Have you ever thought about what life would be like if you got the chance to live your life’s true passions every day?
We got the fantastic opportunity to chat with Chef Catherine Schmuck about her two passions – sailing and cooking. Chef Schmuck is extremely popular online, especially on Facebook where her followers know her as the “Ship to Shore Chef” or simply the amazing Chef who shares her adventures cooking and sailing on the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and across Atlantic Canada onboard cargo ships.
“And I had to go back because I loved it so much!”
“I love making something that somebody is going to receive and enjoy.”
“Yes you are gone, but there are means through which you can stay connected using the internet.”
It does take an adjustment, but I am a very independent person, and I can amuse myself. I love working on my laptop, I am not a big reader, but I have a passion and really enjoy writing – I wrote a lot of my cookbook on the ship. I love to walk on deck and enjoy the scenery.
“My goal is for them to feel like they are eating at a different restaurant every day.”
I took all my favourite recipes – everything I make for the crew – so over 200 recipes, and I put them in the cookbook. It is 280 pages long, with full-colour photos, stories about sailing, and many pictures of ships. The majority of the photos were taken on board the vessel, i.e. plates I had prepared for the crew. For years my customers at my previous restaurant “Crêperie Catherine,” told me how I should write a book, and that’s how it came about. I taught myself how to use Adobe InDesign, put it through the printer and that’s how the book got published. The book is sold online at www.shiptoshorechef.com.
On a ship, you can have a few hours when there are no interruptions, and it’s all about you and your thoughts or your video games or your movies. There is also the whole aspect of “Look out through your window!” because you are on the lake, and it is beautiful out there. When I look back at when I was younger, it was those same blocks of time and the earnings that we made that allowed my sister and me to travel to Europe, Hawaii, and Spain, amongst others.
“I think it is an amazing career choice, and it is ever-changing, adventurous, and simply ticks so many boxes.”
Interested in how to become a Chef on board a vessel? Find out more here.
Chef Cook Schmuck happily shared with us one of her famous recipes for you all to try!
I love this soup and it is a crew favourite on the ship. This soup is really easy, and you don’t have to use a broth, you can get a lot of flavour from the sausages.
- 4 of your favourite Italian sausages (I like to use hot Roma)
- 1 onion diced
- ½ - ⅔ cup pearl barley (depends if you like it really thick with barley, I like it thick)
- 6 litres of liquid. Water or chicken broth if you like.
- A couple of large handfuls of Spinach at the end after the barley has cooked.
Remove the sausage from the casing, I usually squeeze the sausage out at one end and make little freeform meatballs as I go. Cook in your soup pot. Once the sausage is cooked remove and drain the grease, depends on your sausage, I find the Roma don’t need to be drained. Return the cooked, drained sausage to the pot and add the diced onions. I also add the barley and stir for a few minutes, there is enough grease from the sausage to kind of sauté it all together. After a couple of minutes add the water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then back to a simmer. This soup does fine on its own, the barley takes a while to cook. Check around two hours to see if the barley is ready. Add the raw spinach and let it wilt, it won’t take long. Check your seasoning. If you use chicken broth, it should be fine but if you use water you may want to add some adobo or dry chicken soup base.
