Food for thought
It is common for chefs working on board superyachts to be met with some unusual requests for the menu and sometimes personal beliefs come into conflict with what the guests demand for their dinner…
When the gourmet landscape on yachts can be comprised of anything from ‘foie gras’ to the more legally questionable shark fin, chefs can find themselves with a difficult decision to make. TCR speaks to two chefs who have worked on superyachts about the ethical dilemmas chefs are confronted with in the galley.
Chef Christina Topham explains that, “on a private yacht, you may have the opportunity to cook for a family that is in agreement with your stance on the subject.” However, culinary ethics can be a particularly difficult issue on charter yachts as, Topham says that, “you have been hired specifically to cater to the whims of the guests.”
On board, chefs have the freedom to gear the menu towards, and provision with their ethical stance in mind. But if the guests' requests are something you cannot or are unwilling to fulfill, then it’s best to step aside and give the job to someone who can. Topham points out that, “a chef might find themselves in Hawaii, where eating shark fin has recently been made illegal, and a guest has brought shark fin aboard and asked the chef to prepare it.”
In this case, Topham believes that it is best to adhere to the law and refuse the demand, rather than risk prosecution. “I wouldn’t refuse directly to the guest, but have an honest discussion with the captain about the fact that the ingredient has been illegally obtained and is illegal to prepare,” says Topham. However, Topham does believe that food ethics take on a totally different dimension in the yachting world, and chefs entering into it must realise that “you are catering to the tastes of a class of people who are not used to being told ‘no’ and you may find that you don’t have a job if you say “no” too often.”
Chef Manny Slomovits knows the industry’s ruthless attitude only too well. He acknowledges that working on yachts, chefs must “cook what the guests want to eat and any other issues can go out the window.”
Slomovits believes that, “any animal on the planet could be cooked and eaten, be it an elephant, panda or even a white tiger, but the most important thing is that the produce is treated with respect an not wasted.”
“I am a chef who enjoys exploring his craft,” says Slomovits. “One thing I know about culinary ethics is to treat your ingredients with the utmost respect and care. Let’s take a live lobster, for example. If you are the type of chef who does not think about the process of getting that lobster from sea to table then you are probably the type of chef who overcooks it, wasting its life for nothing. That is culinary ethics at its worst. To cook something and end up throwing it in the garbage because you were not paying attention, in my view, is the most unethical thing a chef can do.”
The message from these two industry professionals for other chefs is that next time someone asks you to cook something you don’t agree with, you have two choices: pack up your knives and head home or suck it up and make the best of a tricky situation. On yachts, there is no real way out of cooking something that is ethically questionable; the private chefs on board are hired for a reason.
Chef Christina Topham explains that, “on a private yacht, you may have the opportunity to cook for a family that is in agreement with your stance on the subject.” However, culinary ethics can be a particularly difficult issue on charter yachts as, Topham says that, “you have been hired specifically to cater to the whims of the guests.”
On board, chefs have the freedom to gear the menu towards, and provision with their ethical stance in mind. But if the guests' requests are something you cannot or are unwilling to fulfill, then it’s best to step aside and give the job to someone who can. Topham points out that, “a chef might find themselves in Hawaii, where eating shark fin has recently been made illegal, and a guest has brought shark fin aboard and asked the chef to prepare it.”
On board, chefs have the freedom to gear the menu towards, and provision with their ethical stance in mind. But if the guests' requests are something you cannot or are unwilling to fulfill, then it’s best to step aside and give the job to someone who can.
In this case, Topham believes that it is best to adhere to the law and refuse the demand, rather than risk prosecution. “I wouldn’t refuse directly to the guest, but have an honest discussion with the captain about the fact that the ingredient has been illegally obtained and is illegal to prepare,” says Topham. However, Topham does believe that food ethics take on a totally different dimension in the yachting world, and chefs entering into it must realise that “you are catering to the tastes of a class of people who are not used to being told ‘no’ and you may find that you don’t have a job if you say “no” too often.”
Chef Manny Slomovits knows the industry’s ruthless attitude only too well. He acknowledges that working on yachts, chefs must “cook what the guests want to eat and any other issues can go out the window.”
Slomovits believes that, “any animal on the planet could be cooked and eaten, be it an elephant, panda or even a white tiger, but the most important thing is that the produce is treated with respect an not wasted.”
“I am a chef who enjoys exploring his craft,” says Slomovits. “One thing I know about culinary ethics is to treat your ingredients with the utmost respect and care. Let’s take a live lobster, for example. If you are the type of chef who does not think about the process of getting that lobster from sea to table then you are probably the type of chef who overcooks it, wasting its life for nothing. That is culinary ethics at its worst. To cook something and end up throwing it in the garbage because you were not paying attention, in my view, is the most unethical thing a chef can do.”
The message from these two industry professionals for other chefs is that next time someone asks you to cook something you don’t agree with, you have two choices: pack up your knives and head home or suck it up and make the best of a tricky situation. On yachts, there is no real way out of cooking something that is ethically questionable; the private chefs on board are hired for a reason.
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