A few days ago I made a blog post titled New York to Madagascar (Nosy Be) What an Adventure! The entire reason for my flying to the other side of the world was because I was hired for the Italian chef position on a luxury cruise line. The ship would be docked off the coast of Madagascar the day after my arrival to the island. That’s how I was able to take a couple of videos of a private beach on Nosy Be on a picture-perfect summer morning in Madagascar. These videos you’ll be able to see by clicking the link above.
Beach and Weather
Let’s talk about the beautiful day on the beach for a moment. My flight from New York (JFK) was delayed for four days due to a winter snowstorm that blanketed the area and then freezing cold temperatures set in. When I was finally able to leave for the airport it was still a bone-chilling day, but the roads and airports were okay. New York is in the northern hemisphere where it was wintertime. Madagascar, however, is in the southern hemisphere where they were enjoying SUMMER! So, the four days set back was still okay since I was flying to a part of the world that was warm and sunny.
Pasta Extrusion
The video below is a quick clip of the pasta extruder I worked on every day. In the mornings after our 7:30 am group chef’s meeting, I would begin this work. It took about 1-2 hours of time every day.
While I was cutting and extruding all kinds of pasta my kitchen staff were getting ready for the lunch rush. Cooking and a chef’s career is driven by a great passion for the culinary arts.
Cruise ships are similar to hotels in that nearly every form of culinary art can be found onboard. Including pasta extrusion and pasta making from scratch. So, after a strong double espresso, this was the kickoff to my long days at sea. Only one correction. This pasta extruder cost about 15,000 euros. The 50,000 euro one was on another ship in the fleet.