I
S
DA A
20
-
- C
B R AT
G
R
LE
N
A YE
Creating gourmet delights in Canada from a kitchen on the rails
E
IN CA
N
Behind the scenes with Rocky Mountaineer’s mobile galley
A
Towering above the world, covered in pristine snow and fringed with lush alpine forests, the tantalising beauty of Canada’s lofty Rocky Mountains seems picture postcard perfect. With the launch of Rocky Mountaineer three decades ago, the grandeur of the majestic ranges has been made accessible to guests on board the luxurious railway. While the railroad is no doubt an engineering marvel, every minute that the train is in motion, even more marvellous forces are at work inside it.
Throughout the awe-inspiring train journey, guests are treated to high quality food made with the finest local ingredients. From gourmet snacks, to three-course lunches, each elegantly plated meal is carefully planned by a full culinary team, overseen by award-winning chefs working out of a tiny moving kitchen… less than eight metres by three metres in size. Equipped with everything you’d expect to find in a normal-sized commercial kitchen – steam ovens, stoves, grills, fridges, and dishwashers – the on board kitchen is one of the smallest commercial kitchens in the world.
PAGE 28
Working out of this tiny kitchen is no mean feat. The culinary team of around 105 people undergo an extensive training program to make sure they are comfortable and, most importantly, safe in the environment. Needless to say, safety is paramount in a moving kitchen flawlessly serving 700,000 plates of exquisite fare every year. The on board culinary team has strict regulations – pots can only be filled half-way for boiling, all the shelves have safety rails, fridges and oven doors have safety catches, and deep frying and open flames are a strict no-no.
