The Art Of Cooking On A Norfolk Broads Boat

Or

How To make Dinner without Blowing The Bloody Boat Up.

A complete guide on cooking on a small boat on The English Waterways, from the Thames to the Broads

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Your First Norfolk Broads Boating Holiday - So you have a range the size of a small hanky, mouths waiting to be fed - So what are you going to cook - where are those recipes?, and who did the shopping.

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So you decided to hire a boat on the Norfolk Broads and enjoy a nice relaxing holiday on the Fens, but you are the one who does all of the cooking at home - so guess who will be doing all of the cooking on holiday ? - Well don't worry - you don't have to spend the whole time in the galley, and hopefully with a few tips from this web site you will see how to make it a more enjoyable experience.

A Holiday on the Norfolk Broads is really the best vacation you will ever have, and I will show you how to get the best from the equipment that you have on your boat, how to plan for meals (there's nothing nicer than stopping on one of the beautiful Broads in the evening, dropping the mud weight only to find that you've forgotten one of the main ingredients for supper), and generally give you some advice that will make your Broads holiday more enjoyable. Or at least survivable.

The recipes here have all been tried on a similar set up that you will have and in similar conditions - you will find tips and tricks that are invaluable. In general the recipes have been scaled for a family of four but can easily be modified. Not only do we have some standard dishes but also some new ones that your family might want to try as they are on holiday, also they can't go anywhere else so now is the time to widen their food horizons. Of course I will cover the art of doing a good BBQ, or at least how to cook on a bbq, while reducing the chances of food poisoning or setting the Fens on fire

You might notice that all the measurements that I use are non metric. There are a couple of reasons for this. I've always used imperial measurements so it's hard for me to change and in fact when I left England the only things measured in grams were class "A" drugs. Also you can go to just about any kitchen in the world and find a teaspoon or a tablespoon. I can tell roughly how much is a cup, but I've no idea what 250 ml looks like.

While the recipes do use measurements they are more of a guide than anything else. For instance when I say "a tablespoon of butter" what I really mean is a lump about the size of a walnut.

There are two cups in a pint. Now I've got a very good idea what a pint looks like so a cup is half a pint (I believe that this is a measure sold in pubs, although I've never actually purchased one). It's only when using spices that you can get messed up, as a rule of thumb, always use less, you can always adjust the flavour up but it's hard to take away. So as a measuring tool a half pint mug from the pub works great, a cup would be a half pint - minus about a fingers worth. Now I'm not going to suggest that you nick one from the boozer, as I'm sure there will be one on board.

Where a recipe calls for a tin of something that will be a normal 400g size tin, and for soups use the condensed versions.

Michael Green the author of The Art Of Course Sailing said that sailing is "mucking around in boats", but that Broads sailing is "Boating around in Muck". How True. By the way this book is required reading for anyone who is even just thinking about taking a Broads holiday. It really is the funniest book I have ever read.

Now you might think that my views are a little bit biased, but I do suggest that you visit the website for the Norfolk Broads Yacht Company where the owner Mike Barnes has written a nice little piece about Broads Sailing.

Maybe you have visited the Norfolk Broads before - possibly on a large crusier, which is a fun way to see the broads - or for driving from pub to pub - but if you really want to enjoy the beauty of the norfolk broads the only way is by yacht.

Comments

From - roy abrahams Posted On 20 Aug 2004

bacon rolls for breky and then eat out. no problem

From - dave Posted On 18 Apr 2004

Your description on cooking breakfast, brings back vivid memories, especially the snoring!

From - jennyw Posted On 06 Apr 2004

Thank you for the great info on cooking and sailing on the broads

From - bigjames Posted On 11 Aug 2003

well we just had a great trip - i'm going to get the wife to add some recipes to your site. the weather and beer was great - how come you dont have a better pub guide ? we spent the last 5 years in spain on holiday but this holiday waz really good. the norfolk beer was great and so where the boozers. we ate at the pubs most of the time as my wife dont like too cook much, but she told me that she used some of youre breakfast ideas - and they really worked well.

From - SueSmith Posted On 18 Aug 2003

I'm reading this site while we are moored in Norwich, my husband is in the pub and my kids are not speaking to me. When we left the boatyard the people there where very good at showing us hoe the boat worked and how to drive it, but they didn't really mention cooking apart from how to turn it on. The oven chips turned out soggy as the oven didn't seem to be warm enough and I forgot to bring the brown sauce. I'm going to print off every page from this website and see if I can keep the family happy.

From - Lazymum Posted On 12 Aug 2003

We just came back from a weeks sailing holiday on the broads and it was great !! - the boat was clean and tidy, the staff at the hire company were very friendly and this site was a god send. I tried some of the dishes and they all came out well - I've never tried cooking on a small calor gas stove before so it was fun !!, and I didn't blow the boat up!

From - Andrea Posted On 29 May 2003

Thank you for all the great information - I wish I had seen this before my last holiday

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