Food that is made by hand and produced sustainably and locally – that is the essence of Viking Line’s food philosophy. Nearly 70 per cent of the ingredients for the food served on the company’s vessels are produced locally, and all the dishes in its à la carte restaurants are made from start to finish by hand. Offering high quality food to more than five million restaurant guests each year requires high ambitions and a great deal of work behind the scenes.
Food is an increasingly important part of the cruise experience for Viking Line’s customers – for many it is even the biggest reason for going on a cruise. At the same time, passengers have ever greater expectations about the quality of the food and about it being produced sustainably.
“People’s interest in food – in understanding and appreciating it – has clearly increased. Cooking shows on TV and an ever stronger quality restaurant culture in Finland have made cooking trendy and increased people’s desire to try new things. People also think that the origins of the food are interesting – our staff get far more questions than they did ten years ago,” says Janne Lindholm, Manager of Viking Line Restaurants.
“Vessels have traditionally been places where people have had a chance to get accustomed to new flavours and food cultures. Instead of focusing on the exotic, we here at Viking Line now give the greatest importance to quality ingredients, menus that follow the seasons and food preparation as a craft.”
The bulk of all the food served on Viking Line’s five vessels is prepared by hand in the vessel kitchens. In the à la carte restaurants, everything is made by hand, as are 80 per cent of the more than 120 dishes in the buffet.
“The kitchen staff on our vessels pickle the herring with seasonings, form the hamburger patties and season, roast and carve the beef. We can’t do everything ourselves on board, in which case we use products from our carefully selected partners. Among other things, meatballs are made on shore according to our own recipe,” says Janne Lindholm.
Viking Line purchases nearly 70 per cent of ingredients in its home markets – that is, Finland, Sweden and Estonia. That percentage has risen year by year, and people at the company work with great focus to further increase it. Producers must meet stringent quality criteria and also have the capacity to deliver ingredients in sufficient quantity.
“We do meticulous work behind the scenes. When we add new dishes to our food assortment, we always look for a suitable producer, first in Finland and nearby areas. The herring comes from the Turku archipelago, the chicken from Lieto, Finland and herbs from a garden in Mynämäki, Finland. We buy many of the vegetables from southern Sweden, where the growing season begins much earlier than in Finland. We serve certain products on only some of our vessels in order to buy them from small producers.”
The buying of ingredients is also closely linked to a seasonal mindset, which supports sustainability. The menus in Viking Line’s restaurants are changed four to five times a year, and special seasonal menus are created based on what is in season.
“Seasonal vegetables are superior in flavour and require less energy and fertilising than if they are grown out of season. When asparagus season starts in mid-May, we serve fresh asparagus from southern Sweden. In our buffets too, one fifth of the dishes are rotated out depending on the season. Right now, Easter is clearly a feature in our buffet: among the dishes being served are lamb and ramson (wild garlic) pesto, smoked mackerel and egg salad flavoured with seafood, and for dessert chocolate brownies and crushed chocolate eggs, for example.”
