Itinerary | Buenos Aires | Buenos Aires (2) | Montevideo | Punta Del Este | Day at Sea | Itajai | Santos | Paraty | Rio de Janeiro

My day at sea began with breakfast at the Terrace Cafe. This was a buffet style breakfast with some of the most wonderful breakfast food I've seen. The menu included the usual breakfast meats, eggs, cereal, fruit, fruit juices, etc. But it also included a ham that was carved for you, crepes that were freshly made, etc. I neglected to take my camera with me for this...now I regret that decision. Lesson learned: when you keep an online travel log, be shameless about taking pictures of everything. :-)

At 11:15am, there was a cooking demonstration in the Venetian Lounge that was done by Paul, the Executive Chef. He showed us how to cook two dishes: a Spicy Tuna Ceviche and an Orange-scented, Tomato and Parmesan Stuffed Pork Loin. He consulted the sommelier to pair these with a wine and we got to taste both the dish he prepared as well as the wine selected. While I didn't get a photo of the Ceviche being prepared, I'll still relate the recipe here.

Ingredients, serving 4 portions

200 grams Yellow Fin Tuna, Sushi Quality
1/2 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper
1/2 Green Bell Pepper
1 Green Jalapeno Pepper
1 Shallot
Cilantro
Salt/Pepper
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Lemon

Method:

1. Chop the bell peppers and the shallot in a fine Brunoise (small pieces).
2. Slice the tune in brunoise and mix it together.
3. Add the fine chopped jalapeno to the tuna.
4. Add the strained juice of 1/2 of the lemon and the soy sauce
5. Roughly chop the cilantro and add with salt and pepper to the tuna
6. Leave it to marinate for about 10 minutes in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestion:

Cut a cucumber into thin slices and place them in a circle on a plate. Place a ring in the middle of the plate and place the tuna inside. Take a lemon wedge (seeds removed) and place it together with a sprig of cilantro on top. Crush some fresh pepper all around.

Orange-scented, Tomato and Parmesan Stuffed Pork Loin served with Sauteed Spinach and Provencal Jus
with
Punotto, DOC Barbera D'Alba, Piedmont, Italy - 2003

Ingredients, serving 4 portions

600 grams (approximately) Pork Loin
5 Tomatoes
30 grams grated Parmesan cheese
1 orange
2 tbsp chopped basil
salt/pepper
500 grams spinach
1 chopped onion
Olive Oil
1 tbsp butter
200 mL Veal Jus (Veal Stock)
1 tbsp chopped thyme
1 tbsp chopped oregano

Method:

1. Take the pork loin and cut it lengthwise almost all the way through and unfold it (butterfly the loin).
2. Peel the tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in four pieces and remove the seeds
3. Zest the orange mince the zest. Sprinkle the pork loin with basil, grated parmesan, and the orange zest.
4. Place the tomatoes on the top and roll up the pork.
5. Use a piece of butcher's twine to bind up the loin and then season it with salt and pepper.
6. Heat a pan and melt butter until golden brown. Cook the pork loin for about 15 minutes by turning it often; then put aside to rest.
7. Wash the spinach in salt water. Blanch the spinach in boiling water and immediately put it in ice water to cool down. Chop it up and make sure all of the water is removed.
8. Saute the chopped onions in a hot pan with the olive oil, add the spinach and season it to taste.
9. Take a metal ring and place it in the middle of a large plate. Slice the pork carefully and place it on the top of the spinach. Pour the sauce around the plate and garnish it with roasted cherry tomatoes and orange segments.

Left: Butterfly cutting the pork.

Right: Once opened up, the pork loin is stuffed with the seasonings, orange zest, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.

Left: Paul zesting the orange. He cut the pieces into a fairly large mince so that "you can taste it better."

Right: The pork loin cooks in butter in a hot pan.

After the cooking demo, I changed into my swim trunks and t-shirt so I could go to the pool deck to lay out and then hop into the hot tub. Mom suggested we also grab a game from the library. We managed to find a scrabble set and took that with us up to the pool deck. We were soon spotted by Dany who wanted to play the game with mom, so I watched them get started. It was entertaining because English is not Dany's first language, so mom had to help him out a little bit every now and then. It was a learning experience for them both. I went and hopped in the hot tub while those two played and it didn't take long before I noticed something funny. Christy and several other female guests on the boat started gathering around Dany and watched him play. It was obvious which one of the two players had a fan club. As it turns out, the game was pretty close. Then Dany suggested they try playing it in Spanish. That was fun to watch as we all learned a few choice words. Keep in mind that this game was played while being served refreshing adult beverages. :-)

Dinner that night was the great! The menu featured the pork loin that we tasted earlier that day. It was even better with the bigger portion we got for dinner. While many guests went to the Venetian Lounge after dinner to enjoy a show, I decided to go relax at the Panorama Lounge up by the pool deck. I got to sample the martini's offered (I was particularly fond of the Cosmopolitan I had) and I enjoyed the night air and the company of some of the other guests who dropped by later in the evening.

There was karaoke in the bar that night too. I stopped by there shortly to listen for a bit, but it was simply too crowded and I was too tired to deal with it. The voices I heard were very good, though. My mom stayed and reported that she had a blast that night.

Itinerary | Buenos Aires | Buenos Aires (2) | Montevideo | Punta Del Este | Day at Sea | Itajai | Santos | Paraty | Rio de Janeiro