Explorer Feb 14 review

[sharon2975]

Not sure who the teacher was as we were talking to chef Kelly when she was introducing herself to the class. We missed her introduction as well as the beginning of the recipe.

I got the feeling that she was very new to the ship and teaching this class. As I stated before, she demonstrated the preparation of gravlax including wrapping it in plastic wrap and said it was finished. I asked her if she was suppose to add in the vodka that was in front of her and she seemed embarrassed. she unwrapped the fish and then added the vodka. She did not tell us to refrigerate this to complete the preparation.

As to helping the students with what they were preparing, she did not do that at all. She appeared to be overwhelmed. She had several busboy type helpers that came around and delivered items to each student and took away dirty dishes. We only prepared 3 dishes, and two of those involved finishing or beginnings that we did not participate in. The rest were "demo only" and unimpressive.

It is correct that my main concern and complaint was with the class being misrepresented and my husband getting sick because his fish dish in butter sauce was finished in an oven with shellfish dishes that were uncovered and all splattered together.

That said, as a foodie and a cook, I felt this class and this teacher were a waste of our time, for all of the reasons I have already stated.

Edited March 14, 2017 by sharon2975
left word off

[Travelcat2]

Sharon, what you are describing (sous-chefs helping out - delivering and picking up plates) is how the classes are typically run. Because most dishes cannot be prepared in 90 minutes, there is a lot of preparation done in advance. Then, because most of the class members are not experienced chefs, the demo's are done prior to the "student's" hands-on experience.

 

While I cannot speak to the fish class, the Italian class had the dough prepared ahead of time (and yes, there was a demo). Once we got to our stations, we prepared the sauces (everything prepped/measured for us) and we used the equipment to make two different type of pastas after which we cooked and plated them. The experience with the Kitchenaid (no commercial intended) pasta attachment was invaluable.

 

A few years ago, Regent was affiliated with Le Cordon Bleu. Half day classes were done using the Signatures kitchen on the Voyager (may have been different on other ships). Although, even with 4 hours, some items needed to be prepped, there was a lot more to do than in the Culinary Classes given now (and the cost - even several years ago was about 3 times more than the cost for a Culinary Class). I remember the fish very well because ours was a disaster (trying to filet it, etc.) It was difficult to keep up with the chef -- difficult to use the extremely hot cooking devices ....... just about everything was difficult (but I loved it). My point is that the Le Cordon Bleu class were likely for more advanced cooks while the Culinary Classes are able to accommodate home cooks with much less experience.

[JPR]

This particularly chef seems to be unusually inexperienced. Perhaps she'll get the hang of it. Or she'll be gone swiftly...

[Gilly]

This particularly chef seems to be unusually inexperienced. Perhaps she'll get the hang of it. Or she'll be gone swiftly...

 

The fact that she is a good chef doesn't make her a good teacher, which takes a long professional training and many years experience.

[Hambagahle]

My experience on Oceania Riviera mirrored that of Sharon's... when I said that I would have nothing more to do with the cooking classes if Chef Kelly was in charge of them I did not mean to infer that she had been my teacher. She was not. But she is responsible for hiring and training the teachers AND for the curriculum and its implementation. I do not think she does a great job at this.

 

The Cordon Bleu classes on the Mariner were superb. The "theme" of the class lasted over a 3-5 session period and we learnt a huge amount. They were also a LOT more expensive than the $89 paid for a 2 hour class on the Explorer...but hugely worth the money.

[Marvy]

Thank you Sharon2975 for your Explorer review. I have spent a great deal of time on Voyager and Mariner in the past but this September I will be on Explorer for the first time. Very much looking forward to the "new" ship!