Oceania Cruises are culinary and artistic adventures

Information: www.oceaniacruises.com, 855-623-2642.

RECIPE

Oceania Cruises’ Executive Chef Kathryn Kelly and Chef Instructor Kellie Evans compiled some of The Culinary Center’s favorite recipes in a cookbook collection that is available onboard for purchase.

TRADITIONAL ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE

—Ingredients

3 cups canned whole tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon oregano leaves, minced

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

—Preparation

Place all ingredients except the salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse mixture until well blended but not pureed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Food that is edible art and art that is a feast for the eyes — Oceania Cruises serves up both on its six luxury ships. Two programs in particular, Culinary Enrichment and Art Experiences, let passengers sink their teeth into different cultures through culinary and artistic adventures. In both cases, the “curriculum” is satisfying to the senses and enriching to the soul.

A TASTE OF THE CULTURE

At Oceania’s Culinary Center, the first hands-on cooking school at sea, passengers aboard Riviera and Marina can immerse themselves in the cuisine of a given culture by cooking dishes at their own well-equipped workstation and joining master chefs on a variety of Culinary Discovery Tours.

For instance, on Oceania’s Grecian Delights itinerary, you can see Corfu — or you can dive into the very heart of this enchanting island known for its proliferation of olive trees by visiting the local fresh market with your chef-guide. Smell the tomatoes, thump the watermelons and forage for ingredients for the cooking class that takes place in the state-of-the-art teaching kitchen once you return to the ship.

Lunch al fresco among the locals, sitting at one of dozens of tables set up outside eateries of every stripe in Corfu’s maze of crowded shopping streets. Treat your taste buds to a spicy fish stew and a real Greek salad (no iceberg lettuce here!) topped by a cake of delicious, crumbly feta.

“I design both tours and classes to bring authenticity to our guests — and a better understanding of where they are actually travelling,” said Executive Chef Kathryn Kelly. Kelly is the director of culinary enrichment for Oceania Cruises and the creative force behind the program that has morphed into a fan favorite among passengers.

“Most food is truly regional,” said Kelly. “For example, there isn’t really ‘Italian’ food; there are regions with very unique ingredients, techniques and recipes. We get more ‘granular,’ which celebrates the unique regional cuisines and wine where we travel.”

In addition to the market-to-table chef market tour and cooking class, Culinary Discovery Tour topics include the technique-driven, fish-focused What Mermaids Know; Viva Tapas; and Cretan Food & Wine with Farm-to-Table Lunch.

Dining aboard Oceania’s six ships — celebrated for having the “finest cuisine at sea” — is also a foodie adventure, and one that feels like going to your favorite special occasion restaurant. Of course, when you have thousands of pounds of foodstuffs being turned into culinary masterpieces by a 136-person team of cooks headed by Senior Executive Chef Alban Gjoka — maestro of all things gastronomy — you get very happy guests savoring every single mouthful of the meals they are served, to say nothing of afternoon tea, tapas, late night snacks and more.

Sample each of the restaurants (without paying an up-charge): Toscana’s for authentic Italian and Polo Grill, a clubby steakhouse (reservations required); the Terrace Café for American favorites and the Grand Dining Room for Continental cuisine (open seating). Riviera and Marina also offer Jacques Bistro with its French flair and fare and Asian-fusion-inspired Red Ginger, the most popular among passengers.

Additionally, aboard Riviera and Marina, guests may opt to dine privately at La Reserve by Wine Spectator and Privée. Each restaurant features distinctive, unrushed and impeccable service, style and epicurean savvy.

MEET THE ARTIST

Passengers have the opportunity to stretch their artistic muscles with Oceania’s Artist in Residence program, offered aboard Insignia, Marina and Riviera. Aboard the latter, W. Andre Allen, a self-taught artist and graduate of the Art Institute of America, is one of the artist-instructors. Hundreds of pieces of Allen’s complex and unique works on glass grace the walls of Oceania ships.

The artist offers workshops in the ship’s Artist Loft where guests learn about his artistic process, which includes painting on the “opposite” side of clear glass, a form he favors due to his dyslexia.

“The great thing about being an abstract artist with dyslexia is working backwards and seeing people’s interpretation,” said Allen. “Their vision is totally opposite of what I was putting across. It’s a great feeling to produce such work that is always viewed positively and never negatively.”

Students also create their own piece of art during a series of classes wherein Allen invites them to explore his drip technique and “capture their thoughts and emotions through color as it takes form through the unpredictable movement of water.”

Allen’s workshops offer passengers a platform for further appreciation of the art surrounding them, both on the ship and off. Oceania ships are floating art museums, exhibiting exquisite, multi-million dollar art collections that were hand-selected from around the world by the line’s founders, Frank Del Rio and Bob Binder.

The thousands of pieces span a number of eras and genres, from the etchings of Picasso and Expressionist works of Mariano Rodríguez to the elegant oil on canvas paintings of Paolo da San Lorenzo and Michal Zaborowski, whimsical blown glass of Beverly Albrets and brilliant still life imagery of Daniel Q. Adel.

According to Binder, the collectors selected pieces that are “bold and interesting, that make a statement, provoke conversation and inspire emotion, much like the ships themselves.”

And set the tone, mood and atmosphere to draw passengers in and open them up to the art to be discovered shore-side, from Santorini’s pretty blue-domed and white stone houses stepping up the mountainside in Greece to Alaska’s massive glaciers and mammoth wildlife, the canals and cathedrals of St. Petersburg in Russia, the lush rainforests and breathtaking volcanoes of Central America and more.

———

(Author and travel and lifestyle writer Kathy Witt feels you should never get to the end of your bucket list; there's just too much to see and do in the world. Contact her at KathyWitt24@gmail.com, @KathyWitt.)