5 recipes for cooking on a boat: becoming a chef is easy

What to cook on a boat? If we’ve never done it before, the job of cooking on a boat can be daunting. But in reality its easier that we think: just a few tricks are enough to be able to cook delicious and healthy dishes onboard, just like we can at home. Both at sea, or if we choose to sleep on a boat in a bed and boat stay.

Its important to know how to organise yourself, starting with the shopping. Be careful not to overdo it when filling the galley: its better to do the shopping more often, in order to always have fresh food. And then the quality of the food: if we’ve decided to rent a boat for a private cruise, the stop in port is an opportunity to discover the typical products of the area. 

Pay attention to the equipment as well: obviously it will be less than what we have at home, but just check that you have the most important utensils available, such as pots and pans. And let’s not forget the most important tool: some imagination and the desire to discover, which allows us to experiment with new tastes.

Cooking on a boat: cous cous with vegetables

Here is quick and tasty starter, also perfect as an aperitif. After having cooked the cous cous, we transfer it to a bowl that is big enough to contain all the other ingredients. These are: finely chopped Tropea onions, peppers cut into chunks, black olives, basil, parsley, mint, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. We mix everything together and the cous cous is ready.

5 recipes for cooking on a boat: penne pasta with chickpeas

A light but tasty main dish: chickpeas with ‘pecorino romano’ cheese are the perfect ingredients. While we fry oil, garlic and a little chilli in a pan, we boil a pan of water and add the penne.  We add some tomatoes (ripe ‘pachino’ if possible) to the sautée, well-drained chickpeas and a little chopped rosemary. If the sauce has dried out too much, just add a ladle of the pasta water.  When the pasta is ‘al dente’, drain it and add seasoning.  Some grated ‘pecorino romano’ completes the dish. 

What to cook on a boat: poached sea bream

Fresh fish is perfect for preparing a light and tasty meal. Here we have chosen sea bream, but also sea bass and grouper are perfect for poaching. And this can be done with just in an ordinary pan, you don’t need to use the oven. After cleaning the fish, we place it in a high-edged non-stick pan, to which we have already added some extra virgin olive oil.

We add some cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters, chopped parsley and a clove of garlic, then half a cup of water and half a cup of dry white wine.  It needs to be covered and cooked on a low flame for around 20 minutes: obviously adjusting the time according to the size of the fish. When its ready, we can serve the sea bream fillets with the tomato sauce.

5 recipes for cooking on a boat: Club Sandwich

For a quick lunch on deck, there is nothing better than a sandwich. A Club Sandwich is perfect: rich and fresh, with the ingredients arranged in a precise order. So, toasted and buttered bread smeared with mayonnaise, a lettuce leaf, a slice of roast turkey, toasted bacon and slices of tomato and another slice of toasted bread to finish. Add the other layers following the same order.

And to drink?

Sipping an aperitif on the deck at sunset? A feeling that only a boat holiday can give you. And an Aperol Spritz is the perfect cocktail: put some ice cubes in a glass of white wine and add Aperol and Prosecco in the same quantities with a bit of sparkling water. Top it off with a slice of lemon: just mix with a spoon and our spritz is ready to enjoy.