Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Foods for the Boat

Photo by Salt Water New England

A reader question:

Hi Muffy,

I have a question for the community.  What are your favorite foods to serve while on a boat?  This can either be for a several day trip, or even just a day sail.  Thank you!

 

 

19 comments:

  1. That depends so much on the kind of boat and trip. On calm water in a capacious power boat with a good galley anything goes. On an ocean race something easy to eat and full of calories like PB and J. On a casual sail, nothing hot or easily spilled. I like picnic foods like cold pan fried chicken, cucumber sandwiches, or quiche, Martinis and jalapeño potato chips always get consumed happily, as does smoked Gouda with crackers and old fashioneds. For fancier fare I love cold lobster tails with sour cream and caviar. For lunch I like chicken salad of grilled chicken, mayonnaise, pine nuts, chiffonade of fresh basil, and sun dried tomatoes. On a super hot day a big cold jug of gazpacho is terrific. The bottom line is that on any boat anything tastes great! I can even imagine being happy with hard tack.

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  2. Part of the fun of cruising is finding restaurants, delis, general stores and so on it each port of call. In cases of emergency, I usually go with dried pasta and bottled sauce or dehydrated camping food, which is much better than it used to be. As for day sailing, cooking is out of the question. Picnic and camping foods fit the bill. Sandwiches, chips, and iced beer or soda are welcome. As is hot coffee or tea from a vacuum flask. I'm a fan of scotch eggs (hardboiled egg baked inside breakfast sausage) for boating and camping, but I may be the only one!

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    1. My wife's parents had waterfront property on Chesapeake Bay and were rather oriented towards the water. He had a few boats and was active in the Coast Guard Auxiliary for a while. There were always boating magazines lying around at their home. One had an article about menus for a week-long cruise, probably on the bay. While I don't remember much about the menus, I was struck by the plan to have over half their meals at restaurants while ashore.

      In spite of living on the water, my father-in-law was much more of a flying enthusiast and owned a Mooney. Someone called Mooney airplanes "doctor killers." In fact, my former boss's wife's first husband was killed in a Mooney. Don't know if he was a doctor or not.

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    2. You are not the only one. I love Scotch eggs!! As for other seaworthy food, I also recommend including salty things and plain savory carbs (crackers, bread) for those whose stomachs may get a bit woozy.

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  3. We have a decent galley and a grill, but do most prep or serious cooking at home, unless we'll be out for more than 3 or 4 days(this doesn't happen so much in recent years). Breakfasts look much like they do on land (coffee/tea, juice, fruit, cereal, toast and jam, etc...). At cocktail time, in addition to a small but decent selection of liquors, wines and mixers, there are always nuts, crackers, etc... and sometimes cheeses, pâté, potted shrimp or shrimp cocktail. We'll occasionally marinate chicken or beef in vacuum bags ahead of a weekend out. Veggies tend to be in the form of crudités with bagna càuda (it keeps for 3 or 4 days with no problems), roasted red pepper dip or tzatziki. We regularly pack takeout containers of cold salads that work as one dish meals (Ina Garten's shrimp and orzo salad, greek pasta salad, etc...). There's always backup canned goods. We keep desserts to a minimum, but on occasion we'll bring a few ramekins of home cooked pot de crème, Indian pudding, etc... We put a little extra effort into making sure everything we bring keeps, so there isn't much waste if we go ashore for meals.

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    1. This is much in keeping of our menu items for our 4-5 day trips. We've found it to be handy, time-saving, quite delicious! For our coast of Maine trips, we pack much less food, because stopping at every lobster shack along the way is a definite must! --Holly in PA

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  4. So many wonderful choices! Really depends on how calm the water is, what season, and your personal taste! Thank you, so very much!

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  5. I keep it simple on my 17" Boston Whaler: Fig Newtons and a Coke.

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  6. Underway, anything pre-packed - sandwiches. On the mooring or dock, grilled skewers of chicken, shrimp, veggies, fruit, marshmallows....easy to pack, easy to eat and easy to dispose of. Soft tacos or pita for folks who want to turn their skewer into a sandwich. Always: beer, cherries and cookies.

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  7. I'm pretty old-fashioned and usually just stock up on salt pork, wormy hardtack, and suet.

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  8. Rose´All Day! At least in the summer months.

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  9. Despite years of cruising in Maine, I learned something new from a fellow sailor not long ago. If near a lobster boat tending to the owner's traps, hold up a bucket and wave. That's a sure signal you are ready to purchase some creepy crawlers on the spot. The lobsterman/woman should swing by and sell you however many lobsters fresh from the sea that you need.

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  10. Go read Lee Bailey.

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  11. We freeze portions of our favorite stews and soups in the winter for our summer cruising. Cereals, hot and cold for breakfast with fruit, sandwiches for lunches like BLTs or shrimp, chicken, tuna salad.

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  12. On a 24-foot sloop with a very small galley, I remember canned B&M Brown Bread, cereals, hard-boiled eggs, sandwiches, and canned soda or beer, occasional wine in a bota bag! On overnight sails, we would eat at the restaurant or diner found at each harbor. Stopovers at islands would require more packaged food as they didn't usually have facilities. It was a treat to find fresh fish or shellfish at the harbor diners! Great memories.

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  13. Sweet and savory things that keep: jam (rose hip, rhubard, blueb, cranberry), canned fish (sardines, smoked herring), hard cheese, pickled eggs, dulse/umami flavoring, russet potatoes to bake in a fire, lemonade with honey, to ward off the scurvy :)

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  14. This is not helpful I know, but I have a memory of the end of a 7 day sail in the BVI with my husband's family and they were reaching into the bottom of the "fridge" to pull out whatever was left. It included thr most revolting looking deli meats and cheeses. And they ate it! I stuck with opening the last tin of tuna thanks very much. Stomachs of steel, apparently....

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  15. Daysail Lobster Dip:
    1 cooked and shelled lobster tail, cold.
    1 8oz pkg of Philly Cream Cheese
    1/4 whole milk
    Dash of Lee&Perrins
    Dash of Tabasco
    1/2 tsp salt and pepper
    1 T Lemon Juice
    In a food processor, add lobster tail.
    Pulse until chunky.
    Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until all combined. Using a rubber spatula, transfer to a Tupperware container(Tupperware is great for a nice, tight seal)and chill at least 4 hours.
    Serve with Cape Cod Chips or your favourite cracker. Serves 2 to 4; the recipe doubles just nicely for a larger group. It's so good.

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