How much of the food on NCL is made fresh?

[Lido_Deck]

I don't know about pizza dough but I know when it comes to most chain restaurants - and many Mom and Pop restaurants - they order frozen bread and dinner roll dough from wholesalers like Pillsbury. I know because I toured a huge factory where all they do is make such dough for these restaurants and ship it all over the world. Again, I don't know what Norwegian or other cruise ships do specifically, but it certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility for them to make a smart business decision like this. It's cheaper and it tastes good.

 

I know because I spent half my life in the restaurant industry and small places simply can't afford to make their own dough from scratch.

[LakeWobegon]

Good points being made about sometimes fresher is cheaper. When it is, that's the route most businesses will take. When it isn't, they use marketing lingo like freshly baked when popping frozen cookie pucks in the oven. They were freshly baked just not made. Just like how the root beer at A&W is freshly made in the store as the sign says - by mixing carbonated water with the syrup dispenser. lol

 

 

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[goldmom]

Years ago we did a "behind the scenes tour", I believe on the Jewel. We had a very in depth tour of the galley areas. At that time the officer said that all proteins (meats, fish, chicken, etc) were all brought on frozen and that they had a special room for defrosting which he showed us. Apparently the room was able to thaw frozen food in such a way that you wouldn't be able to tell it was ever frozen. He said it was partly to insure consistency of quality fleet-wide and partly to preserve the items from going past there expiration date. I don't know if this is still the case, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. We found it all very interesting.

[detroitlions]

That might be the case for places like Dominos and Pizza Hut, and perhaps for other pizzerias where you live, but it certainly isn't true in New York City and its nearby suburbs.

 

 

Yea even little Caesars make the doe fresh. All the pizza places I go to make there own doe.

I would not eat it if it was pre made. Doe is not hard to make

[Loonbeam]

They have a similar setup on the Escape, so still in use. The only difference is the Escape said they load some larger cuts of meat for Cagney's fresh and butcher them on board, which they can do because of the fixed 7 day schedule and a dedicated storage area.

 

 

Years ago we did a "behind the scenes tour", I believe on the Jewel. We had a very in depth tour of the galley areas. At that time the officer said that all proteins (meats, fish, chicken, etc) were all brought on frozen and that they had a special room for defrosting which he showed us. Apparently the room was able to thaw frozen food in such a way that you wouldn't be able to tell it was ever frozen. He said it was partly to insure consistency of quality fleet-wide and partly to preserve the items from going past there expiration date. I don't know if this is still the case, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. We found it all very interesting.

[USNUZULOOSE]

What an exciting job! But being a taste tester I would be to full to ever eat a whole meal.:D

[Diane123boys]

As an amplification to my posts on the linked thread, the typical galley onboard will have the following spaces, that cater to all the galleys onboard by preparing the food before it goes to the main cooking and plating galleys.

 

Veg prep, meat prep, fish prep, cold buffet prep (salads), bakery, pastry, dessert. Each of these (except the bakery) will have walk-in coolers.

 

The main galley will have a salad station, a soup station (large kettles making soups), a vegetable station (large pressure cookers), a roasting station (the large ovens capable of handling 10 roast beefs, or two dozen chickens), and then there will be the cook station with the stove tops, flat tops, salamanders, grills, and finally the steam table where it all comes together for plating.

 

The buffet will have its own, smaller galley, and the specialties will have their own, or share a galley between a couple of small ones. Even the pizza places have their own galley, and the bakery preps their dough in the proofing cabinets daily.

 

 

I ALWAYS find your posts so educational regarding cruise lines THANK YOU !!!! Your vast experience and qualifications add to that :)

[chengkp75]

They have a similar setup on the Escape, so still in use. The only difference is the Escape said they load some larger cuts of meat for Cagney's fresh and butcher them on board, which they can do because of the fixed 7 day schedule and a dedicated storage area.

 

The reason the "never frozen" meats and fish are limited is because if the meat is presented to the ship at the pier in an unfrozen state, there must be a "chain of custody" temperature log showing that the meat never exceeded 41*F (USPH temperature control). When "potentially hazardous foods" (like meat) are taken out of temperature control, they then must be placed in time control, the limit of which is 4 hours, after which it must be discarded, and you can't go back to temperature control again. So, it must be documented with log sheets both from the supplier, the refrigerated truck, and onboard, showing that the temperature of the product has been maintained all the way until it is cooked. This applies to the thawing of frozen product in the meat and fish prep room coolers and the main thawing room.

[happy cruzin]

Like most restaurants and pizza joints, the dough comes in frozen, pre-portioned and the restaurant merely bakes it in a convection oven. It's very rare to find a place that makes bread from scratch because it's too labor intensive and too hard to keep bakers that know what they are doing employed.

 

 

NOT the case for NCL!!

 

They make their own pizza dough - daily - along with all baked goods that are not "put in to a toaster" (sliced bread, English muffins and bagels) according to the behind the scenes tour we took on the Epic 3 weeks ago.

 

 

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[Lido_Deck]

Yea even little Caesars make the doe fresh. All the pizza places I go to make there own doe.

I would not eat it if it was pre made. Doe is not hard to make

 

 

All Little Greasers nationwide use frozen dough.

[Crusin6]

there are exceptions to every rule, but I think it is safe to say more restaurants use frozen dough for pizza just like restaurants and cruise ships have a combination of fresh foods and frozen.:confused:

 

 

Not in real pizza parlors in NYC

 

 

It is a well known fact at least in the tri state area that the reason pizza is so good is that the dough is fresh and made with local water

 

 

While dough in New Mexico might be made fresh as well it isn't being made with New York water

 

 

Real New Yorkers and tri staters know the secret is the water.

 

 

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[Crusin6]

I know because I spent half my life in the restaurant industry and small places simply can't afford to make their own dough from scratch.

 

 

It cost pennies to make dough from scratch

 

 

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[Lido_Deck]

It cost pennies to make dough from scratch

 

 

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Really? People only pay bakers in NYC pennies? Is that by the hour or a salary? :p

[Lido_Deck]

Not in real pizza parlors in NYC

 

 

It is a well known fact at least in the tri state area that the reason pizza is so good is that the dough is fresh and made with local water

 

 

While dough in New Mexico might be made fresh as well it isn't being made with New York water

 

 

Real New Yorkers and tri staters know the secret is the water.

 

 

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You're joking, right? :rolleyes:

[pieshops]

You're joking, right? :rolleyes:

 

 

what the poster said is absolutely true, same reason you cant get a good bagel outside the tri state area

[Lido_Deck]

what the poster said is absolutely true, same reason you cant get a good bagel outside the tri state area

 

LOL! Oh, that is too funny!

 

Say...I have this bridge in your neighborhood I need to sell. It's got a little age on it, but it's in good shape and I can make you a really good deal. ;)

[alreadypacked]

That might be the case for places like Dominos and Pizza Hut, and perhaps for other pizzerias where you live, but it certainly isn't true in New York City and its nearby suburbs.

 

So true!!

 

I'm originally from New Jersey. I live in Florida now, which is good for cruising but bad for pizza. I truly miss real New York style pizza!

[alreadypacked]

Not in real pizza parlors in NYC

 

 

It is a well known fact at least in the tri state area that the reason pizza is so good is that the dough is fresh and made with local water

 

 

While dough in New Mexico might be made fresh as well it isn't being made with New York water

 

 

Real New Yorkers and tri staters know the secret is the water.

 

 

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Amen to that!!

 

And, h*ll yeah!!

 

...from a born and bred tri-stater now living in the Sunshine State.

[pspercy]

All Little Greasers nationwide use frozen dough.

 

Twenty years ago +/- my son ran a Little Caesar's so I asked him what they did then:

Made fresh everyday for the next day : gave it time to proof - the thin crust was frozen but the deep dish and regular was made every morning for the next day's business.

[oncruisecontrol]

Not in real pizza parlors in NYC

 

 

It is a well known fact at least in the tri state area that the reason pizza is so good is that the dough is fresh and made with local water

 

 

While dough in New Mexico might be made fresh as well it isn't being made with New York water

 

 

Real New Yorkers and tri staters know the secret is the water.

 

 

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Amen. I'm from New Jersey and you're 100% right! It is definitely the water. I have lived in Florida for the past 13 years, and I stopped eating pizza and what-passes-for-Italian-bread when I moved down here. The water in Florida is not good for making any kind of bread dough. :( Sadly.

[oncruisecontrol]

LOL! Oh, that is too funny!

 

;)

Maybe what Pieshops said is funny to you, but........what Pieshops said is actually true. It is that people who have never tasted bread (bagels, pizza, whatever) made with our great aquifer water in the tri-state area, don't know what they have been missing. Our tri-state tap water is actually great for drinking too--it is like spring water. However, in south Florida where I live now, we have to filter our tap water in order to drink it because it is full of off-tasting minerals. It is these minerals that make the water sub-standard for making dough. These minerals also cause shampoo to feel like it is not fully rinsing from your hair when you take a shower.

[aflyingbuttress]

As a native New Yorker I can attest to the fact that it is a common "understanding" among New Yorkers that it's the water that makes for the excellent pizza and bagels. As someone who has also lived in 6 other states from north to south and east to west, I can attest that you can't find them as good anywhere else.

 

That said, whether it's really the water or not, who knows? That is the myth that remains to be proven or busted.

[aflyingbuttress]

Really? People only pay bakers in NYC pennies? Is that by the hour or a salary? :p

 

 

Are you serious with this? The dough costs pennies. That's not the same as paying employees in your restaurant to make it AND perform all the other duties that come along with their jobs.

[reefgirl]

You could ask that same question about any restaurant. The reality is that food is much less expensive to prepare on a mass scale and then flash freeze. Most soups in the vast majority of restaurants come in frozen and you just add water or milk depending on whether it's a broth or cream based soup.

I found a label in my soup bowl at Olive Garden that was on the bag the soup came in, lol. Not that it was a shock that it wasn't fresh.

[happygolucky62]

The Resort that I work at in Naples, Fl just hosted the Marine Hotel Annual Trade Show. I am in charge of Shipping and Receiving and we got in Frozen Meat, Cookies, Pastries and Fish. The Chefs prepared it in our kitchen and served it to hundreds of attendees. I had the most delicious Beef Tenderloin I have ever tasted and there was not a single item I tasted that was not of the best caliber. All of the Cruise Line executives were here to do their purchasing for the year. I can attest that most cruise lines buy "Fresh" ingredients and prepare them on board. Most of, if not all, of the baked items are purchased ready to bake off from the frozen state. There were also ingredients such as canned tomatoes which were used to make wonderful Bloody Marys. I saw canned beans but no other types of canned vegetables. There was a very popular Chocolate Booth as well as soft serve ice cream and Gelato. I am confident in saying the food you get on a ship has been made just for you!