A taste of life at sea on Qingdao TV

As his culinary world tour reaches East Asia, Qingdao’s cook and chief victualler, Lawrence Lingard has been enjoying his ‘celebrity’ status in his team’s home port on local television: China Food TV invited him into the studio to film two exclusive cookery programmes for Qingdao TV.

“I was extremely pleased to be invited to participate in the QTV show to demonstrate that even though you’re out in the middle of the ocean, you can enjoy a varied and nutritious diet.

“I was really surprised how much interest I have received about what we cook and eat on board; everyone is fascinated by the amount of calories we need to sustain our energy levels to keep powering the boat.”

While in the studio Lawrence worked with local chef and larger than life restaurant owner Jimmy, who was eager to get a taste of some of the dishes Lawrence prepares for the crew on board Qingdao.

A high calories energy boosting Chicken Cordon Bleu, which is made by rolling chicken with ham and cheese, was first on the menu, followed by a traditional English desert of apple crumble.

“Everyone has been asking me since I’ve been here, ‘please can you make an apple crumble.’ I’m not sure why it’s such a popular dish but it was fun to share the recipe with a new audience. I even showed Jimmy a typical breakfast that we like to cook of eggs benedict. The Chinese rarely cook with butter, but I think we both learnt a thing or two today.”

Lawrence, owner of Simplicity Restaurant in London, is the victualler for Qingdao and is responsible for planning all the menus, ingredients and getting supplies in ports of call during the round the world voyage.

Lawrence is using his experience on the Clipper Race to discover the world through its local cuisine, varying flavours and cultures. He meets international chefs along his journey who provide inspiration for meal ideas as he cooks up a variety of dishes for his Qingdao team mates. 

By contrast yesterday he joined dozens of other Clipper Race crew in meeting Qingdao families who hosted them for a tour of the city and to invite them into their homes for a traditional Chinese lunch.