Delta Queen Captain's Punch

Been There

What's a "Steamboat Round of Roast", anyway? And how's it different from any other roast of beef? Was it smothered with Gangplank Celery, Cabin Deck Carrots, Pilothouse Potatoes, and Engine Room Onions with Riverboat Olives and Greene Line Greens served up as a salad?

Names just concocted by the creative menu writer to invoke imaginary images of exotic life aboard the steamboat.

You can bet the Captains Punch cleaned up a lot of bottles of the lesser-called- for hootch they couldn't otherwise move off the bottom shelf.

Sam you're right, the menu's from the DQ and GORDON C. GREENE were the product of creative menu writers. Kenny Howe and I were talking the other night about the food served on the DQ in the "old" days. It was good, but nothing fancy; comfort food they call it today. There were no "port wine reductions", shitake mushrooms or fusion food (whatever that is). Ed Gallagher, the Steward during most of the 60's, got all his recipes from an old US Navy cookbook and the cook was from Memphis who had years of experience on the boat. The food was good but by todays standards definitely not fancy.

DQ Food

So I guess "bluegrass picked peas" and "Ol Man River Rolls" were nothing special either.

Leavin' Day Fried Chicken

Oh, but it was good eatin', even if the names were more fanciful than what they were describing. My favorite was "Leavin' Day Fried Chicken" served the first meal when the DELTA QUEEN departed on a new trip. Upstairs, this delicacy was served buffet-style, but down in the Hold where I ate with the rest of the hired help, I would grab a hand full of that delicious fried bird and take it with me to the bow where I ate my supper standing-up while operating the controls of the steam engines that ran the capstan and the stage hoist as the boat let-go.

The crew ate lots of fried chicken. Captain Hawley said it was so because chicken was cheaper and more economical to serve to the crew. The side dishes that went best with the fried chicken were Mr. Muster's Mustard Green(e)s and Cap'n Betty's Navy Beans. Chicken, greens, and white beans remain, in my book, the classic steamboat spread.

There were some mighty fine cooks on the DELTA QUEEN, in those days, who could take regular fare and fix it up in such a way that when folks got back home, they truly believed they ate grub that lived up to all those fancy names, and when asked about their trip, they would tell everyone about how wonderful the food was, and they carried those memories of those long-ago-eaten-meals for the rest of their lives.

It was all special and part of the magic of being on the river aboard the Steamboat DELTA QUEEN.

Crew Food

I was talking to Captain Hawley the other day, and he said that nobody anywhere made better chess pie. Back then, did the crew eat much different than the passengers?

It Varied...

The chow served to the crew was usually substantial, and always plentiful, but the steak and lobster tails served in the Orleans Room rarely, if ever, found its way down to the Crew's Mess. During the early '70's, the company, wanting to strike friendly ground with the many black crewmembers of the steamboat, went on a jag where soul food was the general fare served to all of the crew regardless of color or country of origin.

That went on for a few weeks, until even the crew for whom the special dietary concessions were made, tired of the sow's ears and collards served twice a day and the menu became less accommodating. During that period, however, a reporter from a travel magazine cornered Captain H. Tate and asked:

"Captain, how do they feed you aboard the DELTA QUEEN?"

"Lady," replied Tate without missing a beat, "they slop you like a bunch of hogs!"

Mom

My fondest memories of crew mess had nothing to do with the food (surprise!). On all three boats, I was blessed with the love and care of one of our crew cooks. Her real first name is "Audrey". I never knew her last name, but we all called her "Mom".

Besides her ability to cook delicious, healthy food, Mom brought with her a true love and concern for all of us. If we weren't making the right choices going through the food line, she would give you one of her "Mom" looks and give you a second chance to make a better choice. If you had special dietary needs, she would always make sure that something was available to you.

When you came back from vacation, if you were lucky enough to run into her on that first day, you got a big hug. She kept track of all of us.

She would often do some of her prep work in the mess itself in the afternoon, taking the opportunity to visit, joke around and otherwise interact with her "children" as we all were. And you were not surprised if she made you help.

It was just like being at home with Mom, and I guess that's why we love her so.

One day, as she was nearing the end of her tenure on the boats, she even brought in a scrapbook of pictures taken through the years and would point proudly, and sometimes with just the right amount of scorn, at all of us.

And she was a character, make no mistake about it. Legend has it that one unfortunate crew member on the MQ complained about the food just once too often. Mom had enough of it and escorted him out of the crew mess and up the stairs, leading him with a firm grasp of a region of his body that was particularly sensitive to any kind of force.

I miss her a lot.

Paul

In the mid-seventies, there was a period when the crew got basically the same food as the passengers. We always knew it was a new trip by the fact that we had fried chicken and corn pudding. When the boat was chartered by Dick Billings of Tri State Bank Tours, Dick ran a bunch of 2, 3 and 4 day trips during the period he had the boat. The menu would be the same -- sailing day, day 2 or 3, Captain's Dinner. Yeah, we had the prime rib and/or filet of sole same as the pax. We tired of those menus pretty quickly.

Sometime before the end of the decade, there was a push for more and different foods. Some of this I remember was driven by union demands, both SIU and MEBA. The cooks resented this, and the food was not the best. Also at that time, the chef was a man who really had a chip on his shoulder, and was intent on NOT pleasing the crew. Suggestions and comments, even positive ones, were met with smart-aleck remarks. A very bad relationship between the crew and the stewards' department prevailed. We most certainly had no "Mom" in the crew mess as Paul mentions in his post. A great many crew members would bolt up the hill at first opportunity to many and sometimes any restaurant to eat and/or avoid eating on the boat.

The mid 1970's to the early 1980's saw what I believe was an unusual period in the life of the boat as far as crew members were concerned. Probably as a result of the very widespread "Save the DELTA QUEEN" campaign, the DQ was possibly more famous during that period than any other. A large number of middle-class white young people were attracted to the boat, people who just wanted to work on the boat regardless of what the job was. Our deck crew at the time was almost exclusively white, and many of the galley personnel were as well, even dishwashers and pot washers, prep cooks, salad people, crew stewards, etc. This relatively large contingent of many middle-class people woking on the boat more or less for a lark had an effect, I'm sure, on the eating habits of the crew during that period. Quite a few crew members during this period were former passengers, a phenomena I think is probably rare today.

Paul,
Her name was Audrey Harbor.

Dennis Shenk;11028 wrote: Paul,
Her name was Audrey Harbor.

Thanks Dennis. She belongs in the category of "the most unforgettable person I've ever met"

Paul

Stove

Anyone know what kind of stove was on the DQ before the electric one?

Monster

A very heavy cast iron, or steel, monster that burned #1 fuel oil, and was located in the Mid-Hold, just forward of the double stairs that come down from the hallway that goes to the present-day crew mess. I believe there are crew accomodations in the area today. That space was later the crew's mess and so-called recreation area.

There's a story that goes with that iron stove and its location not that far above one of the fuel tanks, but I don't know nuthin'.

California Stove

The DQ stove in California was another monster, a "Ray Burner" that ran on stove oil. The Navy kept it and used the same one.

Shipyard Sam;11025 wrote:

That went on for a few weeks, until even the crew for whom the special dietary concessions were made, tired of the sow's ears and collards served twice a day and the menu became less accommodating. During that period, however, a reporter from a travel magazine cornered Captain H. Tate and asked:

"Captain, how do they feed you aboard the DELTA QUEEN?"

"Lady," replied Tate without missing a beat, "they slop you like a bunch of hogs!"

I should add, that Mom notwithstanding, the bombardment my combination Italian-American and New England pallet took in my early days on the boat by southern cuisine caused me to adopt a philosophy I carry even today.

If I can't identify it, I won't eat it.

Paul

Ever hear of a "Roustabout Pan"? Well, in the 50's, the black crew used them. They were tin pans with mold sections for the various items...something like we used in the Army, only a roustabout pan was round as I remember them. The crew would get their food out of the galley and carry their pans to the bow of the main deck where they would eat. Everything was different then and unbelievable by today's standards especially with a Captain like Paul Underwood who hailed from Alabama (Those b-ys can't work on rich white food). Let's just say that integration was very slow to arrive on the DELTA QUEEN.
In the 60's the pans were gone but the deck crew did not get the same food as the passengers. There was no such thing as "soul food" then, it was purely county cooking with plenty of grease, gravey, greens, and cornbread. Many a dinner we in the Officers dining room would ask "What's ya having down below?" A lot of times it sounded much better than what the passengers were being served and we were very disappointed when there wasn't enough for them to share with us.

Yaka-Mein

Supposedly the cooks in the 50s-60s also made "yaka-mein" from leftover turtle soup meat. It was a dish made with noodles and was (and still is) popular in New Orleans -- brought back from Korean War veterans and is said to cure hangovers. Is it true that the cooks had their own galley?

RE: 'ROUSTABOUT PANS/BOAT FOODS:
Hi, Jim & steamboating colleagues:
Greetings from very cool, windy, shores of north Lake Michigan. Just opened computer here for first time yesterday after settling in for summer.
Yes, Jim, those 'Roustabout pans' were a common fixture for years on steamboats. Some of tin as you say while other old boats had the metal enameled in white, blue or some swirl colors. My dad recalled seeing roustabouts and firemen on the old packet boats from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh eating on them when and where they could find a place to sit. His memories were they ate often with just a spoon--no knife or fork. Cornbread, greens, grits, pork and gravy sounds about right. The pans with the recessed sections for food were turned out by the millions for use and shipped in crates and later boxes. Cheap, easy to clean/sterilize and inexpensive. All of my military grub was served on similar steel trays. I don't recall any problems with E-coli or Norwalk virus. You just got over it. Thanks for the memories.

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

I'll be the DQ's "plates" were left-overs from her Navy days! Probably a bunch of them in the galley when she arrived on the Big Muddy.
S'
David D.

Anybody remember Capn Wagners gallons of Beer from Smith and Groves?

Crew

you are so right about that era Bob. The crew was very much white middle class and seemed to take a whole lot more pride then when we were on for the reunion cruise. And I wonder who that Chef was? LOL I'll never forget that day the Chief Purser Chief Steward and that certain chef left the boat for the last time after Arthur J MacArthur did some "house cleaning"

Smith & What?

"If you can remember, then you weren't really there." Old Hippie Saying.

smith and Groves at Cairo, Sam

Ice cold frosted fishbowls.

Yes they were awesome! I had forgotten about the fishbowls Dennis