Celebrity Cruise Line proudly presents Chef Franco Lania as their “VIP Guest Chef” on-board the Silhouette. This world cruise leaves from the port of Bayonne, N.J. and heads to Lisbon, Portugal. Stay tuned at www.francolania.com for all updates, recipes, video and pictures from this once in a lifetime sea adventure!
Some of the hardest working men and women I have ever worked with were the ones I worked with at sea. “Culinary Arts” at sea is a whole different ball game than on land. It is a multi-billion dollar a year industry that keeps growing. Jobs and employment opportunities are plentiful, especially for those in the hotel and restaurant industry.
Gastronomy is a way of life in Creole cultures, Reunion Island,in the Indian Ocean being no different. The pride of the cuisine is held dear in the timely culinary secrets passed down from generation to generation. The cuisine here is very aromatic. A plethora of races and nationalities has contributed to the integration of cuisines from India, China, France, Madagascar and the African mainland making the local food, interesting and exotic. I was fortunate to have gone to an outdoor food market while on my visit to the island. My insight is shared in this post.
Nosy Be is about 5 miles off the coast of Madagascar. It is called by the locals “Perfume Island” because of the beautiful fragrances of the island’s exotic ylang-ylang, vanilla beans, and pepper trees.
“As a chef , when one mentions Madagascar, I automatically think of vanilla beans.”Vanilla Beans” of Madagascar are cherished around the world as quite simply the very best. In my experiences as a chef…these beans are usually horded away and locked down in the chef’s office and rationed out…to the cooks in very controlled amounts because of the simple fact that these beans are extremely expensive.
“Follow Franco” on a winter cruise. Starting off at the island of Mauritius, in the south-west region of the Indian Ocean. The tour will end in the far reaches of the Mediterranean in mid-summer, 2011.
Franco, will share the daily life activities as a chef on board one of the world’s finest luxury cruise lines as he cooks and lives at sea. To: “Follow Franco” find him on facebook or twitter under the name Chef Franco Lania, and his blog | www.francolania.com