Come aboard and sample the Cuisine on the World’s # 1 Cruise Line. My latest article for The Daily Meal is here! Complete with a recipe for Seared Mahi Mahi from the Chef!

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Cuisine on the World’s No. 1 Cruise Line

Staff Writer

Chef Anthony Mauboussin, Culinary Director of Viking Cruises, has a lot on his plate, including 42 new dishes this year alone.

Chef Anthony Mauboussin in Viking Star’s Demo Kitchen

The cruise world has seen Viking Cruises take over top honors, first with Viking River Cruises popularized by Downton Abbey, and now with Viking Cruise’s two spanking-new, ocean-going ships Viking Star and Viking Sea. They’ve outscored every other line, including the top-rated Crystal Cruises, with passengers consistently praising everything from the design of the ships themselves to the culinary output on board. The dining experience’s high marks are a salute to the excellence of Viking’s galleys and certainly to the range of its menus.

The job of feeding some 350,000 passengers a year falls on the able shoulders of chef Anthony Mauboussin. The young French chef already presides over the 59 River Cruise ships’ kitchens, and will now expand his reach to include the newest additions of the company’s fleet – two 930-passenger ocean liners. As Viking’s ocean fleet continues to grow, Mauboussin is tasked with developing recipes that are unique to the ports of call for each ship. North American favorites like Beef Wellington and the Chairman’s Poached Salmon run on a 14-day rotation, but every destination is represented by three fresh menu items: an appetizer, main course, and dessert.

Viking Star’s Maiden Arrival in NY October 2016

Just this fall, Viking Star made its way across the North Atlantic — first to Canada and then on to New York. From there the ship was repositioned to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a series of 10-day West Indies explorations. The ship will continue on this course until spring 2017.

Her sister ship, Viking Sea, will undertake the line’s first world cruise next year, and Mauboussin will head to his home kitchen in Chamonix, France, to develop three new items representing each of the 17 new ports the ship will visit on its 141-day voyage. The chef has had lots of practice, having prepared Viking Star’smenus for its maiden voyages to the West Indies. Consulting his 250 cookbooks, the chef first develops menu items by working on four a day. In these days of fusion cooking, he demands a certain geographic purity. He researches his dishes to make sure they demonstrate a true representation of local ingredients. The work hardly stops there as Mauboussin then confirms that his onboard chefs de cuisine can be readily supplied with the ingredients needed to make each of new dishes he creates.

The Chef is a popular figure at local markets

One new Caribbean dish by Mauboussin is Seared Mahi Mahi with Passion fruit sauce, Eggplant and Mango salsa, and crushed Fingerling potatoes. You can actually make this dish yourself using the recipe shared here.

To make this dish, Chef Mauboussin first had to find a local source in Puerto Rico for the mahi mahi to assure freshness and available quantity for the high demand needed by the ships to serve as many as 300 portions at one sitting. Since Puerto Rico is one of the world’s great fishing destinations, this was no obstacle. Similarly, the island is a fruit-grower’s paradise with passion fruit and mangos in abundance as two of the island’s leading exports. About the only thing that doesn’t thrive in Puerto Rico’s tropical climate is cress, used as a garnish in this recipe. The cress is imported from Miami to the island, and ultimately to the Viking Star’s kitchens.

The Seared Mahi Mahi entree is destined for The Restaurant

Finally, the completed dishes must be scaled up to cook for high-volume restaurants. Once the space and storage limitations for each of the ships’ kitchens are factored into the recipe criteria, the dish goes into Viking’s computer network with product guidelines and rigidly maintained steps. At that point, the on-board cooks have access to each menu item. Then the executive chef aboard Viking Star, Ashley Duff, will make the final decision on which night the Seared Mahi Mahi will be served. Whatever night that is, the oohs and ahhs coming from Viking Star’s passengers will serve as a fitting reward. And as further proof that Viking Star’s exceptional food has justly earned its place as the No. 1 Cruise Line for Food in this year’s “World’s Best Awards” in Travel and Leisure magazine.

Chef Anthony Mauboussin’s Recipe for Seared Mahi Mahi, Passion Fruit Sauce, Eggplant and Mango Salsa and Crushed Fingerling Potatoes

Ingredients

For the crushed potatoes:

2.2 Pounds fingerling potatoes

½ Ounce fresh chives

Fleur de sel, to taste

Peppercorn (black, freshly ground), to taste

Fresh cress, to garnish

For the passion fruit sauce:

10 Ounces fish stock

5 Ounces passionfruit purée

2 ½ Ounces whipping cream

½ Ounce honey

¾ Ounce unsalted butter, diced, cold

1 Ounce fresh passionfruit seeds

For the eggplant and mango salsa:

8 Ounces eggplant, in ½-inch dice

8 Ounces ripe mango, in ½-inch dice

1 ¾ Ounce unsalted butter

Kosher salt, to taste

For the mahi mahi:

6 Ounces skin-on fillet, 1 per person

Kosher salt, to taste

Peppercorn (white, freshly ground), to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

Directions

First cook the potatoes:

Cook the fingerlings with their skin on in heavily salted water about 15–20 minutes, or until they are easily pierced with a paring knife. Drain the water and peel the potatoes while still warm.

Crush them with a fork or ricer. Add the butter and mix with a spatula, not a whisk. Season to taste with fleur de sel and pepper.

Cover with foil and set aside.

Add the chopped chives only when serving the potatoes, to keep their color.

For the passion fruit sauce:

As the potatoes cook, make the passion fruit sauce:

Reduce the fish stock by 1/3. Purée the passionfruit in a blender or food processor.

Add the purée to the fish stock and reduce by half.

Add the honey to balance the acidity of the fruit.

Finish with the dish with the cubes of butter.

Add the passion fruit seeds for texture.

Set aside.

For the eggplant and mango salsa:

Put the butter into a skillet and add the eggplant.

Sweat the vegetable for 2–3 minutes, then add the mango and sweat for an additional minute. Set aside and keep warm.

For the mahi mahi:

Toss the mahi mahi fillets in lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Let rest for 15 minutes.

Now cook the fish:

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Place the fish the pan skin-side down. Reduce the heat to medium. After 2 minutes, shake the pan and carefully lift the fish with a spatula to loosen it from the pan. Allow to cook about 2–3 minutes more or until well-browned and cooked about 3/4 of the way through. Turn the fillets and cook about 3 minutes more or until still just barely pink in the center. Serve immediately, skin-side up.

To plate:

Place a round circle of potatoes on each plate. Make a well for the fish. Place the fish in the potato well. Top the fish with the salsa. Finish with the sauce. Garnish with the cress.

Come aboard and sample the Cuisine on the World’s # 1 Cruise Line. My latest article for The Daily Meal is here! Complete with a recipe for Seared Mahi Mahi from the Chef!

Ingredients

For the crushed potatoes:

For the passion fruit sauce:

For the eggplant and mango salsa:

For the mahi mahi:

Directions

For the passion fruit sauce:

For the eggplant and mango salsa:

For the mahi mahi:

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