Breakfast on Queen Victoria

[teddytumtum]

Do Cunard offer Actimel or anything similar at breakfast?

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, teddytumtum said:

Do Cunard offer Actimel or anything similar at breakfast?

If not, one’s stateroom has a refrigerator which can be emptied to store one’s stock.

[exlondoner]

What is actimel?

[Pushpit]

A probiotic yogurt.

 

I haven't seen it offered, they do offer other yogurts. As someone who works in this area, I would point out that there are other ways to ensure vitamin intake including mainstream yogurts, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables - all of which are available on board.  The science behind probiotics  and vitamin supplements isn't robust by clinical standards but the broader need for nutritional balance - fruit, vegetables, oily fish - is robust.

 

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/probiotics/

[NE John]

I take a probiotic and zinc everyday and haven’t been sick in years. 
I believe that combo is especially important to take on a cruise ship; I just read that gastric problems are increasing onboard cruises. 
Hand washing too!

[exlondoner]

Aren’t all natural yogs supposed to be fermented foods I usually have some with my seasonal berries for breakfast on Cunard.

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Aren’t all natural yogs supposed to be fermented foods I usually have some with my seasonal berries for breakfast on Cunard.

Yes, and fermented foodstuff isn't a bad thing at all, even if the clinical endorsement tends to be fairly weak. But that breakfast, perhaps with some seeds and nuts, would be a good start to the day.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

Yes, and fermented foodstuff isn't a bad thing at all, even if the clinical endorsement tends to be fairly weak. But that breakfast, perhaps with some seeds and nuts, would be a good start to the day.

Other days I have devilled kidneys (yum) or sausages, bacon and mushrooms. 🙂

[techteach]

@exlondoner Where do you get lamb kidneys? Do you fry them or cook them in a sauce?

[exlondoner]

8 hours ago, techteach said:

@exlondoner Where do you get lamb kidneys? Do you fry them or cook them in a sauce?

On Cunard, I mean. 🙂

When I have them at home, I usually don them for dinner with mushrooms and sherry.

[Victoria2]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:19 PM, exlondoner said:

Other days I have devilled kidneys (yum) or sausages, bacon and mushrooms. 🙂

My occasional onboard breakfast luxury is American [done to a crisp] bacon and white toast. A little bit of unhealthy goes down a treat.

 

Little things can please! 😁

[sfred]

9 hours ago, techteach said:

@exlondoner Where do you get lamb kidneys? Do you fry them or cook them in a sauce?

 

Back in 2016, on a QV domestic cruise from Sydney with a free QG upgrade from PG, our adjacent tablemates in the restaurant were from country Victoria.  The husband of the couple was a sheep farmer by trade, and he arranged with the QG chef to have devilled lamb kidneys for breakfast every morning. 

 

I believe they are prepared with mixture of paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper and fried in butter.  Not quite my thing, I must admit, but our tablemate on that trip happily devoured them each day.

 

@exlondoner, does this recipe look correct?

 

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/devilled-lamb-kidneys-recipe

 

 

[exlondoner]

It may all be down to your friend that they have appeared on the actual QG menu, because they didn’t for a long time. Just in case, if you are in touch, please pass on my profound thanks.

[exlondoner]

49 minutes ago, sfred said:

 

Back in 2016, on a QV domestic cruise from Sydney with a free QG upgrade from PG, our adjacent tablemates in the restaurant were from country Victoria.  The husband of the couple was a sheep farmer by trade, and he arranged with the QG chef to have devilled lamb kidneys for breakfast every morning. 

 

I believe they are prepared with mixture of paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper and fried in butter.  Not quite my thing, I must admit, but our tablemate on that trip happily devoured them each day.

 

@exlondoner, does this recipe look correct?

 

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/devilled-lamb-kidneys-recipe

 

 

I think so. And the picture looks much like appears in QG on Cunard, except it’s a bigger peace of toast.

[techteach]

@Victoria2 What’s the texture like? My mom made beef liver and over cooked it to leather. The spices sound interesting. I think I’ll stick with bacon/ham/sausage.

[sfred]

1 hour ago, techteach said:

@Victoria2 What’s the texture like? My mom made beef liver and over cooked it to leather. The spices sound interesting. I think I’ll stick with bacon/ham/sausage.

 

I'm afraid I can't comment on texture.  My mum's cooking similarly ruined any enthusiasm I might have developed for the more obscure bits of animals.  I do enjoy a good cumberland sausage, though, which is kind of ironic given the mixed lineage of sausage ingredients.

[techteach]

We did a bit of research. In the U.S. with the shipper DH looked at you can’t order lamb kidneys alone delivered because they don’t weigh enough. We thought perhaps they can’t be frozen, but how else could they have them on-board a ship? I’ll talk to my butcher and see what he says, but it will be a few weeks due to travel plans. Excited to see what @Victoria2 posts regarding texture and taste.

[exlondoner]

2 hours ago, techteach said:

We did a bit of research. In the U.S. with the shipper DH looked at you can’t order lamb kidneys alone delivered because they don’t weigh enough. We thought perhaps they can’t be frozen, but how else could they have them on-board a ship? I’ll talk to my butcher and see what he says, but it will be a few weeks due to travel plans. Excited to see what @Victoria2 posts regarding texture and taste.

Of course they can be frozen. Our Waitrose usually has them in packets of six in the frozen cabinet. The fresh ones you can get where they have fresh meat counters are slightly nicer.

[Victoria2]

5 hours ago, techteach said:

@Victoria2 What’s the texture like? My mom made beef liver and over cooked it to leather. The spices sound interesting. I think I’ll stick with bacon/ham/sausage.

American bacon on Cunard is so crisp, it splinters when you cut it with a knife.

Miss Manners wouldn't approve but I generally pick it up with my fingers and put it on the toast making a sort of open bacon toastie. Yum.

[NE John]

It sounds like many of you would be up to try some Pennsylvania Dutch Scrapple for breakfast? A challenge to eat for many, unless you pour a swimming pool of ketchup over it!

[exlondoner]

25 minutes ago, NE John said:

It sounds like many of you would be up to try some Pennsylvania Dutch Scrapple for breakfast? A challenge to eat for many, unless you pour a swimming pool of ketchup over it!

Ah I remember a conversation in one of Robert B. Parker’s Spencer books which went something like:

’What’s for breakfast?’

‘Scrapple.’

’Is it as unpleasant as it sounds?’
’Yes.’

[NE John]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Is it as unpleasant as it sounds?’

It’s truly awful (offal?)

[techteach]

Our family makes Swedish Kurf. It is pork and potatoes, salt and pepper, stuffed into pork casing. This is a common recipe that is usually boiled. But because our family migrated across the Dakotas without refrigeration the recipe was adapted. It is hung in a warm room for several days where it cures, smells, and becomes sour. If given at birth a taste is acquired for it, if eaten post-marriage it is deemed horrible. The family gathers once a year in November at the home of the person possessing the official sausage stuffer. (The stuffer is passed generation to generation. My DH feels he won because we do not possess it) The booty is divided and eaten for breakfast on Thanksgiving. Fried eggs, hash browns and strong black coffee accompany. 

[exlondoner]

15 minutes ago, techteach said:

Our family makes Swedish Kurf. It is pork and potatoes, salt and pepper, stuffed into pork casing. This is a common recipe that is usually boiled. But because our family migrated across the Dakotas without refrigeration the recipe was adapted. It is hung in a warm room for several days where it cures, smells, and becomes sour. If given at birth a taste is acquired for it, if eaten post-marriage it is deemed horrible. The family gathers once a year in November at the home of the person possessing the official sausage stuffer. (The stuffer is passed generation to generation. My DH feels he won because we do not possess it) The booty is divided and eaten for breakfast on Thanksgiving. Fried eggs, hash browns and strong black coffee accompany. 

I sure the coffee is most welcome.

[frankp01]

6 hours ago, NE John said:

It’s truly awful

You're being unkind. It may be a bit of an acquired taste, but it's really not that bad. And, if you have to doctor it, my preference is with a bit of maple syrup. For many, it's the texture that offends. But it's really just polenta, at its base.