MSCC System
Introduction
Life at sea can be tough. Heavy weathers, intensive schedules, long contracts, no weekends and the never-ending horizon can make you lose sense of time. Within this endlessness, regardless of rank and function, every meal on board provides, not only the necessary nutrients but even more, a beacon, a moment in time to share a meal with your peers. People find time to talk to one another, share experiences on the job, but most importantly, talk about life in general, share stories and laughs. Camaraderie serves as a surrogate for loved ones left behind, and friendships are forged around the dinner table.
The role of the quality of the food within this process is often underestimated, even though it is pretty obvious. Good food is above all a moral booster which can make a big difference in anyone’s day-to-day performance. We believe there is a strong correlation between good food and the level of care and maintenance towards the vessel. On his turn, a well-maintained vessel will have a lower cost in repairs caused by lack of maintenance.
In short, food is not the core business of the company, but it plays an important role in our effectiveness as a team to sail a tight ship and keep our vessel at peak performance.
The role of the chief cook historically.
Within this process, the role of the chief cook on board has been essential ever since the age of discovery back in the 15th century. An efficient, well organized and decent cook could make a big difference, as often mutiny would revolve around lack of decent food. In those times, as the processes on board copied the circumstances on shore, cooks had quite a few challenges:
Preservation leaned on processes such as smoking, pickling, etc
Storage facilities and provisions were often limited.
More crew needed to be fed as all sailing processes were still manual labor.
Cooking facilities and accommodation were limited.
The time provisions had to last was often unknown.
Sailors back then survived on one meal a day if they were lucky, often only consisting of a hump of bread and maybe some leftovers from the officers. The lack of decent food was often compensated with some good rhum. The chief cook’s task back then was pretty straight forward: cook and make stores last until the next port.
A few centuries later, our standards have evolved on many levels, often to the chief cook’s benefit:
We have decent cold rooms, refrigerators and freezers to our disposal.
Preservation of food has become a scientifically substantiated process.
Due to automation and technologically advanced processes, we have less crew to feed.
Cooking accommodation and technology is advanced and only limited by budget.
We know how long our provisions have to last and when our stores will be replenished.
We have unlimited access to cookbooks and recipes through the internet.
However, evolution of our standards also has some consequences towards the expectations and have resulted in a new set of challenges:
Sailors are entitled to three meals per day.
Lunch and dinner are three-course menus, including soup or starter, fruit and dessert.
Multicultural crews and MLC-2006 regulations dictate multiple main courses to be prepared to accommodate all nationalities and cultures on board.
Ever more stringent HACCP and food safety regulations result in more administration and an increase in proceedings (e.g. maintenance, cleaning, registration and archiving of actions).
Requisitions have become a hybrid scientific and digitalized process which generates extra administration for the chief cook.
The unlimited access to recipes and cookbooks implies higher expectations towards variety and culinary knowledge of the chief cook. In practice this implies the chief cook continuously has to upgrade his culinary knowledge.
The chief cook’s actual activities have shifted towards 65% cooking and prepping and 35% other activities, ranging from cleaning and maintenance over learning new recipes and cooking techniques up to a full range of administration. The chief cook function has evolved from a fulltime executive function to a more management-oriented function in which he has to include his executive duties.
Therefore, it is incomprehensible that the executive processes on board have barely evolved since. Every day, the chief cook will cook all meals for that same day and that same day alone, while the technology, science and techniques behind cooking and food preservation have evolved drastically, an evolution which has had major impact on all processes in all other food related branches on shore.
Maritime Systematic Cooking Concept
Where we are aware that many processes on shore are even more automated and evolution on board in general is always a few steps behind, often due to legal and budgetary limitations, many of the processes that are in play in restaurants, hotels and even food factories can be adapted to a maritime environment. From our own experience in the food industry on shore, we have distilled the Maritime Systematic Cooking Concept (MSCC), a multi-phase system which gradually adapts and upgrades the processes in the galley.
Goal of the MSCC
As already stated, the MSCC is a multi-phase program, meaning it involves several processes that will be gradually introduced to the galley. The system aims to bring resolve to the following challenges:
Bring all vessels up to standard towards food safety and HACCP regulations.
Standardize equipment throughout all vessel classes.
Streamline and align administrative galley processes on all vessels.
Streamline galley executive processes.
Improve time management.
Increase knowledge on food preparation techniques.
Increase product efficiency and reduce waste
All of this should result in better and safer food on the table, while reducing workload for the galley team, this with a minimal investment in materials.
The phases
Phase One focuses on bringing all vessels up to standard towards food safety and HACCP regulations. As we need to facilitate all chief cooks to keep that standard, this will automatically involve standardization of equipment and administrative organization for all galleys. This phase also defines handover and correct maintenance of essential galley equipment.
Phase Two focuses on streamlining the galley executive processes and time management. This is achieved by adaptive menu planning, to which all handles will be provided.
Phase Three focuses on a culinary upgrade, where the introduction of new cooking and preservation techniques and cultivation of fresh herbs and spices should bring the chief cooks to a next level, increasing food quality while reducing waste.
Gradually new phases may be developed or phases may be adapted towards a multitude of challenges presented.
