Chef’s Chat

by Jens Oomes photos Jelle Vervoort

The general idea of chefs is that they are artistic, temperamental and interesting. It is their passion and creativity that can make a tremendous difference to the guest experience on board. Islander Editor, Jens Oomes interviews chefs to catch a glimpse of how they see the world.

Since 2011, Chef Jelle Vervoort has worked on several sail and motor yachts, ranging from 19m to the iconic 88m Maltese Falcon. The questions I ask Jelle are answered by a born storyteller. His tales of culinary successes, adventure, anger, fear and euphoria are supported by a wide range of facial expressions and gestures. My favourite one was the pause-and-grin that came with anecdotes of mischief.

Jelle tells me, “Growing up we spent the summers in Spain on my uncle’s 18m De Vries Lentsch. Those memories are of course engrained in my mind and responsible for my venturing into the yachting world. My passion for cooking was born from simply helping my mother, as a child, with the daily cooking - especially when we had parties. Cooking became my biggest passion. Impressing people with food gave me a lot of joy.”

Jelle explains that he went on to have formal chef’s training, and how the internships soon revealed how tough the kitchen environment is. “ ...especially when you mess up the head chef’s oysters and he launches a hot copper saucepan at your head!”

I see the horror reappearing on Jelle’s face as if it just happened!

“When chefs yell and swear at each other in the kitchen or galley, they know it’s never personal and they never have hard feelings for their teammates. They simply know they have a job to do, and they keep each other on their toes.”

Styles and trends

I asked Jelle about his cooking style, signature dishes, and what he believes will be the upcoming trends:

“People generally try and define cooking by French, Italian, Asian, etc. I try not to be limited by those boundaries. My career has taken me to many places, and I have seen many styles of food. I truly try to cook for the moment based on the ingredients and work with my proverbial catch of the day. My technique is based on French, but I love all types of food. I define it as Seasonal International Cuisine. The seasons are the most important thing in my cooking. I would never search for ingredients that are not in season in the region I am in. Eating in season goes with the logical trend to work more plant-based. People are thinking more about where their food comes from and what it does with them. We see the term ‘Mood Food’ appearing more and more. People want to have balanced meals and not go into a food coma after a lavish meal. For the same reason, alcohol-free cocktails are on the rise.”

Kitchen versus Galley

The life of a Yacht Chef is surely very different from a la nd-based Chef who owns their own restaurant. I ask Chef Jelle if food cost is something that a Yacht Chef with an unlimited budget has to consider. With determination, he answers ‘not if - but how’ to manage food costs:

“Today, chefs can use mobile phone applications to help maintain and manage their accounts. This helps not just with the cost but generally makes you buy and cook more efficiently. I always say “the profits of a restaurant are in the waste bin”! The less you have to chuck in there; the more you have sold. Out of respect for food and an owner’s budget, any good chef will apply this ethos on board a yacht – even with an unlimited budget.”

Do you think the life of a Yacht Chef is easier than that of a land-based chef?

“On land, you have more time with your family. You earn less, but you have more spare time to do what you love.”

Proudest moment

When asking Jelle for his proudest moment, the plot twist in his answer once again reveals how he loves entertaining people.

“On Maltese Falcon, I cooked for Mr and Mrs Brin. Sergey Brin is the co-founder of Google and perhaps the most famous vegan in the world. He told me I prepared the best KFC he had ever tasted!” (Cue: pause-and-grin.)

How do you make a vegan Kentucky-Fried Chicken?

“You don’t! I prepared it for his wife. He had a bite and said: “Woooow!” It definitely had chicken in it. The crust was made of spelt and sesame cornflake crumble, breadcrumb and delicious herbs.”

“Doing my Beetroot Show Cooking gives me a good feeling too. With the help of the Stewardesses, we prepare a display directly on the dinner table. In the end, the table looks like a painting, and a beetroot-based meringue, wafer, espuma, ice cream and crumble dessert is ready to be enjoyed by the guests. I take two steps back and watch their reactions.” … Final pause and grin!