Last season local charter yacht chefs in the BVI all contributed their favorite recipe to create a new cook book named aptly Dining on Deck. This book is full of scrumptious recipes that are served to charter guests on-board during their sailing holiday.
Yacht chartering has come a long way from the days of “Salad Girls”- name given to the galley slave, mate or person on-board in charge of meals. Nowadays, this position is filled by qualified and professionally trained chefs. Indeed some are self taught but they can produce more than sandwiches and salads in a galley half the size of most household kitchens let alone gourmet restaurant kitchens.
Working in the yachting industry I get invited to dine on yachts and to sample the delicious cuisine. This starter is one of my favorites that was prepared and served on a 47ft catamaran Nauticat of Fowey chartering between the Virgin Islands and the Grenadines. Now the chef did own her own award winning restaurant in Cornwall, UK so she knows how to prepare international gourmet and British comfort foods.
Prawn and Mango Philo Tart
Ingredients – serves two
2 sheets of fill pasty
50 g butter melted
1 mango cut into 1 cm cubes
1 avocado cut into 1 cm cubes
Handful of salad prawns pre cooked
Four larger Prawns pre cooked for decoration
2 tomatoes skinned, deseeded and flesh cut into 1 cm square chunks.
A few leaves of romaine lettuce finely shredded or rocket.
Dressing
4 tbs sour cream
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Small bunch of fresh coriander finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Method
Set oven to 375
-To make the fillo baskets:
Lay the two fill sheets one on top of the other and cut into four square of approx 10 cm x10cm.
Brush all over with melted butter.
Place one piece into a large muffin tin and then place a second on top making sure that the sheets are rotated slightly to get an interesting pattern of the corners. Continue until each case is four layers thick and all the squares are used up.
Place the tin in the oven and cook for a few minutes until the cases are a nice golden brown colour – be careful as they burn very quickly!!!
To cool take them out of the tin and place on a wire rack to cool. You can keep these in an airtight container for a couple of days until needed.
-To make the filling:
Mix The mango, prawns, avocado, and tomato and lettuce in a bowl.
Mix all the dressing ingredients together.
Pour half the dressing over filling ingredients and mix well.
Carefully spoon the filling into the tart cases , place the extra large prawns sitting on top and spoon over the remainder of the dressing.
Dining on deck in a different location everyday is a big part of your luxury yacht charter. ENJOY!