WHY Indian Food ?

[cruisinnancy]

I honestly didn't realize cruises offered this much Indian food, I haven't been on one in four years so I guess things must have changed. I'm actually excited for my cruise even more now, I LOVE Indian food and so does DH and my toddlers.

[capncarp]

Originally Posted by cruisinnancy

I honestly didn't realize cruises offered this much Indian food, I haven't been on one in four years so I guess things must have changed. I'm actually excited for my cruise even more now, I LOVE Indian food and so does DH and my toddlers.

Speaking of toddlers, when he was still a very small child, my godson, who is purely Anglo-Saxon/Nordic, fair skin, blond hair, used to eat with us in any exotic restaurant we went to; at one point he was eating coriander chutney, licking it off a pappadum (think a potato chip made out of spiced lentil flour) like the stuffing off of an Oreo. Surprised the hell out of the waiter.

[we're sailing away....]

I liove it ...

[OarToOar]

One reason that has yet to be mentioned is that simply put Indian Food is perfect for Buffets, unlike Chinese, American, italian, etc cuisine, most indian dishes not only can be left to simmer on the side without the food being negatively affected, but it actuially improves the food itself.

When cook curries at home i leave it to simmer for a couple of hours before serving to improve the flavour. Can you imagine doing the same to Burgers or Pizza?

[Rawz]

Originally Posted by LK0806

... Very delicious and very british! ...

Those two words go on the same sentence?!

Sorry, just had to jump on that one ... carry on ...

[iluvsunandsand]

Originally Posted by block

Please save the daggers.

What is it with the Indian food on the buffets? Our last cruise had it on the tables for lunch almost everyday. Sorry It's nasty ! We were on Carnival for 5 days. I can understand one day. But 4 out of 5 Come on! And it looks like NCL also has it on there buffet. I just can't take another cruise filled with Curry ...I hope they don't serve in morning noon and night.

Am I the only one who doesn't like it ??
Please tell me I will only see it 1 day on my next trip? (ncl-jewel)

to each his own, no one is forced to eat anything,
it's nice to have flavorful options and not just the typical burger and greasy fries or fatty battered/breaded dishes.

[capncarp]

Originally Posted by iluvsunandsand

to each his own, no one is forced to eat anything,
it's nice to have flavorful options and not just the typical burger and greasy fries or fatty battered/breaded dishes.

But...I _love_ the typical burger and greasy fries and fatty battered/breaded dishes too!!!
BTW, Indian food is usually better the 2nd or third day, after the flavors have blossomed and saturated the food.

[cruising cockroach]

Spoke to a friend whose in-laws are currently on a HAL cruise with quite a few other couples. They're ethnic Indian and lifelong religious vegetarians to boot. Seems there's a selection of Indian food for them on the cruise (pacific coastal + Panama crossing).

[SouthernChef]

Why so much Indian food? Have you looked where a fair percentage of the F&B BOH (Back of House) staff are from? When tasked with coming up with a daily special, they are going to draw on where they are from. There are a lot of Indian and Bangladeshi in the Food and Beverage department, especially in the kitchens.

Also, note there there are a lot of Filipino staff in the FOH (Front of House) areas. There are many schools in the Philippines dedicated to teaching waiters and bartenders.

The cruise lines get well-trained but very cheap labor (by Western standards.) The employees send most of their money home. Not a lot different than many US restaurants with foreign-born labor in their kitchens.

[boopsahoy]

In my experience NCL always has an Indian food station in the buffet. I LOVE it! Its the first place I go when eating at the buffet. Its tasty, spicy and gives me a break from all the meat at the other meals. A lot of people dont like the smell of curry but I bet if they actually tasted it they would like it.

[Pack My Bags]

Been to Marrakesh restaurant at EPCOT and loved it too. You can almost always walk right in because many would rather go to Italy or China for something more "familiar." Marrakesh had the most amazzzing braised lamb shank I have EVER had (RCI should get the recipe) and thats coming from a GREEK home cook. They also had some wonderful other kabob entrees & appetizers. We loved the belly dancer & even bought goods & spices from the Moroccan gift shop.

FYI There are many different kinds of curries. Besides being a spice, a curry also means a "sauce" that may or may not contain curry in it. Curries are complex & FULL of flavor. Some are milder, sweeter, spicier, earthier, etc...

The prior suggestions from Indian food lovers are correct. Start simple with tandoori chicken with some grilled onions, naan pita bread (yum) & simple basmati rice. If you like greek tzatziki sauce you will like Indian raita. If you like sweet & sour sauce you will like mango chutney.

Spaghetti, Sloppy joes, nachos, tacos & chili are not sloppy foods? Those are so messy & are around every day in our lives. Just because it's not fried stuff covered with cheese, between a bun or served with fries & ketchup doesn't mean it won't be good.

Try something new.
You just might like it.

[avatheps]

I have been reading this thread about Indian food being offered on cruise ships and could not resist putting in my 2 cents worth of comments. I for one love Indian food. I was thrilled to learn that it will be available on my upcoming first cruise. I live in a rural small town and all there is around here is pizza, pasta, burgers and hot dogs. I want to do the entire cruise without ever seeing those things if I don't want to. Indian food or anything other than bland hometown type stuff will be on my plate whenever offered.

[Sea Hag]

We love nearly all Indian food.

[Oscarsgrandad]

Makes me laugh actually, all this tallk of 'ethnic' foods from different countries, how one person likes a whole nation of food and another hates all of the food from another country.

There are so many different things within any Nation's menu you can't dislike it all unless you've tried it all.
I've fortunately travelled world-wide over the years, enjoy curries immensely but not from many restaurants at home in England - I often find the curry flavour here is too intense, replacing subtle flavours with more 'heat' inducing spices sometimes so hot it's pointless trying to enjoy it.

Same with Chinese food, the country is so vast that the regional variations means saying 'I don't like Chinese/Indian/Nepali food' or any other nations food just makes you look ignorant.

[Bookish Angel]

It is not "ignorant" to dislike what one HAS tried; that is a matter of personal taste, not a measure of mental acuity or awareness.

[Swath]

On my 18/Nov/2012 cruise on Allure we arranged to Indian food in addition to Our MDR Orders foe 3 nights, the Indian food was GOOD for a change.

[WarumistdieBananekrumm]

Originally Posted by block

What is it with the Indian food on the buffets?

it a l w a y s has flavor ............

[trident777]

Originally Posted by block

What is it with the Indian food on the buffets? Our last cruise had it on the tables for lunch almost everyday. Sorry It's nasty !

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Indian food so I am not complaining They had a good amount of Indian food on my Celebrity cruise as well but then they did have other cuisine types too.

I think overall Indian food is popular which is obviously why they have it, I think it also has something to do with the fact that there are a lot of Indian crew and hence Indian chefs. The flavors can be too strong for some people but then that applies to Thai food as well.

[altiva]

It's fashionable right now. Before, it was sushi, sushi everywhere, the best, the healthiest. Now, it's Indian. The best, the healthiest, for vegetarians. Many other cuisines around the world has a lot of vegetarian dishes as well. So, why suddenly Indian?

[mailbroad]

Originally Posted by iheartbda

That makes many vegetarians very happy.

Yes! I love Indian food and lots of it is vegan!