When I asked Chef Hassan Hunt of the Nantucket Clipper what
advice he had for folks cooking at home, he answered my question
with a question:
”
What does sage taste like?
”
When I asked Chef Hassan Hunt of the Nantucket Clipper what advice he had for folks cooking at home, he answered my question with a question: “What does sage taste like?”
“A lot of times, when people are cooking they say ‘It needs something …’ but they aren’t sure what. The way to know is to taste all your raw ingredients. What does meat taste like plain? What do sea salt, iodized salt, kosher salt taste like?” Only by knowing the characteristics of each ingredient is it possible to balance them all successfully, according to Hunt.
Hunt demonstrated the success of this approach in the 27 meals, plus hors d’oeuvres and snacks, he and his crew of six prepared during our 11-day cruise from Charleston to Alexandria on the Intracoastal Waterway.
He explained that as Executive Chef “I don’t make food, I make decisions.” including planning all menus and ordering all staples and fresh provisions, keeping in mind time between ports when fresh food won’t be available.
Each meal on board is actually several meals in one. Breakfast, for example, includes a continental breakfast in the lounge, then an hour later, a full breakfast in the dining room, with eggs cooked to order, hot cereal and a breakfast special such as frittata or waffles.
At lunch and dinner there are soup, choices of entree and salads, and a freshly prepared dessert, as well as cheesecake and homemade ice cream.
As if this weren’t enough, every afternoon at 4:30pm, a platter of freshly baked “Clipper Chippers,” the world’s best chocolate chip cookies, appears on the bar.
Although he’s just 28, Hunt has 10 years’ experience in food preparation, having started while in college studying mechanical engineering. He began by assembling party trays in the deli section of a grocery store in his hometown of Queens, N.Y.
A restaurant owner noticed his attractive work and offered him a summer job making salads. He quickly progressed to running the kitchen in that restaurant and when the owner expanded, a second one
In the meantime, Hunt realized he enjoyed the creativity and pace of cooking. He shifted his scholastic focus to cuisine, enrolled in the Johnson and Wales University and completed his bachelor’s degree in just two and a half years, while still working in the restaurants. The administrative training and credential will augment his experience and skill to move his career forward.
When the restaurant owner decided to relocate to Florida, he helped Hunt land a position with Clipper, where his schedule is 3 months on a ship, then five weeks off.
During his time off, he visits family and friends and, of course, explores restaurants. “I’m not into the trends – even though a lot of people are trying to impress themselves or others with the trendy stuff. I look for restaurants with the menu posted out front – I read it and see what catches my eye.”
For someone considering becoming a chef, he says “The best advice I ever got was, ‘start everything,’ start every dish. It’s easier to stop cooking something than start it, so if you have a game plan it’s a lot easier.”
He continues, “you learn the value of time. That’s where the ‘mise en place’ (literally, ‘put in place,’ the French method of preparing and organizing all ingredients before one begins a dish) is so important.”
In a tour of the galley, Hunt demonstrated the action on “the line,” where he and two sous chefs prepare and plate each order. During an actual meal – as up to 90 multi-course meals are prepared and served in less than an hour – it is steamier, hotter and noisier than the version we see.
Hunt not only orchestrates the action in the galley, but often prepares the soups himself. Here is one of his star soup recipes from the Clipper:
She Crab Soup
(serves 6 to 8)
Note: In the Southeast U.S. and Chesapeake Bay region, blue “she crab” is used. Here in the West, Dungeness crab works deliciously.
1 1/4 cups fresh crabmeat, picked over to remove cartilage and shell fragments
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. flour
4 cups milk at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream at room temperature
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground mace
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
1/4 cup dry sherry
3 hard-cooked egg yolks, crumbled
1 tsp. paprika for garnish
Step 1: Place crabmeat in a small bowl. Using a fork, fluff but do not cut, the crabmeat to separate into bite-size pieces. Set aside.
Step 2: Melt butter in a large, heavy nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to form a roux. Cook, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes, but do not let brown.
Step 3: Gradually whisk in the milk and cream. Cook, whisking constantly, until the soup thickens, about 4 minutes.
Step 4: Reduce heat to low and stir in the crabmeat, green onions, salt, mace, Worcestershire sauce and pepper until well blended. Cook, stirring often, just until the crabmeat is heated through, about one minute.
Step 5: Place 1/3 to 1/2 cooked egg yolk in the bottom of each individual bowl.
Step 6: Stir the sherry into the soup and ladle the soup into the prepared bowls. Sprinkle with paprika and serve at once.
Clipper Chippers
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. Frangelico liqueur
1 Tbsp. Tia Maria liqueur
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup walnut halves (optional)
1/2 cup pecan halves (optional)
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (optional)
Step 1: With an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, Frangelico and Tia Maria until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well.
Step 2: Combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir the flour into the butter mixture using a large kitchen spoon. Carefully fold in the chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.
Step 3: Place in a storage container and refrigerate overnight.
Step 4: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Step 5: Scoop one teaspoon of cookie dough for each cookie onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 10 to 13 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly and serve while still warm.
The dough may be refrigerated up to several days in advance. It also freezes well for future use.
