WHY Indian Food ?

[shudie]

On 3/4/2018 at 10:30 PM, Velvetwater said:

Not sure how true it is for other lines but Carnival actively employ Indian/Bangladeshi chefs and have declared this through various media. Every time I sailed with them I have found this the case.

 

Bangladeshi cooks are particularly common over here in the UK too as they are known for being excellent especially in 'Indian' restaurants.

 

Yes, this is the case. We sailed P&O x 1 and then Carnival Spirit x 2  and many of the chefs were Indian. Behind the scenes tours confirmed this! 

 

As a vegeterian and as someone who lived in the UK for 15 years, then travelled India extensively,  I was very happy to see Indian on the menu in the MDR almost every night. All 3 cruises had a thali most nights - 2 or 3 different curries, dal, yogurt and bread.

 

Sydney doesn’t have great Indian food IMO - cruise Indian was the best we have had since leaving the UK. 

 

Im hoping HAL Zuiderdam has some good Indian choices. 

 

 

 

[Crew News]

On 1/12/2019 at 1:27 PM, shudie said:

 

Yes, this is the case. We sailed P&O x 1 and then Carnival Spirit x 2  and many of the chefs were Indian. Behind the scenes tours confirmed this! 

 

As a vegeterian and as someone who lived in the UK for 15 years, then travelled India extensively,  I was very happy to see Indian on the menu in the MDR almost every night. All 3 cruises had a thali most nights - 2 or 3 different curries, dal, yogurt and bread.

 

Sydney doesn’t have great Indian food IMO - cruise Indian was the best we have had since leaving the UK. 

 

Im hoping HAL Zuiderdam has some good Indian choices.

 

 

Here is a link to the HAL Indian Vegetarian Menus:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/indian-vegetarian-menus-7-day

[shudie]

2 hours ago, Crew News said:

 

Here is a link to the HAL Indian Vegetarian Menus:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/indian-vegetarian-menus-7-day

 

thank you x

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Many of cruise lines' kitchen employees are from India.  So Indian food is something they ate growing up, and probably learned to cook at a young age.  Since Indian food is somewhat popular among Americans (albeit the toned-down, Americanized kind), the cruise line lets the cooks make something they already know how to make, rather than train them on a whole new dish.  Also, with vegetarianism spreading in the Western world and being already widespread among the Indian population, it's a good way to expand the selection of vegetarian dishes, rather than falling back on bean burgers and cheese fries.  In the end, passengers eat it, and the cruise line saves money on training.  Win-win.  

Edited July 4, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01

[kmeeker]

Amused by this post... 

 

There is SO MUCH FOOD on a cruise! So...Much! How can we complain that they serve Indian Food or any food that we don't enjoy? 

For me personally, what a great chance to try things that I don't have to finish or pay extra for.... I know my husband feels the same... 

 

Again, So. Much. Food!!  Bypass the Indian food and grab an extra dessert.... or anything else! 

[clo]

26 minutes ago, kmeeker said:

what a great chance to try things

I talk to SO many people who are determined that they don't like a particular cuisine or dish but, upon quizzing them, they've never tried it.

[resstation]

7 minutes ago, clo said:

I talk to SO many people who are determined that they don't like a particular cuisine or dish but, upon quizzing them, they've never tried it.

Not only that but some have tried the dish and didn't like it - THAT preparation. I've always told my son, if you don't like something the first time you try it, try it again when someone else has made it. You never know if the first taste was not made well. It took me YEARS to finally like okra. LOL  I kept trying them all different ways. Turns out I DO like them - but only pickled. 

[clo]

2 minutes ago, resstation said:

Not only that but some have tried the dish and didn't like it - THAT preparation. I've always told my son, if you don't like something the first time you try it, try it again when someone else has made it. You never know if the first taste was not made well. It took me YEARS to finally like okra. LOL  I kept trying them all different ways. Turns out I DO like them - but only pickled. 

And I've tried and tried to like Brussels sprouts and I still don't.  Even when our favorite chef fixed them.

[FranMar16]

Ditch the Indian food, I want Philippine food.

 

[clo]

56 minutes ago, FranMar16 said:

Ditch the Indian food, I want Philippine food.

 

I would guess, from personal experience, that there are far more people familiar with Indian food than Filipino food.  Or were you joking?

[FranMar16]

I prefer Philippine food over Indian, I can't take spicy hot food well. They won't change it anytime soon because there are a lot of Indian people onboard usually.

[Velvetwater]

On 7/27/2018 at 4:33 AM, Sungold said:

I am someone who does not like hot & spicy food... and I especially dislike curry. Even the smell of it makes me nauseous. So I have avoided the Indian food, although there might be some dishes I would like. But they need to post on each dish what it contains. If I see that a dish contains hot peppers, sriracha, curry, etc., then I know to avoid those dishes.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Not all Indian food is spicy at all...may I recommend a Korma,Chicken Tikka Masala or Butter chicken dish? Most Indian restaurants around the world will put mild/medium/hot or tell you if they ask. Mild is a very safe option if spice is your enemy. 

 

Those dishes are the ones that often get people started on Indian food and are on many menus (even though one of them is a western creation)...aside from the tasty fried snacks of course.

 

Sriracha is a sauce and curry is a dish so they are not ingredients as such. They both vary wherever you go.

 

 

[Sungold]

Thank you for the advice!  I know that curry is a dish, but I understand that curry powder is also an ingredient in other Indian dishes.  Whether tikka masala or butter chicken contain it, I don’t know.  I thought I might like tandoori chicken or shrimp if it wasn’t too spicy.  

[martincath]

14 hours ago, Sungold said:

Thank you for the advice!  I know that curry is a dish, but I understand that curry powder is also an ingredient in other Indian dishes.  Whether tikka masala or butter chicken contain it, I don’t know.  I thought I might like tandoori chicken or shrimp if it wasn’t too spicy.  

No two curry powders are identical, unless you're talking dried & ground kari (curry) leaf, so don't worry so much about trying a wee sample of any and all the curries that might appear on the ship.

 

Masalas - blends of spices - can certainly be bought labelled as 'curry powder' but just check the ingredients: odds are that you've actually already eaten many of the individual spices in the blend before, and you may actually enjoy them a lot. Cumin goes in any decent Chili, as does some kind of hot pepper powder (and most 'Indian' premade blended spices contain Cayenne rather than Kashmiri chillies so again it's likely a familiar flavour for you); Coriander is also very common (as it is in much US cuisine, at least since Emeril started getting famous). Various aromatics like Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Allspice are usually also on any baker's spice rack, and even Cardamom isn't much of a stretch. Black pepper and mustard I also doubt anyone has a beef with! Saffron is too fancy to ever be wasted in a blend, it's only ever used very specifically as it's still one of most expensive ingredients around.

 

Really, the only common 'curry powder' ingredients that aren't entirely normal for Western food these days are Turmeric (and there's been a ton of good press about the health benefits of consuming it in the last few years, so even if you don't already cook with it you may have tablets inj your medicine cabinet!) and Fenugreek - they both contribute some earthier flavours, but the bitterness of Turmeric goes away when it's cooked and the latter only tends to contribute strongly to the flavour when a dish is described as 'Methi lamb/chicken' etc.

 

Personally I'm always saddened by how bland the curry onboard is (it's not just that the heat factor is dialled down ridiculously, but that it's also rare to use enough of any of the lovely aromatic spices or even a decent whack of garlic or ginger) but that does mean it's probably the perfect way to introduce new folks to 'Indian food' if they're hesitant. A run-of-the-mill supermarket BBQ sauce probably has more heat in it than any curry I've sampled onboard any ship - you're not getting the same stuff they make for the crew, fear not!!!!

 

Maybe you're not one of the many Floridians who loves a good BBQ Sungold, but if you do you can certainly give onboard curries a go with no fear of them being too hot & spicy for you 😉

 

[pacruise804]

On 7/18/2019 at 2:16 AM, Sungold said:

Thank you for the advice!  I know that curry is a dish, but I understand that curry powder is also an ingredient in other Indian dishes.  Whether tikka masala or butter chicken contain it, I don’t know.  I thought I might like tandoori chicken or shrimp if it wasn’t too spicy.  

The few times I have had tandoori chicken it was much more a smoked chicken with an added flavor (maybe due to a different wood) than anything spicy.  Naan bread is also very good and not spicy.

[SummerBeee]

I adore the Indian food on cruises, travel with RC the most. In January we sailed out of Puerto Rico and a good 60% of the passengers were from the island. So much PR food in the windjammer and not much Indian. Asked and the chef said they cook for the demographics of the sailing. The good news is that I got my full of sweet plantains on that cruise. 

[Dunmore2]

We love the ethnic food that Celebrity serves in their buffet, especially Indian. It’s fresh and full of flavor, not spicy. Although I look around for the spicy pickles to add some heat. I cook many Indian dishes at home, having taken cooking classes. It is very time consuming to prepare most of these dishes, and I appreciate when someone else has done all the prep work and cooking. A few times while I’m dishing up  my plate, higher ranking officers have been at this section too. When I commented on the wide array of Indian food, they tell me that’s it’s their favorite too and it has a permanent place on Celebrity’s buffet.

We all have different tastes, thank goodness. Be tolerant of other’s preferences!

[DedeF]

I’m a pretty picky eater, but I personally love Indian food! As for the person who mentioned Philippine food, we have a large Philippine population in the SFBay Area, so I can understand wanting that too.  🤗

[CGTNORMANDIE]

14 hours ago, Dunmore2 said:

We love the ethnic food that Celebrity serves in their buffet, especially Indian. It’s fresh and full of flavor, not spicy. Although I look around for the spicy pickles to add some heat. I cook many Indian dishes at home, having taken cooking classes. It is very time consuming to prepare most of these dishes, and I appreciate when someone else has done all the prep work and cooking. A few times while I’m dishing up  my plate, higher ranking officers have been at this section too. When I commented on the wide array of Indian food, they tell me that’s it’s their favorite too and it has a permanent place on Celebrity’s buffet.

We all have different tastes, thank goodness. Be tolerant of other’s preferences!

My biggest complaint is the lack of condiments when they serve Indian food.  You need chutney, lime pickle, mango pickle, riata, etc. to compliment a decent Indian meal.  

[Dunmore2]

Celebrity has three types of chutneys, mango, mint and tamarind. Always the spicy mixed pickle, mostly with limes. Papads are the only bread though. Don’t think I’ve seen raita, but I only like it with cold chickpeas anyway. Mmm, I’m getting hungry.

[SimplyMarvie]

9 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

My biggest complaint is the lack of condiments when they serve Indian food.  You need chutney, lime pickle, mango pickle, riata, etc. to compliment a decent Indian meal.  

 

I wonder if they'd notice if I slipped a jar of homemade pickle into my carry-on? They'd probably stick me in CBP jail, alas. 

 

(We had a lemon tree at our last house and before we moved I made literal gallons of south Indian style lemon pickle, since I'll eat it on just about anything -- including toast in the morning. It's a nice, spicy way to wake up! 🙂 )

[CGTNORMANDIE]

15 hours ago, SimplyMarvie said:

 

I wonder if they'd notice if I slipped a jar of homemade pickle into my carry-on? They'd probably stick me in CBP jail, alas. 

 

(We had a lemon tree at our last house and before we moved I made literal gallons of south Indian style lemon pickle, since I'll eat it on just about anything -- including toast in the morning. It's a nice, spicy way to wake up! 🙂 )

Yummmm...you sold me...I’m moving in!  What’s the recipe?

[zltm089]

On 11/22/2012 at 8:29 PM, Oscarsgrandad said:

Makes me laugh actually, all this tallk of 'ethnic' foods from different countries, how one person likes a whole nation of food and another hates all of the food from another country.

 

There are so many different things within any Nation's menu you can't dislike it all unless you've tried it all.

I've fortunately travelled world-wide over the years, enjoy curries immensely but not from many restaurants at home in England - I often find the curry flavour here is too intense, replacing subtle flavours with more 'heat' inducing spices sometimes so hot it's pointless trying to enjoy it.

 

Same with Chinese food, the country is so vast that the regional variations means saying 'I don't like Chinese/Indian/Nepali food' or any other nations food just makes you look ignorant.

 

 

Spot on.

 

And to add

 

Very often the dishes have been "westernised". Most local chinese take aways in the UK are like this. A disgrace to proper chinese food in my opinion. But then again they are "take away" types. So can't expect too much.

 

I'm a big fan of Indian food but on cruises, you can easily tell it has been "toned down". I wouldn't touch the "chinese" noodles on a cruise ship. I doubt a western head chef could pull off proper chinese food. Just like a chinese chef wouldn't be able to do a decent pizza. Leave the chinese food to proper chinese chefs and pizzas to the italians etc....that's my thinking. Having said that, there are also many chinese chefs that can't cook proper chinese onshore! Obviously on a mass market cruise ship or any other line for that matter, it's nearly impossible to have a dedicated chef representing each country.

 

Not too keen on all the "fusion" style cuisine aswell.

 

 

[SimplyMarvie]

We're just off the Serenade, where several of their head chefs are from India and the Indian food was definitely one of the best parts of the buffet. It was all very standard North Indian Punjabi restaurant-style food, but it was at least as good as you'd get in a well-reviewed Indian restaurant in the US or the UK. We had Muttar Paneer, Aloo Gobi, Katchadi for breakfast a couple of times, Chana Masala, butter chicken, Rogan Josh, and a few other things I'm sure I don't remember. They had a couple of pickle options and riata available as well. 

 

Coming from Israel, where it's almost impossible to get Indian food, it was one of our favorite parts of the cruise. 🙂

[Dunmore2]

On 12/24/2019 at 8:45 AM, SimplyMarvie said:

We're just off the Serenade, where several of their head chefs are from India and the Indian food was definitely one of the best parts of the buffet. It was all very standard North Indian Punjabi restaurant-style food, but it was at least as good as you'd get in a well-reviewed Indian restaurant in the US or the UK. We had Muttar Paneer, Aloo Gobi, Katchadi for breakfast a couple of times, Chana Masala, butter chicken, Rogan Josh, and a few other things I'm sure I don't remember. They had a couple of pickle options and riata available as well. 

 

Coming from Israel, where it's almost impossible to get Indian food, it was one of our favorite parts of the cruise. 🙂

Envious, lucky you.