2 minute read
Food on board
By: Henrik Berglöf
Stina Tumegård's title is “Product Manager of Food and Quality”. Simply put, you could say she is the person responsible for the food on board. In her work, she puts a great amount of effort into finding a good combination of dishes, collaborating with suppliers, and continually developing sustainability work. But when asked, she will tell you that the most important work done takes place on board the ships.
“It's the chefs, pantry chefs and everyone else working on board that make things happen. We think it's important to make as much food as possible from scratch on board. It should be home-made, but on the ship,” says Stina Tumegård.
Each year, more than one million servings of food are served on board Destination Gotland's ferries and it is during the 45 minutes between launches that everything needed for meals is loaded onto the ship. Much effort is devoted to finding suppliers from Gotland – currently, travellers can find potatoes and meat from Gotland on the menu.
“Naturally, it makes us extra happy to find suppliers from Gotland who can manage to deliver the large quantities we need. But it's the quality that makes us want to cooperate with local suppliers,” Stina tells us.
So that everyone can find something to eat on board, enormous efforts have been made to come up with new vegetarian and vegan dishes. The vegan hamburger has quickly become the favourite of many.
“In developing it, our goal was to make the vegan burger so delicious that everyone would want to eat it. Even meat lovers. The result is a delicious soy burger with black bean spread, salsa and vegan mayonnaise that is made in Klinte in the middle of Gotland,” Stina tells us. Classic meatballs made of Gotland beef and served with home-made cream sauce and buffet cucumber is the most popular dish. Gotland new potatoes accompany the dish when in season. When not, mashed potatoes are served.
“What's most important to me is that our guests like our food. For our staff to be able to make good food on board, they need the right conditions and good raw materials. We offer food that our chefs are proud to make and our servers are proud to present.
DID YOU KNOW?
That more than one tenth of the burgers sold on board are vegan? That the eggs served at breakfast were laid on Gotland? That the cucumber from Gute Delikatesser that is served with our meatballs won the Swedish Culinary Championship? That the bread for our burgers and shrimp sandwich come from Gotland bakeries? That the coffee cups are made of cardboard containing grass and that the lids are made from sugar manufacturing by-products? That all meat and chicken served on board are Swedish?
