The Crossroads of the Aether
Airship Galley Food
Here's a challenge - cuisine suited for cooking in the galley of an airship. Presume that you are cooking for a crew of air pirates and need to keep them fed in style while operating in tight quarters with reduced storage. And while we all know that bully beef, maconochie, salt pork and hardtack will keep you going, your crew would probably appreciate something with a little more panache when possible.
My thought is that running water would be at a premium - water weight is deadweight shipboard, so dishes requiring boiling are probably out unless the water gets recycled into another dish. Feel free to impose your own restrcitions, so long as you explain why you are choosing them.
So for my first submission - kielbasa, sauerkraut, onions, and peppers slow simmered in a nice dunkelweiss or Dortmunder. Because air pirates without beer are angry air pirates (French air pirates feel free to substitute Coq au Vin).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ephraim von RoseEngine on -
Vegemite!
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Permalink Reply by Colette Lovelace on -
Remember to adjust your cooking times for high altitudes!
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Permalink Reply by Ephraim von RoseEngine on
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good point, but then we're speaking of drunken pirates!
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Permalink Reply by Patrick Gilliland on -
As long range airships burn off fuel, they have to release lifting gas, get more ballast or rise. While ballast can be replaced relatively easy as any mass will do, lifting gas, even hydrogen, is a precious, hard to create resource no captain wants to vent into the atmosphere. A couple of methods of recovering ballast were used historically including condensing the waterout of the engine exhaust and collecting dew and rain from the envelope.
To relate this to cooking, There should be lots of water in the ballast tanks though your engineer may need to have separate containers for potable water and contaminated water. Boiling is ok as long as you don't boil off too much water. Simmering, poaching or a Bain Marie would be better. A pressure cooker would also be of use especially at higher altitudes - a self-adjusting vent weight would be a handy device for the aerial cook.
Since airships are so large in relation to their mass even the slightest breeze will require engine power just to maintian position. Heat should be available in abundance from the engines, how it can be used is dependant on the type of engine. One could run the exhaust through the galley and take the heat form that or locate the galley next to the engine compartment and build an oven against the cylinder wall (Keep the speed on Captain, the soufflée isn't quite done yet). Coal and other types of fire give an option for direct or indirect grilling and frying. Some steam locomotive crews would heat a shovel to red heat in the firebox then use it to grill their lunches. Of course any engine with a boiler gives the option for high temperature steaming. Other phenomena may be useful to the creative cook. Lightning chicken might be a sought after delicacy if the dressed and trussed bird survives the impact.
Refrigeration is going to be an issue making meats and vegables a premium. High altitude flight will of course give a supply of cold air. Another possibility is fuel and lifting gas stored under pressure. As gas is released, it draws heat from its surroundings creating a cooling effect.
Now for the not so pleasant part. All outputs of cooking have to be kept to avoid unnecessary loss of mass for the airship. This includes all scraps and waste material as wel as - let's just say - the "outputs" of the crew. A really large vessel might be able to compost some of this to provide a growing mediummfor fresh vegetables.
As for menus, I would think that prety much anything goes though the cooking methods may be different. As I mentioned, fresh food will generally be at a premium so expect a lot of dried, condensed and canned foods and pack your vitamin C to hold off scurvy. While overland trips might allow hunting and foraging, it would require some sort of landing party. Fishing, with very long lines, might be an option for over sea trips.
My contribution, engine grilled steak, live-steamed potatos and an onboard grown salad with steamed pudding and icecream for dessert.
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Permalink Reply by Ephraim von RoseEngine on
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all that ,and you failed to mention that one of the possible outputs of the crew possibly containing methane , which is lighter than air might be an alternative source of valuable lifting gas....;-D
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Permalink Reply by Sky Marshall on -
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Herr Doktor,
Brilliant topic and discussion! You have given a great deal of impressive thought to this. An Army travels on its stomach and apparently so does the Army of the Sky. I shall consider more mindfully the cooks and cuisine of the Imperial Fleets, but in this immediate moment I have suddenly become hungry...
.................-~< Sky Marshall >~-.................
Gideon Alexander Cornelius Thaddeus Prime
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Permalink Reply by The Baroness Astrid von Otter on -
As far as refrigeration goes, generally, you'd just need to make sure you have an ice box on board. This would probably only keep food preserved for a couple days, and you'd have to replenish the ice every time you dock, but for short trips it could be very useful. I'm sure the melting ice could be recycled for something else on the ship.
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Permalink Reply by Christian Matzke on -
Wow Patrick, you've put some thought into this! Excellent points all around, and really an eye opener. Thanks!
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Permalink Reply by Ms. Elizabeth on -
Oh my goodness. Wow. Um, I've never even thought of how to feed your crew. Hmmm... tinned-foods? Because to use power and water on your airship/zeppelin sounds like a recipe for disaster. I would think it would be cheaper to buy bulk barrels of flour (or bring a bread-starter), salted meats/fish and water. This is quite a conundrum, especially if they're air-pirates or criminals. I'd rather just dock my ship and hop out for a meal on the ground instead.
Thank you for bringing this up as now I have a whole new facet of my story to work on. XD
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Rooney on -
Out of curiosity, I just looked up "food aboard the Hindenburg". I found some great pictures of the dining area and bar. These people were not "roughing it".
http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/interiors
Here is a cocktail recipe inspired by the bar aboard the Hindenburg running out of gin:
http://www.airships.net/hindenburg-cocktail
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Rooney on
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One more addition:
http://folsomprison.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/the-last-supper-on-the...
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Permalink Reply by Crazy Charlie...the Old Shootist on
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this actually looks like an advertisement encouraging air pirates to hijack a passenger airship...all of the comforts of home and plenty of space on the promenades to place extra guns...:}
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