The Food Horizon

Hello blogosphere, my name is Sophie Chu. I am part of the Chemistry team on the cruise this year. I do research in Aleck Wang’s lab and I am officially, as of a few days ago, a second year PhD student. One of my specialties is being able to eat a lot. As an expert in this field, I have taken it upon myself to answer the question you have all been wondering: what’s the food like??

Main dining area

Above: Everyone gets their own mug and cup according to the number on their bunk (left) and the coffee maker (right)!

No picture of the breakfast spread, but here's some pizza!

Here’s a look at the food schedule:

7:15 – 8:00 am. Breakfast! I am usually asleep during this time, but before we got into our shift schedules, I remember enjoying the plethora of foods available. Pancakes, French toast, omelettes, fried eggs, sausage, bacon, oatmeal, fruit salad. Anything you could ever want for breakfast.

 

Lunch is served at 11:15 – 12:00 pm. This usually consists of some type of sandwich or pasta with soup, fruit and salad. Let me just say here that there is a salad bar at every meal, though this is the place you will find me the least, mostly because it is at the end of the buffet table and I don’t usually have any space left on my plate (also I don’t like salad). FYI, the red mats underneath the plates are non-skid so our food doesn't go flying off the tables while we're trying to eat.

Mouthwatering aromas waft into my nostrils when deploying/recovering/sampling a CTD on deck right outside the galley before dinner, which is from 5:00 – 5:45 pm. Dinner frequently includes a succulent meat or two covered in a tasty sauce, a starch and veggies.  Sunday is a special day when the meat is grilled to perfection on this baby:

And the best part about dinner is that there is always dessert!!! Past desserts include: brownies, ice cream with fixin’s, cinnamon buns, apple turnovers, chocolate chip walnut cookies, and cake.

Now, just in case you need some snacks to hold you over between meals, there are copious amounts of candy, crackers, cereal, bread, fruit, yogurt, etc. available at all times. If you aren’t up for meals, you can also have someone set aside meals for you and put them in the fridge. 

Leftovers from meals are also placed in the fridges (and used creatively in the next day’s meals). These foods can be used for ‘midrats’ or midnight rations to land people.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

Phew, are you getting full from eating with your eyes yet? Ew, don’t picture eating food with your eyes. You know what I meat meant. 

Thanks to Ed and Oscar! (Senior cook and cook on the ship)

Alright folks, I hope you’ve had your fill (get it???). That’s it for now for Food on the New Horizon. Stay tuned for the next food related post with an interview from Chef Ed!