On board, everyone works hand in hand, but there are different tastes.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner: These are probably the most important events on board all of Hapag-Lloyd’s container ships. After all, when the food is good – and it is with Surakah Morales – the work is much easier. We spent a day with the Filipino ship’s cook.
It is 6:30 in the morning somewhere on the North Sea between The Hague and London. The sun is turning the mirror-smooth sea into liquid gold, and there’s not a trace of wind to be found. Surakah Morales, the chief cook on board the “Guayaquil Express”, doesn’t have time to admire the scene. In a good mood, he is standing at the galley counter in his chef’s uniform preparing breakfast for the crew. “We’re having pancakes today,” he says while beating countless eggs in a huge metal bowl. Then comes flour, milk and oil, which he stirs into the eggs with a whisk to form a smooth dough. Morales performs his tasks so professionally that it’s easy to imagine him on a TV cooking show.
Depending on their shift, crew members come to the canteen and officers’ mess starting at 7:30 a.m. – some with special preferences, a few with allergies, but all with a healthy appetite. “When I come on board, I first figure out who has what eating habits or allergies so it can all be taken into consideration,” he says. And while the crew are building up their strength for the day, Morales is already chopping ingredients needed for lunch. There will be leczo, a Polish vegetable stew with smoked sausage – as the captain and some of the crew are from Poland – while the Filipinos are looking forward to pork ribs with rice. “On board, everyone works hand in hand, but there are different tastes,” Morales explains. “Filipinos prefer to stick to their own kind, including when it comes to food.”
While the dishes are simmering away in the pots, there’s time for a coffee. Morales is now enjoying the view from B deck, but you can literally see him planning the next steps and hand movements in his head. For dinner, there will be pizza and boiled beef tongue with rice.
Surakah Morales Chief cook on the “Guayaquil Express”
Beef tongue stew may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the Filipino crew members love it – with rice, of course!
The cooling system of the walk-in fridges is so ingenious that the goods stay fresh for weeks
Whether breakfast, lunch or dinner: Everything is prepared fresh on board. Surakah Morales also makes sure that there’s plenty of variety. Pizza, chili con carne, Polish leczo and salmon are among the dishes on the weekly menu – and the crew is grateful for it.
Born in Manila, Morales learned how to cook from his father. “He worked as a radio operator on tankers, but cooking was his passion – and it became mine, too,” he says. As a young man, he learned his trade in various restaurant and hotel kitchens. “It’s backbreaking work,” Morales notes.
“If you don’t enjoy it, you shouldn’t be doing it.”
He went on board at the age of 27, taking a break between contracts at a certain point to complete a three-month course in Germany to learn how to cook German food, too. “Eintopf, sauerbraten, schnitzel – those kinds of things,” he says, referring to stew, roasted beef marinated in vinegar and herbs, and veal cutlet. “It took some getting used to, but now it’s routine for me.”
Three walk-in fridges and freezers were filled in Hamburg
For almost five years, the friendly man has been cooking, baking and frying for Hapag-Lloyd. “Of course, I miss my family in Manila, including my daughter Deborah and my son Subaru Yohan,” he admits.
“But when I’m at home, we get to spend a lot of time together.”
And when asked who cooks, Morales responds with a smile: “My wife. I only do it for special occasions and requests.” Then he heads back to the galley or, more precisely, down to the cold store chambers. Three walk-in fridges and freezers were filled in Hamburg – the 30-page delivery list for everything that would be needed on board included everything from vanilla sugar to suckling pig. The provisions will suffice to reach South America, where new supplies will be loaded. Morales is stocking up on ingredients for the pizza toppings, while the beef tongue is already bubbling away in a strong broth on the stove.
Large container ships with up to 20.000 TEU board up to 25 crew members
Source: maritimepage.com
If Surakah Morales cooked for the crew all year round, he would cook 27,375 meals.
*estimated number
I need my peace and quiet when I’m cooking...
When asked if he ever gets a bit lonely working by himself in the kitchen, Morales says: “To be honest, I need my peace and quiet when I’m cooking; other people would only get in the way.” That is, of course, everyone except Julius Tayabas, the steward. He sets the tables, does the dishes and handles a range of other galley-related tasks. The two have been a team for two months. “Things are going great with Julius,” the cooks happily says.
After dinner at 5:30 p.m., the galley will be quickly cleaned, and then it will be time to call it a day. “Most evenings, I go to the gym to wind down a bit,” Morales says with a smile. “I usually go to bed quite early and fall asleep easily while planning the next day in my mind.”
Dream team: Cook and steward work hand in hand when baking pizzas. Surakah Morales (right) and Julius Tayabas both come from the Philippines.
A short break – and then it’s back to work: fillet of beef on Sunday. “From raw to well done, I cook it for everyone as they like it,” the cook says.
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