Sims - The Boat Cookbook: Real Food for Hungry Sailors

Big, simple flavours combined brilliantly inventive, unpretentious and delicious.

HESTON BLUMENTHAL, OBE

Fionas passion for all things nautical is only eclipsed by her passion for good food and a glass of wine, preferably at sea. With or without a boat, Fionas book is a delicious treat.

MICHEL ROUX JR

Fiona cooks from the heart and her recipes really hit the spot for rustling up a quick, delicious meal, whether on board or at home.

ANGELA HARTNETT, MBE

Its sometimes difficult to come up with new recipes on board, so a book like The Boat Cookbook, with its mouthwatering recipes, is a valuable addition to a boats bookshelf you will never be short of crew again!

SIR ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON

Ah, smell the sea air! These were always the first words my nan uttered when we arrived on the Essex coast. You could spot our large family from a mile away, having the biggest picnic on the beach. That smell will make you hungry, Chris, she would say. And she was right: there is just something about the sea that switches our appetites into overdrive.

Sitting on the beach I used to wait patiently for the other highlight of the day: watching out for the Thames barge with its tan sails, ghosting up to the shore. A plank was thrown over the side and a ride around the pier cost half a crown per family. How I dreamt of this trip; in fact, I can honestly say that for nearly fifty years this passage has rarely left my dreams.

I recently took the plunge and bought the boat I fantasised about all those years ago and of course my focus was quickly drawn to the tiny galley. Having spent a lifetime cooking in some of the best restaurant kitchens, achieving my other childhood dream of attaining a Michelin star, now was the time for me to address my sailing ambitions. And it made perfect sense: to my mind, food and the sea form one of those great natural marriages we chefs are always looking for.

And then theres wine, which is where my special friendship with Fiona began, and how I came to be writing this foreword.

I have always enjoyed reading Fionas food and wine journalism. All snobbery banished and simply explained, her writing feels like she is leading you by the hand through famous vineyards and legendary kitchens, seeking out those undiscovered grape varieties and local ingredients, and chatting warmly about the qualities of the vine and the passion in the kitchen.

Over the years I have been lucky enough to get to know Fiona as being good as her word, always making people feel welcome at tastings, sharing her wisdom and knowledge; someone who is very democratic in her views and advice, possessing the gift of making you feel that no question is too stupid to ask.

When Fiona told me she was writing this book I thought it was a brilliant idea, and I was even happier when she asked me to contribute a couple of recipes. Having eaten some very odd dishes while on my Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses, I feel that this book will become a much-loved and essential part of any sailors library, next to their almanacs and pilot guides.

Inside these covers, Fiona has included her personal favourites, and has also managed to persuade a treasure trove of British sailors and top restaurant chefs to contribute generously, creating and sharing some of their own recipes, making this book a very special collection of inspirational and achievable ideas.

Whether a beginner in the galley or a more experienced cook, you cannot fail to improve your food on board after reading this. And even with the tiniest galley, it will provide ideas for you to be able to sail in style. Anchoring for a lunch of fish stew with gremolata couldnt be simpler or more delicious, and will soon make you a very happy crew indeed.

Fiona has chosen these dishes like her wines, with a discerning eye. The book is simply arranged into sections that are easy to reference: Galley, In Harbour, At Sea, At Home and Booze. When I received the first draft of the recipes they looked balanced, delicious and begging to be cooked, but most importantly they take into consideration the disciplines needed to cook on board lamb with sumac and butter-bean mash has already become a favourite with my family without leaving the shore.

There really is something for everyone to try and enough scope for you to really spoil yourself and your crew the next time you are on board. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I intend to happy cooking!

Chris Galvin

Chef Patron, Galvin Restaurants

You can blame my dad for this book. He kept losing the scribbled-down recipes that I gave him to improve his basic cooking skills. The few he has managed to remember have perked up his menu and he now whips up penne with sardines, fennel and pine nuts in place of tinned Bolognese, and does a mean lamb and artichoke tagine with lemon couscous instead of packet beef stew and powdered mash. So now theres no excuse for any sailor stuck on a tin treadmill.

When I sail with Dad, thats another matter. I arrive on board laden with fresh herbs destined for a salad, or warm frittata that I made at home earlier; a tin of my own flapjacks tucked under my arm to keep us going through the day. If were away overnight, then my bag is stashed with goodies to rustle up supper and breakfast. For longer forays, harbour shops are eagerly anticipated, with the best produce sought out after some brazen quizzing of locals.

This book might be useful to those on long ocean crossings, but really its intended for people, like me, who sail at weekends, either around their own coasts, or to nearby countries. And its for those who like to spend their holidays on boats, and others who have time for longer, more leisurely cruises, putting into port on a regular basis. Not forgetting those of you who might dream of a life on the water but prefer to stay firmly on land these recipes also work for the time-strapped cook with limited equipment but a yearning for big flavours.

The eighty-odd recipes are mostly mine, with the rest borrowed five from world-record-breaking yachtsmen and women, who generously shared their galley secrets (including a gloriously trashy tortilla pizza thanks, Dee Caffari), and another five from top British chefs, who gave their elegant recipes a suitably nautical spin: mackerel tartare, anyone?

Most of the dishes can be completed in 2030 minutes tops, and most are enough for four hungry sailors, though a few dishes are for two (they just work better that way on board). Virtually all the ingredients are available at the supermarket, and where they arent, Ive included online contact details.

There are five sections in all, starting with Galley, which includes advice on kit to buy and ingredients to stash. Its followed by In Harbour, which focuses on dishes to be enjoyed with only a quick row from a mooring to the shops, allowing you to spend a little longer in the galley. Then At Sea, for when you want to rustle up something quick and sustaining but always delicious; and At Home, for all those boat essentials that can be cooked in advance. Finally, but no less importantly, Booze, because we know a sailor likes a drink. But while posh wines are great, plonk can be good even plonk in wine boxes and wine boxes so work on boats, with some good ones out there now.