Departures Australia Summer 2023

36 DEPARTURES TRAVEL

36 DEPARTURES TRAVEL GOURMET GETAWAYS High Seas, High Tastes Cooking lessons with a view at Silver Nova’s SALT Lab Gone are the days of crowd-pleasing cruise-ship menus. With its innovative new SALT programme, Silversea offers passengers hands-on access to local culinary secrets, rare flavours and world-renowned chefs based on their global itineraries. by Gary Buchanan STELLAR CUISINE IS now writ large in the credentials of most ultra-luxury cruise ships, where a focus on fine dining has become the rule rather than the exception. At sea, epicurean panache often rivals that of renowned restaurants on terra firma. One cruise line that’s constantly ahead of the culinary curve is Silversea. In 2021, this much-lauded cruise line debuted SALT. This gastro fest is as much a celebration of culture as it is about eating. An acronym for “Sea and Land Taste”, the concept takes a foray into local food cultures to dazzle the most demanding palates. The intention is to connect guests to each destination through the prism of authentic food. This culinary tour de force has reached new heights aboard Silver Nova, a nonesuch in cruising’s style spectrum that debuted this August. In the SALT

Right: the SALT Kitchen’s elegant dining room; below: a dessert of chicory white chocolate with apricot at L’Argine a Vencò on a SALT Onshore Experience in Friuli-Venezia Giulia © SILVERSEA Kitchen, the Terrain menu offers a daily changing roster of recipes specific to the ports visited, while the Voyage menu draws inspiration from memorable flavours throughout the entire voyage. Putting many cookery schools on the back burner, SALT Lab is a superbly appointed high-tech, handson test kitchen with a marble-topped, horseshoe-shaped counter complete with 24 individual workstations, induction stoves, utensils and prepped ingredients. Here, eager bons viveurs discover the social side of crafting and cooking food the way locals do in the countries the ship visits. Each evening, this room transforms into the SALT Chef’s Table, a showcase for culinary alchemy. There’s a diverse selection of 11 bonnes bouches, plus paired wines and craft cocktails unique to the venue. This delectable three-hour pageant is helmed by two convivial chefs who conjure up collations whose ethos is provenance and seasonality. They introduce the dishes and expound on the stories behind the fusion of ingredients. These might include crudo gamberi rossi di Mazara from Sicily, served in a gilded “oyster shell”; and Venere riso nero accompanied by monkfish, chorizo crumbs and saffron aïoli. Mixology virtuosity is on full display in the adjacent haven that is SALT Bar, whose shelves contain an apothecary of spirits, many so rare only the most ardent aficionados recognise them. One signature SALT Shore Experiences are trailblazing forays into local cuisine and wines, along with insight from the chefs and tastemakers who conceive them cocktail is the Selene (Moon), a combination of gin, maraschino, lemon, apricot, peaches and citrus topped with an eye-catching smokefilled moon bubble that is perched atop the glass. SALT Shore Experiences are trailblazing forays into local cuisine and wines, along with insight from the chefs and tastemakers who conceive them. One tour heads to Collio in Italy’s Friuli region, nestled in the picturesque rolling green hills on the Slovenian border. Following a private tasting at the Le Due Terre winery, a tiny five-hectare estate that is farmed organically, guests are introduced to Antonia Klugmann, chef and owner of the Michelin-starred L’Argine a Vencò, a charming 18-seat restaurant housed in a restored 17th-century mill. Guests delight in a tasting lunch that reflects the region’s rich yet rustic cooking traditions and goes beyond the common clichés of traditional Italian cooking. With a strong emphasis on fresh local ingredients, the seven carefully composed dishes reflect a medley of cultural influences. Piquing the palate, these immaculately plated chef-d’œuvres are complemented by four aromatic wines from Duino Aurisina; Gorizia; San Giovanni al Natisone; and Torreano. The appetising gastronomy starts with cicala di mare; followed by cold-fried aubergines; strozzapreti pasta; ravioli in a lamb broth; sole DEPARTURES 37