Ethnic specialty restaurants on cruise ships

[lenquixote66]

I know that there are Italian ,Mexican and Japanese specialty restaurants on cruise ships.

Would you prefer a cruise that only featured ethnic foods ? There are certainly enough for long cruises.

[Lois R]

I enjoy all types of food🙂

[Harters]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Would you prefer a cruise that only featured ethnic foods ?

Probably not.

 

At home, Saturday night dinner is important in this household. We always make more of an effort than other nights. Years ago, we decided to cook a meal  from a different national or regional cuisine each week. Took us a couple of years to complete it. Great fun. 

 

I remember one week we decided to merge a couple of cuisines and did an Anglo/Dutch meal - in recognition of a World Cup football match that weekend between England and the Netherlands. Can't recall the full meal, but I think we did something with herring as a starter, as it was a commonly used fish in both countries. 

 

 

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

Probably not.

 

At home, Saturday night dinner is important in this household. We always make more of an effort than other nights. Years ago, we decided to cook a meal  from a different national or regional cuisine each week. Took us a couple of years to complete it. Great fun. 

 

I remember one week we decided to merge a couple of cuisines and did an Anglo/Dutch meal - in recognition of a World Cup football match that weekend between England and the Netherlands. Can't recall the full meal, but I think we did something with herring as a starter, as it was a commonly used fish in both countries. 

 

 

Very interesting

[Harters]

On 10/1/2023 at 9:23 PM, lenquixote66 said:

Would you prefer a cruise that only featured ethnic foods ?

I've sort of had second thoughts about this.

 

Our last two cruises (and a forthcoming one) have been with Oceania. The overwhelming majority of its cruisers are American and, unsurprisingly, the food is very much geared to their tastes, whether in the MDR or speciality restaurants. In fact, on their newest ship, Vista, there is a speciality restaurant "where savory American classics come to life with a modern twist". 

 

So, I suppose I'm already experiencing an entirely different ethnic eating experience for the duration of the cruise. 

[Dreamer68]

Why feature "only" when you can feature "and"?

 

When I travel, I enjoy the balance (if possible) of a taste of what's familiar to me and what's local and therefore foreign to me. In the absence of the former, I fully embrace the latter. 🙂So a cruise I'd enjoy would have many options of food. That's why I enjoy buffets more than MDRs (yes, I'm probably in the minority). I love variety. And technically, because I am from Asia originally, foods from the UK or English-speaking USA are considered "ethnic" to me. 😉

[dahirsh]

Aren't all prepared foods ultimately ethnic?  It's just a matter of what ethnicity

[lenquixote66]

On 10/5/2023 at 5:38 PM, dahirsh said:

Aren't all prepared foods ultimately ethnic?  It's just a matter of what ethnicity

Yes,I erred in my initial post.

Every time I see your screen name I am reminded of one of my former Dentists,Dr. Hirsh.😀

Edited October 16, 2023 by lenquixote66

[Hlitner]

I think many chefs have recently been moving to fusion cuisine which combines the cooking techniques and styles of multiple ethnicities.  While we were recently in Quebec City (while doing an overnight on the EJ1) we had the pleasure of going to Boreal Bistro, with several chefs from our ship.  That venue is one of the two local restaurants owned by Chef Jean-Luc Boulay who is a French Master Chef (there are only about 400 in the world with that honor).

 

I mention Chef Boulay, because his Boreal Bistro only uses ingrediants sourced in Quebec (primarily the Boreal Forrest).  This means that such basics as Olive Oil must be replaced by other oils that can be derived from plants grown in Quebec.  It is the same with citrus (there are no citrus fruits grown in Quebec) which must be replaced with products derived from the trees and plants of Quebec.  The Chef-owner goes foraging several days a week to gather various items from the forrest.  In order to work with regional items, he has developed menus which consist of many items (such as seal).  They have also developed many spices from the local plants and trees.  All quite amazing and his two restaurants (one of which is a very high end French venue) are always packed with customers.

 

Even on the EJ1, we saw some fusion cuisine such as duck confit paired with watermelon, mint and feta.  Just putting pineapple on pizza is a kind of fusion as you would not find that in Italy!  We have also seen many examples of combining Italian and French.  In Mexico we see lots of fusion between various regional Mexican cuisines and American styles.  And a top French chef in Puerto Vallarta has been working with the fusion of Mexican and French cuisines.  All good.

 

Hank

 

 

[Harters]

Done well, fusion can be fine. It's rarely done well.