2023 Cruise -- Day 2

I'm here on the boat as a presenter, talking about what my department and I do. On Day 2 I fulfilled my prime directive, giving two presentations. I had a lot of competition from other activities on ship. The presentations went off smoothly, with feedback from mrguy helping me slow my pace and not rehearse so much. These were the best presentations I've given. Too bad not that many people saw them. But those who did were engaged and enthusiastic. They gave me great questions, they oohed and ahhed at the stories I told. They approached me later to tell me how much they enjoyed what I shared, and told me what a great storyteller I am. That means a lot.

We had decided to celebrate the presentations with a fancy dinner with a tasting menu. I have paid only slightly more for a car than that meal, but it was one of the best I have ever had. Each dish was filled with surprises in flavor or texture. And I sprung for the black truffle service. This could have ruined the whole meal for me, because I think I hate truffles, but I had visions of our server shaving this thing dramatically over my entree and I wanted that experience. Good news, bad news. Bad news is that my truffle was pre-shaved. Good news is that I learned that I like black truffle. It was subtle, not like the palate-obliterating flavor that I've come to identify with truffle and (urp) shiitake.

The downside of a tasting menu is that the structure set forth with restaurants like French Laundry is to add so many unexpected courses that by the end of the meal you feel like Mr. Creosote. And they send you home with more treats to remind you of your experience. Your very very filling experience. I slept on the sofa, propped up with many pillows so that my reflux didn't make me want to die. In order:

They showed us some fancy wines on the way into the dining room.

Our amuse bouche was one whisper-thin wafer containing a fois gras mousse / foam. The other contained Comte cheese. I didn't know that a medium bodied cheese could have that much flavor. 

A plate with a little indentation containing a layer of pureed spinach with lemongrass and a layer of parsnip foam, topped by a crisp wafer. You're supposed to use the back of your spoon to crack the cracker, (as you would the sugar on a creme brulee) but what actually happened was I gave it a tap and it squirted the purees out the side. But it was beyond delicious.

And some fish which was...not toothfish. There were two tasting menus that night. One was American, and had lamb, beef and some other ungulate courses. And from the sea there was toothfish. Our waiter very much wanted us to try the toothfish, but we don't eat most of the things on the American menu, so we we went for the toothless French menu.

We had a mix of cooked and uncooked beets, grown in the French chef's garden in Ohio. On top of some delicious schmoo. Which begs the question -- how did the French chef's beets from the Buckeye State get onto my plate in the middle of the Caribbean? Another of life's culinary mysteries, I guess.

Then, tasty foam with thinly sliced carrots, baby onions and cooked carrots that were teensy, like for a mouse. I kept picking up these cute vegetables with my fork and showing them to mrguy, like they were adorable baby animals, which I then ate. I can't recall. Were they on the sous-vide chicken dish? The one that was one of the best pieces of chicken I ever ate? Perhaps. But by then I was getting so full. For me, this is where the fun ended. Were there four dessert courses? Amazing and beautiful tiny chocolates, bursting with flavored gooey insides. Wine gums. And when we were asked if we were celebrating (and we said we were celebrating my presentation) they brought out a giant chrome egg whose top was lifted to reveal "Felicitations!!" written in gold chocolate on a gold chocolate wafer. So beautiful. They whisked it away and returned with a mini chrome egg which contained more sweet delights, alongside a cake that was only an inch or so high but contained many layers of delicious wonderment underneath a delicate layer of chocolate.

They sent us home with more chocolates and some lollipops (cassis and passionfruit?). Like I said -- sleeping on the sofa helped. And it was worth it.