Gourmet Food

Yep, and guess which mess of beans the crew was eatin'!? And I fully understand how Vicky got it done as she worked her charm on the crew of MISSIE last fall.

Allan

All I can say is "Amen" everyone know that your have to cook the "green" out of Green Beans and that have to have some seasoning such as "han hocks" "pock chops" "thick bacon" or plain old meat drippings. But then what do I know but I do know that a riverboat cook would be put off at the next landing, for offering "green manila rope" as beans to the crew.
Ed Ray
Dublin, Ohio

The likes of which has contributed greatly to the development of the "steamboat figure", and I love that kind of food as much as anyone, but long ago I had to rein in my appetite or else by now I would have one grandiose Blanch Leathers type of "steamboat figure".

Lexie

That "steamboat figure" is called the "steamboat spread." It can be seen often as the deckhand on the head of the tow, standing with rope in hand and his belly hanging over his belt.

Ed Ray

Hi, gang:
Interesting thread on 'Gourmet food,' cooking on steamboats and towboats. I agree with Alan that it always insn't the extensive array of glasses, dishes, silver on the table, but what goes on and in that counts.

My favorites, among many, is a nice mess of blackeyed peas, ham hock, greens and hot cornbread with butter and a big glass of cold milk. For years the DELTA QUEEN featured excellent bread puddin' and rice puddin.' Also ham and red eyed gravy...roast prime rib etc. I assume they still serve it. Yummy! Okay, what's your favorite steamboat/towboat meal?

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

The DQ in particular fed some mighty fine "down home" crew food: Gumbo Ya Ya ( thank you, Aunt Lucy!), crawfish etoufee, fried catfish ( which I sorely miss in Alaska, but admit that King Crab ain't too bad a trade- off). When I first started on the boats I ate a lot of Humble Pie, as I proved Mark Train true in his words to the effect that "it ain't what a man don't know that hurts him near as much as what he does know that just isn't so." Lots of that in my transition from landlubber to river rat. But I was lucky, nobody ever sent me to the engine room for a bucket of steam, or to the Pilot House for a couple of relative bearings.

Ed, Re: the "steamboat figure" that Lexie refers to is to be found on page 14 of the Edwin & Louise Rosskam book "Towboat River". The caption reads, "A lifetime of steamboat meals means a steamboat figure." This is, ufortunately, a sad truth.

Dalle, I have always liked the so called "gourmet"food (though not the undercooked green beans)> I would have to say my favorite meals on any boat are crisp fried chicken with all the trimmings. A tie for this would also be breakfast - omelettes, bacon, sage sausage, grits, homemade biscuits (with either gravy or honey, depending on your mood) and a big glass of orange juice. Hard to beat! As for "lighter" fare, I vote for a BLT.

Soul Food of the '70's

Reckon just Jim Blum, Kenny P. Howe, Jr., and I are left who remember the soul food fiasco of the early 1970's when sow's ear's, pork belly, neck bones, and the like was the bill o' fare down below in the crew's mess. Though I normally love "down home cookin'" the ears and such got tiresome after a while, especially after seeing the waiters, kitchen help, and porters at the next table who'd eased into the back door of the cookhouse where their buds had slipped them the good stuff being served in the Orleans Room.

Once, when a dainty, travel writing lady, who had been dining on the delicacies in the ironwood room above, asked Howard Tate, "Well Captain Tate, how do they feed you on the DELTA QUEEN?"

"Lady," Tate replied, "They slop us like a bunch of hogs!"

I once visited on a towboat for a shgort run. At noon they served me enough food for an elephant, then the cock asked, "Would you like some fruit cocktail?" I burped politely and accepted. She brought a quart-sized glass, full to the top. This is the sort of thing that leads to a steamboat figure.

Hi, Alan & gang:
All of this talk about 'steamboat food' compelled me to pull out some of these old brochures from the L&C LINE in the early 1920s. The big CINCINNATI & QUEEN CITY are explicit in what they offer. 'Basic' transportation between Louisville & Cincinnati was $3. If you wanted a room/berth it graduated from $1 up to additional $3 with inside room with private bath and toilet. For those going pretty much 'deck' with no room "Meals may be purchased at $1 each, except breakfast at 75 cents [*Remember what a dollar was worth then]. No menu offerings listed but knowing the night boat service probably pretty much set menu from day to day with seasonal variations for fruits, produce, some meats and fish. You know, never eat seafood in a month without an 'R.'

First year folder for the GORDON C. GREENE states that no luncheon or dinner seved in New Orleans so passengers may enjoy the local eateries in the Crescent City.

First 1948 brochure for the DELTA QUEEN mentions sailing for New Orleans from Cincinnati at 8:00 PM with 'get together party' but no evening meal served on day of sailing. Wonder how that would go over today with people coming in from all over following long train, bus, air or auto trip?

Those old steamboat cabin photos at meal times are something. The big ANCHOR LINE boats and photos of GREENE LINE packet show tables smothered in snowy white linens. Knives, forks, spoons delicately balanced like a gleaming tripod over the setting. Crystal or milk glass 'knife rests' at each place to keep a buttery knife from hitting the linen. Ornate cruet sets with oil, vinegar, catsup and possibly red wine for salads with salt and peppers filled to the top and standing ready. Some photos of QUEEN CITY show either bottles of red wine or possibly catsup. Fruits and vegetables arranged ornately with watermelon sections, apples, pears, grapes etc. and at times flowers. Waiters and the Chief Steward standing at attention with towels over arms watching every morsel of food being shoved in. One tonge-in-cheek critic of the old ANCHOR LINE mentiones the cabin staff at meals being 'Most attentive--perhaps too attentive." Well, that was for the 'walking freight' in the main cabin. Interesting discussion thread leading into Thanksgiving. Does the NATCHEZ still feature those great Po' boy sandwiches on crisp bread like croissants? Yummy! A DQ waiter once said with a grin, "Never in all your life will you eat all of the food you just paid for on this week's trip."

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

No, the poboys haven't been around for a couple of years. They've pretty much cut back to the lunch buffet and occasionally hot dogs and nachos. The buffet includes: red beans/rice, fried chicken, seafood gumbo, and bread pudding. Sometimes jambalaya is served in place of gumbo. The dinner menu is of course more expansive, with no snack items served. So much emphasis has been put on the evening meal and its preparation that I think they've made the daytrips' menu simpler to free up the cooks' time for dinner prep. Back in my first year of working in the dining room (1984), those of us working dinner came in at 1:30 and worked in the galley making up salads during the second trip before going upstairs to serve in the dining room. That hasn't happened in many years, with the distinct division of galley/cooks and dining room/servers. I hope my culinary ineptitude didn't cause that!

Hi, Judy:
Thanks for the update on food aboard the NATCHEZ. No doubt things have to change but I was impressed with what was offered and what I ate. I saw you and the gang working one time and couldn't believe all you do. You work on a steamboat and...well...you work. I don't think most people have even the slightest clue.

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

working on a steamboat

The first day of Tall Stacks I saw one of the Cincy bartender temps who kept hauling buckets of ice up to the Texas Bar from the Boiler Deck. He wasn't as ancient as I, but was no spring chicken either, and I commented to my gift shop colleagues that I bet we didn't see him the next day. We didn't. Working on a boat is definitely different, and by necessity innovative, than working a land job. This goes for any department: navigation, food/beverage, whatever. And you have to plan ahead because you can't run to the store for another pack of beer or loaf of bread during a trip. But I think any of us who have been privileged to work on steamboats cherish the time. And to note that this generation does have its up and coming enthusiasts and crew members: Bubba Dow, Wilbur's grandson and Bill's son, worked as deckhand/watchman on the NATCHEZ at TS and he works the boats on Lake George. He plans to attend Maine Maritime College next year, and will no doubt take over the reins of the N.O./Lake George companies, having worked his way up the ranks. "Little Steve" Nicoulin, bigger than his father Capt. Steve Nicoulin, has switched from the engine room to the deck crew in preparation to earning his Mate's and later Captain's license. He was spending time during his pilothouse watch memorizing the navigation light systems on vessels. So we've got some good people coming up who understand the rigors of the job, but who accept it with pride.

Keith,
Remember our talks???? Are the menus the same?? Margaret

Howard Tate certainly had a way with words.

Or to the pilot house for the key to the lock?

To answer Dale's question, I always hung around the coolers after Captain's Dinner to see if there were any Creme de Menthe Parfaits left over. I also had a number of favorite restaurants at some of the usual shore stops. The engine room made good popcorn. Otherwise, I sort of have to agree with Tate. Except breakfast could be made to order, so that could be pretty good. If the slumgullion was too repulsive, there was always the raisin bran, banana, and milk to fall back on (I wasn't the only one to resort to that healthy fare). The union mandated that we get three hot meals a day, and some of us really, really got passionate for cold cuts every so often, even if it was just balogna. I can recall lots of good crew/ officers mess stories that had nothing to do with food and were so funny that no sit com can come close. So even if the food wasn't much, the fellowship was priceless. Burp.

Lexie, right you are about the stories and characters in the crew/officer's mess.

While I'm sure being a steamboat cook can be a rewarding job, it must also be frustrating. No way can they please everyone, and as Lexie said there was the union mandate on hot meals. On towboats, not only is the crew smaller and a cook can poll the crew as to their likes and dislikes and do a better job at pleasing more people more of the time, they still can never please everyone. Also, on a towboat, the cooks can do steaks to order on the charcoal grill and fresh hot hamburgers once in a while. Nothing turns me off like a hamburger that's been sitting in a steam table for 30 minutes, all rubbery.

We did, though, get some pretty good meals on the DQ, too, especially when we had passenger fare. One thing I remember was, on those short trips in the 70's, was that Sailing Night Buffet. We usually got the same thing in the crew's mess. I like corn pudding, but when it is served two or sometimes three times a week, you get to where it don't look so good anynore. At least on the steamboats we could go uptown to a meal once ion a while, especially if Judy or others were around. (Remembber Papa joe's Pizza in Davenport and Dubuque? Followed by ice cream? Double burp)

Crew Stewards

My first year on the DQ, '65 (1965 and not 1865 as some of my crew believe) Mose England was the waiter in the Officer's Dining Room, on the port side, aft of the Orleans Room. Mr. Mose was reputed to have worked for Capt. Gordon C. Greene in his younger days.

When I returned to the DELTA QUEEN after military service, Mose was gone and all dining, officers and not, was in the "Crew's Mess" between the watertight doors, down in the mid-hold. Two favorite Crew Stewards were Jerry Brooms and Raymond Tatum, both of whom could many amusing and interesting tales be told.

And don't forget Cassano's Pizza in Hannibal(now the tourist bureau), and the onion-covered hamburgers at Pete's in Prairie du Chien on Wednesdays and Sundays only! It was a little stand in a vacant lot on Main Street. They later opened one in LaCrosse but the urban renewal on the riverfront wiped that one out. Today the MQ gals like to go to Lagomarcinos in the Village of East Davenport. Its a local candy/ice cream parlor, guaranteed to round out your figure! One other unforgettable odiforous delicacy, especially in the hot weather: the blue cheese factory in Nauvoo.

Unfortunately the Blue Cheese factory in Nauvoo is only a memory. We were told awhile back that the Nauvoo company was purchased by a larger concern and the manufacturing operation was moved to another city. the property was then purchased by the Utah Church and torn down.

Old Nauvoo Wine is still available on the way out of town, however the grapes are no longer locally grown so we were told.

Talk about odoriferous: there was Capt. Wagner's occasional demand for Limburger cheese so he could have a Limburger and onion sandwich. Supposedly the two ingredients would cancel each other's obnoxious qualities, tastewise. Otherwise, they would clear the room of all those with sensitive olfactories.

Lex: I well remember those nights in the pilothouse when we'd made HUGE banana splits and Capt. Rip Ware admonished us as to how we were "going to get the diabeeeteez for shoah." I recall that we also consumed a ton of peanut butter crackers and that after a time I developed the skill of spreading peanut butter on crackers in a very DARK pilothouse! Many crew members always headed to Cassano's Pizza at Hannibal, Missouri -- and I know there were other favorites up and down the rivers.