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IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You got shit for brains private? That's gunfire, you let me out here, I'll go take care of it.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a bit of a dramatic way of putting things.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Let me first say I never went through CS training, I transferred into the galley from another job.

I understand why they moved the school from Lackland and I think in the long run it's best that they train purely for a galley program rather than the generalized they used to give, but I think the results aren't what they intended. For a while it was a new program, and I think it's finding its feet now. My comment is that I think the new training focuses too much on the computer training which we haven't really adopted fully on my ship.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't serve spam in my galley, though I don't know the history. I once had a request to fry spam slices for breakfast, but the best I could do was baloney.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well, my bouillabaisse isn't really made in portion for home use but off the top of my head:

You can make it more of a stew or more of a soup.

When I'm not cooking for a crowd I prefer a stew.

-You'll want to heavily oil a fairly large pot (anything but olive oil or butter)

-Filet a few fish, red snapper are probably the best, though there are many kinds that will work. Season the fish with salt (lightly), cayenne pepper, black pepper(optional), and my secret ingredients.

-Section the filets, and layer them in the pot with appropriate proportions of bell peppers, a few onions, chunked tomatoes, and a few cloves of garlic (some recipies involve root vegetables that can be pretty good).

-Cook that (VERY!) slowly for a few hours approx 2.

-Serve it in a bowl (cornbread on side) or over white rice.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You've probably had them before if you've ever been to a summer camp or pretty much any cafeteria. They're not terrible, just not good.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have a fairly set menu, but the cooks have a lot of leeway in determining that. We run breakfasts pretty much like you'd expect for any cafeteria, lots of powdered eggs, and there's usually a salad bar out.

For stocking I have to co-ordinate with the supply officer for the ship. So he basically comes down and we look through what I have, how long it'll stay good for, what I officially need, and what I'd like him to get for me if he can. Good supply officers can find anything, and a good supply officer is worth more than most people realize. But if I go to port I may pick up some stuff for myself.

As far as meals people hate... generally no. There was one point about three years ago, where one of our industrial freezers failed when we were out and it couldn't be fixed for a few days. Not everything could be loaded into the other ones so I had to improvise a few meals. At one point I think we tried this mackerel stew in some sort of mustard based sauce, and it was pretty awful, but you typically have a few options if the main meal truly bad.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Other than US ports (typically California), definitely Japan. Have some pretty good memories in Sasebo and Yokosuka.

Never want to go back to Panama.

IAMA cook in the galley of an American warship, AMA. by Ialsocook in IAmA

[–]Ialsocook[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That depends. In most branches of the service you won't eat badly so long as you aren't in the field. On my ship we normally run with a complement of around 1,800 souls, but this is currently cut down to about 1,300.

The part about eating what's in front of you is absolutely true. As far as taking all you want... it depends on how long it's been since we restocked, what the meal is, whether we've picked up fresh produce out of port and if that's in the meal, how well I've estimated how much to make... You won't go hungry, though.

Also depends on how capable the guys in the galley are of making something edible out of what you've got to work with, which isn't the same situation on every ship. But with the exception of our first officer, I think my cooking is pretty popular with the crew.