Silversea Cruises offers Slow Food Cruise Tours in Tuscany

Foodies sailing on Silversea Cruises are in for a treat. The luxury cruise line is offering a three-night sojourn into the Tuscan countryside for a pre or post cruise experience celebrating Slow Food.

Castello Banfi vineyard estate in Montalcino, Tuscany

For those not familiar with the Slow Food concept, it is a culinary movement that aims to bring food to consumers that is locally grown and close to source.  The Slow Food movement  aims to promote sustainable foods while promoting  local small businesses. Darius Mehta, Silversea’s vice president of air and land programs sees this tour as a “an excellent opportunity for foodies and travelers alike to discover the beauty, food, tradition and culture of Tuscany, while also gaining greater insight into the principles of the Slow Food movement.”

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Foodies sailing on Silversea Cruises are in for a treat. The luxury cruise line is offering a three-night sojourn into the Tuscan countryside for a pre or post cruise experience celebrating Slow Food.

Highlights of the 3-day Slow Food tour in the Brunello region of Tuscany include:

• Three nights lodging at Il Borgo, Castello
• Cooking class, where participants will learn to prepare typical Tuscan specialties with the help of Silversea’s own culinary team
• In-depth tour of the Castello Banfi winery
• A full-day tour of Slow Food-recommended vineyards, olive groves, farms or other traditional food-producing operations in and around Bolgheri

Priced from $3,599 per guest (based on double occupancy), the Slow Food tour is offered as a pre-cruise option on Silver Wind’s April 30 voyage (#2212), Rome to Venice, and Silver Spirit’s October 22 sailing (#5233) from Rome to Barcelona. It’s also available as a post-cruise option on Silver Wind’s April 17 voyage (#2210), Barcelona to Rome.

Cruise line desserts, just in time for the holidays

You don’t have to wait until your next cruise before you indulge in your favorite cruise line dessert . We have come up with our two favorites, just in time for the holidays.

Apple Cranberry Tart

Apple Cranberry Tart. Photo from Viking River Cruises.

From our friends at Viking River Cruises, this dessert is perfect for the holidays.

Ingredients:

• One unbaked, room-temperature 9-inch tart shell
• One roll (about 7 ounces) almond paste
• One cup fresh cranberries
• Five medium-sized apples (preferably Macintosh), peeled and sliced to make approximately 5 cups
• A quarter cup sugar
• One teaspoon cinnamon
• A half cup uncooked oats
• A half cup all-purpose flour
• A half cup brown sugar
• Six tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold or frozen
• A quarter cup sliced almonds
• Vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Flatten almond paste on a sheet of wax paper with a rolling pin, to form an 8-inch circle. Press almond circle into the bottom of the unbaked tart shell. In a bowl, combine cranberries, apples, sugar and a half teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour on top of almond circle, into tart shell. In a bowl, combine the remaining cinnamon, oats, flour and brown sugar. Cut butter into very small pieces and stir into cinnamon mixture until crumbs form. Spoon crumb mixture evenly over the top of the apple mixture. Bake 50-60 minutes. Sprinkle with sliced almonds during the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Viking River Cruises has a vast collection of other recipees on their website, make sure to take a peek if you want some more inspiration.

Carnival Cruise Line’s  Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Photo from Carnival Cruise Line Facebook page.

• 8 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 7 eggs, divided use
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt chocolate and butter; cool 10 minutes.
In separate bowl, mix four eggs with sugar. Whisk.
Add flour and whisk.
Add remaining three eggs.
Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture.
Pour in individual ramekins.
Bake until just done, about 15-20 minutes (interior will be melting).

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Culinary Enrichment at Sea

The Relais & Châteaux cooking school at sea offered on my 12 day Silversea Cruises voyage in China has been quite informative. Yesterday our visiting L’Ecole des Chefs culinary expert gave a fantastic culinary demonstration featuring Asian Style Salmon with Stir Fried Cabbage. In addition we had a lesson in making Asian-styled veal dumplings.

Veal dumpling making.

The Relais & Châteaux cooking school is designed exclusively for Silversea by Relais & Châteaux and hosted by Silversea’s Culinary Trainer, Chef David Bilsland.

Executive Chef David Bilsland has worked at top top establishments in the UK, including the Waldorf Hotel, Langans Brasserie and Stringfellows

Chef David used bamboo, eggplant, and local dumpling wrappers that he purchased in Shanghai with some guests that choose to shop with the chef.

Slicing the salmon to insert fresh pickled ginger.

Chef David, who has worked with Silversea since March 2007, is fun to watch and a wonderful teacher. Chef David is knowledgeable yet he is able to convey complex cooking technique to guests in a manner that is easy to understand. I am hoping to replicate what I learned when I get home, which should be easy since I have a recipe card and detailed instructions, thanks to Chef.

Market to Plate: showing bamboo that was purchased in a local Shanghai food market.

Chef David was educated in classical French cooking at Thames Valley University, completing advanced Chef Diplomas in both Cuisine and Patisserie.

Happening Now

• Going ashore with Silversea Cruises: Jiangyin, China on the Yangtze River
• Going ashore with Silversea Cruises: The water town of Zhujiajiao
• Photo recap of Shanghai’s top sites
• Exploring ashore with Silversea Cruises in Qingdao, China
• Qingdao China cruise port overview
• Pre cruise photo recap: 24 hours in Seoul, South Korea
• Cruise Review Silversea Cruises Voyage 3126

In celebration of Bastille day …

Let them eat cake, drink some wine, and think about France because it’s Bastille day! Thank you France for your wonderful contributions to culture, world history, the arts, viticulture, and cuisine.

The Tweet that inspired the post:

Although the reason for Bastille day is not so fun to think about, the banks of the Seine on a river cruise or a day in port at one of the glorious Meditreran ports that are frequented by the cruise ships is good mind-candy.

A pre or post trip to Paris is a must

Try to schedule your time in France away from the busy summer months. Spring and fall are great seasons to visit the capital city;  the weather is mild and the crowds are less than a visitor will encounter during peak periods.

France, located in western European, stretches from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, from the Rhine River to the Atlantic Ocean. Because of the proximity to lots of water, a cruise around France is a great use of vacation resources.

River cruisers have discovered wonderful itineraries floating through France via the Rhône, Saône, and Seine.

Villefranche walking to Nice from port

Cruising around France

A cruise around France  will invite visitors to explore  varied landscapes, cities, and towns that make France a #1 tourist destination.  Discover Burgundy and Provence on a river cruise or pull into port along one of the towns of the Med or Atlantic.

Qsine on Celebrity Cruises dishes up some of the best food at sea – where cruising means “good eats.”

A food review about Celebrity Cruises Eclipse

Cruisers will find the Qsine restaurant  on Celebrity Eclipse, the third of five ships in Celebrity’s $3.7-billion Solstice Class fleet.

Qsine is under the supervision of Jacques Van Staden, Celebrity’s vice president of culinary operations since 2007.  The speciatly Qsine restaurant has space for up to  82 cruise guests.

Tasty bites served on Celebrity Eclipse. Photo by Gary Bembridge via Flickr.

Good eats

My favorite: Sushipops

To see these amazing sushipops come to life, check out the Drink Eat Travel website.

Any good party deserves sushipops Photo by DrinkEatTravel.com

How to make a Sushipop (btw, this is not the official Celebrity Cruises recipe).

Nigiri Sushi, Soy Center, Wasabi Mayo & Pickled Ginger-Radish Salad sides.

Celebrity Cruises serves the pops on a tray with a condiment bottle of wasabi mayo and two small glass fishbowls with pickled ginger and a radish salad.

Use any fresh sushi-grade fish that you like,  skewer and serve.

Nagiri Sushi is the style of sushi that has a piece of fish on top of sushi rice. Between the piece of fish and rice place a dab of wasabi and then place, wasabi side down, on top of the rice.

Traditional Roll: 2-3 oz of sushi rice flattened  on a sheet of nori (dried seaweed); fill with finely diced cucumber (maybe avocado) then roll; cut into pieces. You can improvise on the ingredients if you want.

More menu items

(from Celebrity Cruises specialty dining pages on their website.)

• Vegetable du “Jatour” – Carrot-Cardamom, Broccoli-Cheddar, Sweet Potato-Raisin, Spinach-Garlic Cauliflower-Apple, Parsnip-Shallot, Potato-Truffle, Green Pea- Mint Eggplant-Tomato & Olive, Creamed Corn & Chive.
• Spring Rolls – Baby Back Spring Rolls & Chipotle Coleslaw White Truffle BBQ Sauce. Or. Vegetable Melange, Cilantro, Chipotle Coleslaw Sweet & Sour Sauce
• Tresviche – Tiger Shrimp & Bay Scallops – lemon juice, tequila, cilantro, tomato & jalapeno oil Salmon, yuzu citrus, cucumber, vodka & basil Sea Bass ? lime, red onion, choclo, avocado & exvoo.
• Gaufrettes – French Fries – Sweet Potato Strings Vegetable Chips – Potato Croquettes, Spicy Parsnip Crisps “Squeezable Sauces.”
• Slider Party - Grilled Kobe beef patties, aged Wisconsin cheddar, “Qsine slider sauce” Brioche buns and garnishes.
• Taco Royale -Black Angus Sirloin Steak - home made Tacos Caramelized Onion-Poblano, Cilantro & Mortar Pestle Guacamole.
• Salmon Cataplana “Style” - with Saffron Broth, Tomato Ravioli Chorizo Sausage, Garlic Confit, Fennel & Leeks.
• Lava Crab - Alaskan King Crab - Sweet yellow corn & scallions Kataifi with Old-bay lobster sauce.
• Disco Shrimp -   Poached Tiger Shrimp. Avocado, Tomato & Celery Dressed in a Cocktail Aioli…Crunchy toppings.
• Mixed Olives – Tzatziki – Eggplant Imambiyaldi Tabbouleh – Hummus – Chicken Kofta – Zathaar Lamb Chops – Kibbeh Mediterranean Chili – Falafel – Goat Cheese Cigars.
• Tikka Masala - Rogan josh – palak paneer – malai kofte – chole, veggie samousa – shrimp vindaloo.
• Persian Kebob -  Skewered Chicken breast - Garlic and spices with Vegetables, Saffron Rice-Pilaf & Tooni Sauce.
• Fresh Market Salad - With Arugula, Radicchio Frisee, Watercress, Spinach, Pomegranate Emulsion Crispy Goat Cheese Crumble.
• “The Cupcake Affair” - Red Velvet & Vanilla Cupcakes with playful garnishes
• “Chocolate Tombstone” - Layered Ganache, Nutella, Rice Crispies & More Chocolate
• Beignets – Doughnuts – Fritters
• “Cheesecake Tini” - Graham Crakcer Cookies & Berries