Food at Sea

 

Seafarers today live like kings. They have all the food requirements that you would get in a hotel or a cruise ship. Deep freezes fresh vegetables etc.

It was very different in the 1950s and 60s on board a 1920s reciprocating steam engine ship.

The primary task of the ship, of course, is to go from A to B, but production of fresh water for the boiler to run the engine's and also for consumption by the crew was very important. But if there was a lack of fresh water it was the crew that suffered. There were no refrigerators. So the production of ice was quite important to maintain not only the beer cool, but the fresh vegetables cool. To combat this we often carried fresh meat in the form of live chickens, goats, sheep, etc. They used to live in boxes aft.

So maintaining a healthy diet was quite a task for the purser.

We had to order food at every port we arrived at. So leaving the UK, winter or summer, the first port was Port Said at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. There we took on fresh vegetables, Egyptian new potatoes and seafood. Next stop was Aden at the bottom end of the Red Sea, where we took on further fresh produce and then that got us all the way to India. Arrival in Indian ports was quite important because we had Indian crew. So as we approached the Hooghly River, for Calcutta everybody got very excited because we knew that as we came into the river and took the river pilot, a lot of local boats would arrive with beautiful prawns, seafood, fish, papaya etc. All the fresh food we had missed on the outward voyage.

It's important to note that the ships that I sailed on had white officers, white warrant officers and Indian crew. All the food was cooked by the Indian crew. So early in the morning you would see the Bandari, the cook, squatting on the afterdeck with 2 stones 1 round and a flat 1 grinding the curry paste for the days food as we ate mainly Indian food.

For breakfast, for lunch and dinner. So although you could order an English breakfast for example, one of my favourite meals for breakfast time was kedgeree. A mixture of fish, egg and rice. Very nourishing.

Lunch time could be English food, or it could be Indian food. And the evening meal was most often a mixture of Indian and/or typical English fare. When the opportunity arose the crew and the officers would fish over the side of the ship. Whether we got fish in the Red Sea, or we got fish off Newfoundland, the crew would cook and we had fresh fish for a few days. We tried to keep a supply of fresh fish as much as possible. It was not always easy. In the Red Sea the problem was that sharks often took the fish off the hook before you got it on board. It was not unusual to land only the head of a fish. Very frustrating!

The opposite occurred off the Newfoundland coast where the sheer volume of large halibut often made it very difficult to haul the fish onboard ship.

Keeping healthy especially in tropical areas on ships without air conditioning was not easy. Once past Suez we sewed hammock for ourselves so we could sleep on deck as it was impossible to sleep in the cabins.

Weekly salt tablets and lime juice were mandatory with the scarcity of fresh vegetables and fruit.

Brocklebansk was a liner shipping company providing a scheduled service between Europe and India. As such we often carried a few passengers, and mealtime was always a social event for those not watchkeeping.

Each meal was a formal affair with silver service and waiters for all our meals. We had to dress up in our best uniforms, and the junior officers had their own table. However as a new apprentice you sat with the captain's table for a short while, but after that you're on the junior officer’s table.

When in port the meals were completely different because we kept watches, cargo watches and we used to eat breakfast at 2:00 in the morning. The port we're in often determined what sort of food we got, so in the Indian coast we got Indian food. On the American course, we've got American food.

However, some traditions were important. Christmas for example, whether we were in tropical area or whether we are in the colder climates in our blue uniforms rather than a tropical uniform we always had a English Christmas meal. That meant a bird and Christmas pudding. Plus, of course, funny hats.The primary task of the ship, of course, is to go from A to B, but production of fresh water for the boiler to run the engine's and also for consumption by the crew was very important. But if there was a lack of fresh water it was the crew that suffered. There were no refrigerators. So the production of ice was quite important to maintain not only the beer cool, but the fresh vegetables cool. To combat this we often carried fresh meat in the form of live chickens, goats, sheep, etc. They used to live in boxes aft.

So maintaining a healthy diet was quite a task for the purser.

We had to order food at every port we arrived at. So leaving the UK, winter or summer, the first port was Port Said at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. There we took on fresh vegetables, Egyptian new potatoes and seafood. Next stop was Aden at the bottom end of the Red Sea, where we took on further fresh produce and then that got us all the way to India. Arrival in Indian ports was quite important because we had Indian crew. So as we approached the Hooghly River, for Calcutta everybody got very excited because we knew that as we came into the river and took the river pilot, a lot of local boats would arrive with beautiful prawns, seafood, fish, papaya etc. All the fresh food we had missed on the outward voyage.

It's important to note that the ships that I sailed on had white officers, white warrant officers and Indian crew. All the food was cooked by the Indian crew. So early in the morning you would see the Bandari, the cook, squatting on the afterdeck with 2 stones 1 round and a flat 1 grinding the curry paste for the days food as we ate mainly Indian food.

For breakfast, for lunch and dinner. So although you could order an English breakfast for example, one of my favourite meals for breakfast time was kedgeree. A mixture of fish, egg and rice. Very nourishing.

Lunch time could be English food, or it could be Indian food. And the evening meal was most often a mixture of Indian and/or typical English fare. When the opportunity arose the crew and the officers would fish over the side of the ship. Whether we got fish in the Red Sea, or we got fish off Newfoundland, the crew would cook and we had fresh fish for a few days. We tried to keep a supply of fresh fish as much as possible. It was not always easy. In the Red Sea the problem was that sharks often took the fish off the hook before you got it on board. It was not unusual to land only the head of a fish. Very frustrating!

The opposite occurred off the Newfoundland coast where the sheer volume of large halibut often made it very difficult to haul the fish onboard ship.

Keeping healthy especially in tropical areas on ships without air conditioning was not easy. Once past Suez we sewed hammock for ourselves so we could sleep on deck as it was impossible to sleep in the cabins.

Weekly salt tablets and lime juice were mandatory with the scarcity of fresh vegetables and fruit.

Brocklebansk was a liner shipping company providing a scheduled service between Europe and India. As such we often carried a few passengers, and mealtime was always a social event for those not watchkeeping.

Each meal was a formal affair with silver service and waiters for all our meals. We had to dress up in our best uniforms, and the junior officers had their own table. However as a new apprentice you sat with the captain's table for a short while, but after that you're on the junior officer’s table.

When in port the meals were completely different because we kept watches, cargo watches and we used to eat breakfast at 2:00 in the morning. The port we're in often determined what sort of food we got, so in the Indian coast we got Indian food. On the American course, we've got American food.

However, some traditions were important. Christmas for example, whether we were in tropical area or whether we are in the colder climates in our blue uniforms rather than a tropical uniform we always had a English Christmas meal. That meant a bird and Christmas pudding. Plus, of course, funny hats.