Cruising Cuisine: Fresh Food from the Galley Book

Let's face it. To the uninitiated, the confined and often animated galley of a cruising boat lends itself to creating such less-than-mouthwatering delicacies canned beef stew served over a bed of reheated noodles. After all, there's no storage space, very little in the way of modern appliances, and limited, if any, refrigeration.

Cruising Cuisine will put a flavorful end to all that. Longtime cruiser Kay Pastorius offers everything a cook needs to know to adapt to the very different world of cooking at sea, in strange ports of call, or in deserted anchorages far from supermarkets.

Far more than a collection of recipes, Cruising Cuisine is filled with advice on mastering fine cooking techniques guaranteed to produce delicacies everyone on board will relish.

The simple and exciting recipes in Cruising Cuisine--everything from crowd-pleasing appetizers to tempting sauces and sinful desserts--are fresh, modern, healthful, and tailored to save cruisers time, energy, and effort. Here are more than 450 recipes for all gastronomical persuasions: Pear Crepes, Apple Pancakes, Porcini Mushroom Dip, Conch Fritters, Curried Rock Scallops, Basque-Style Chicken and Sausage, Orzo with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Stir-Fried Thai Chicken in Coconut Sauce. All are far removed from the crunchy-granola, freeze-dried, "open a can of this and add it to that" school of boat cooking.

Kay Pastorius lays out numerous techniques around which the cruising chef can improvise, using what's on hand. She offers tips on how to set up and customize a galley: Did you know, for example, that a wok is ideal for cooking aboard because it makes economic use of whichever heat source you use? And she provides advice on how to stock provisions and deal with supermarket-separation syndrome; how to use fresh ingredients to supplement onboard staples; how to cook your catch; and how to shop for fresh (and safe) local produce, meat, and fish wherever you drop anchor, even in the markets typical of popular cruising stops in Mexico, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific.