By
Rebecca Gibson |
Oceania Cruises is to offer 20 new classes for the Culinary Centers onboard Marina and Riviera from April 2015.
In response to guest feedback, the Culinary Center will offer a special Culinary School Immersion Programme on select itineraries. The curriculum is designed to improve the skills of a home chef by focusing on the techniques for creating basic sauces, grilling, preparing vegetables and other culinary skills. The session will be spread over a morning and afternoon session and extends for two days, or four sessions in total.
At the end of the programme, teams of four guests will be paired together to prepare a dish that is judged by the faculty and executives from the shipboard culinary team. All participants will receive a certificate.
In collaboration with Chef Jacques Pépin, Oceania Cruises’ executive culinary director, Oceania Cruises will offer a two-day ‘La Technique: A Celebration of Jacques Pépin’s 80th Birthday’ session. Participants will explore various cooking techniques and recipes from Pépin’s books ‘La Technique’ and ‘Essential Pépin’. At the end of each class, guests will pose for a photo that will be incorporated into a birthday card for Chef Pépin.
Kathryn Kelly, chef and Oceania Cruises’ director of culinary enrichment, has developed each of the programmes.
“In our Culinary Center, guests cook under the instruction of faculty members who are CIA graduates and have apprenticed under a ‘who’s who’ of renowned chefs,” said Kelly. “We continue to add new topics to keep things fresh for past guests and this year we’re proud to honour our consummate teacher, Jacques Pepin, with a special class.”
Classes have also been added to the Gourmet Explorer Series, which showcases cooking styles from a variety of international destinations. Sessions will incorporate techniques and dishes inspired by the cultures and regions that the ships visit.