the boil on one of the two burners in the galley. Next, I set about creating a recipe from the available ingredients.
Ingredients:
Lobsters (small – two per person) live
Garlic
Butter
Seasoning (salt/pepper/cayenne pepper)
Chopped fresh coriander.
Method:
Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil
Lift each lobster with large pincers and place in the boiling water. Place a lid on the pan to keep the water temperature at boiling point and the lobster in the pot.
Boil for 8-10 minutes (the lobster is pinky orange all over when cooked) then lift out and leave to cool
Once cool, cut in half lengthwise. I used strong kitchen scissors for this task; the knives in the gourmet galley weren’t up to the task.
Place on a baking tray lined with silver foil, shell side down. Add a blob of butter and crushed garlic to each half lobster, a grind of black pepper, celery salt and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Place in a heated oven for 10-15 minutes until the garlic butter is melted and just sizzling.
Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a further grind or two of black pepper to each lobster half. Serve with a scattering of fresh coriander.
I served the lobsters with roast potatoes with roasted red onion and a crisp salad of red and white cabbage, apple, celery, walnuts and sultanas with French honey and mustard dressing.
Through the Panama Canal, under the Bridge of the Americas and on to the Pacific Ocean.
Pacific - Valentine’s Dessert
A requirement for a Valentine’s dessert is that a major component of the dish can be shaped into a heart.
On board Walrus the other requirement for any recipe is that fresh ingredients, in particular the fruit and vegetables that hang in nets in the saloon and under the solar panel are used before they start to rot. On this basis the Valentine’s dessert was created from the 4-6 bananas that were turning from super ripe to mushy and blackened, with the addition of a perfectly ripe locally grown mango.
Creating a banana bread traybake turned out to be a whole afternoon’s entertainment, I adapted previously used banana loaf to create a traybake recipes that could be baked in an oven without any heat control.
Ingredients:
4 Over-ripe bananas
1.5 Mugs of plain flour
0.75 Mug of sugar
Approximately 125gms (0.75 of a mug) of butter – left out in the sun to melt
3 Eggs
Vanilla essence
100gms of sultanas soaked in rum (brought to the boil and left with lid on for at least an hour, preferably overnight)
60gms of chopped walnuts
1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon and grated nutmeg.
Method:
The ingredients were mixed and beaten with a fork for 1 – 2 minutes then poured into a 9 inch X 9 inch (23cm X 23 cm) lined baking tin and place in the oven. Then watched like a hawk from 15-20 minutes onwards for the first signs of burning.
The traybake was removed from the oven when golden brown, risen and a skewer came out clean. It was left to cool.
Four evenly portioned squares were cut from the traybake; a heart shape was cut from each of these squares (I saved the cut offs for a trifle-type dessert on another day; I think most of my invented desserts have a trifle theme, without the custard, sadly).
Place each banana bread heart in a bowl.
Fresh mango and oranges cut into chunks – scattered around the banana bread.
Tot of rum (not sure what a ‘tot’ is) I sloshed a capful of Chairmans Reserve rum from St Lucia on to each banana bread heart – enough to give a kick to the dessert without affecting the sweetness.
Blob of Nutella on top of the heart.
Blob of strawberry jam on top of the Nutella.
Slosh of pouring mango yoghurt around the edge of the heart and the Valentine’s dessert was ready to serve on deck to Dicky, Gerald and Jay (joining from Las Perlas until the Marquesas).
If you’re making this dessert, I suggest enjoying on a hot evening, preferably sitting by the ocean overlooking a sandy beach.