The first thing you learn about life aboard Ship is that the days aren't endless and indeed there is not enough time to do half of what you’d like to do. On this particular day at sea, Sam made room for a tour of the kitchens to see what’s really behind all the production in the La Fontaine Dining Room and Lido Restaurant. It turns out – quite a bit!
How many ways can you fold a napkin? (Mary missed the seminar on that so we’ll never know.) We can think of two or three …. Well, Holland America has many more – and a name for each. They not only have training facilities for the crew in Indonesia and the Philippines, but apparently onboard classes with pop quizzes about food to make sure their wait staff can answer most passenger questions. The service staff aboard the Amsterdam consists of no less than 115 individuals,
including 36 Dining Room Stewards, 28 Assistants, and nine Wine Stewards! (This is slightly greater who staff the kitchen.) Think of it, over 200 people dealing with food ALONE aboard the vessel.Separate dishwashers handle china and glass, and garbage is sorted into separate color-coded bins – all this by 21 General Purpose Attendants. This team also deals with pot washing and with the general cleanliness of the galley, which almost looks like you could eat off the floor on our visit. If you are used to the general sloppy state of American dining, you will not fail to be impressed by the Amsterdam's
kitchens!All this is done handling almost incredible quantities of food – in the case of an average week, over 18,000 eggs are consumed, 1,175 pounds of butter and margarine, 12,500 pounds of fresh vegetables, 8,500 of meat (and 200 gallons of ice cream)! Those aren’t small potatoes.
A “Saladier”
is in charge of salad preparations in the Cold Kitchen. Sam had never heard of the term, which sounds like something out of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, but apparently you call ‘em. The Pastry Shop has a chef and six assistants – when we passed through, they were “rolling in dough” – at least up to their elbows! They take care of everything from bread and rolls to much more elaborate preparations for the Dessert Extravaganza or the Royal Dutch High Tea.And that’s not even to mention the “Poissonier,” “Saucier,”
or “Soup Cook,” each responsible for their own specialty. (Soups, by-the-by, are made in 80 gallon pans.) A team of chefs works each steam table, making the meals, and presenting the dishes which your stewards bring out into the Dining Room to your table. Perhaps it can be Hell’s Kitchen, but on the afternoon we visited, things were as clean as crisp as an exercise at a military review, and food stuffs well away from tempted fingers!In short, the kitchens are as organized as an army to supply passengers and crew with their next “marching rations.” Even seen it largely “at ease” provided a wonderful insight into what helps the Amsterdam tick. “Can I have an ice cream now?” (“Could you make that two …?”).
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