The Other Engine Room
One place where there was almost constant crew activity 24 hours a day was the ship's galley. Although not quite as hot as the main engine room, this hive of activity happened to be the source of some of the best food to be found anywhere!
Even if we weren't paid very well by Cunard, we as stewards could certainly eat almost as well as the fare-paying passengers. The main hot food part of the galley was arranged in a square with a wide surrounding aisle. Around the perimeter were arranged the cold food pantries, the fruit rooms and the dishwashing facilities (one for each restaurant).
For a long while now I've been hoping that a picture or two of the galley would surface for me to place here. I'm indebted to Len Danson for providing the photograph seen below.
The Joint Press of Caronia's galley
Click on picture for larger image
[Photo: Courtesy of Len Danson]
What it shows is the hot press at what I believe to be the forward end on the starboard corner. (Click on the picture to bring up a larger version) The hot press was divided into three main sections.
Starting from the port side there was the “soup section” shared with the “hot dessert” later in the meal, then the “vegetable” section, and finally the “joint” section.
This was known as the hot press because of the high serving cabinets seen in the foreground. They were steam heated and the storage point for hot clean plates of every description.
Luckily, someone has left the sliding doors ajar so that we can see how and where the plates were stored. They were cleverly “floated” on a sprung base. This not only avoided breakages but also eliminated any noise of china vibrating on a solid base inside a metal box. Being lifted by their support, the plates were easy to withdraw; very useful bearing in mind just how hot they could get!
Similar facilities were duplicated on the aft end hot press. On the two sides of the square were areas that served the fish dishes, farinaceous and speciality dishes. These areas served both restaurants.
The really special items like caviar were served near to the Chef's desk, port side, slightly forward of centre. There were two other hot food service areas not sited in the main square. These were the grill and coffee pantries.
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Gibraltar
