28Isea&iISPRING-SUMMER 2010ingredients, I then make everything on board - from bread to pastries,pasta, gelati, sorbets and petits fours. Local people are very proud oftheir food so they tend to share information and recipes, and I makeit my priority to buy organic and research the origin of my ingredientsso I can genuinely talk to my guests about the food they are eating.Mediterranean food is in my blood but I also love working withJapanese, Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. I once spent a few monthsworking in Japan, and making sushi and sashimi is like working witha canvas of beautiful colours. I particularly like combiningVietnamese and French, or Japanese and Peruvian influences. Twoof my favourite dishes are blue fin tuna with jalapeno confit andsu-miso sauce, and Kobe fillet with fava-bean emulsion and red andorange anticucho sauces.The beauty of this industry is that it drives you to keep abreastof different cuisines. Solely focusing on one or two would bea mistake. But the secret is not to go too far. Some ingredientsshould not be mixed no matter how original and innovative it mightmake the dish. Moderation and harmony are incredibly important.My aim is to find the perfect balance between food that amazes theeye but is still honest. master craftersTwo of my greatest influences are Carlo Petrini and Alice Waters -I've met and cooked for both and they are wonderful. The formeris the Italian who started the Slow Food movement around 20 yearsago. Alice Waters then took the concept to California where itflourished, and now every respectable restaurant talks about local,organic and sustainable foods. Thomas Keller [The French Laundry]and Ferran Adrià [El Bulli] are also gourmet masters - they inspireyou to give everything you have to achieve perfection. AndGiancarlo Giannelli inspires me. He runs the previously mentionedLocanda dell'Oste Poeta in Tocchi - a tiny Italian town where only30 people live. He does what he loves, how he wants, and theresults are spectacular."nTaste notes with.Angelica BiaforaAngelica Biafora has spent the past decade grilling, roasting, sautéingand baking her way around the world's finest restaurants and yachts.She now works her culinary magic as chef on board High Chaparral"Iwas born in Capri, and one way or another I have beenaround yachts and wonderful food all my life. I've been luckyto combine the two in my career. I originally trained at theCulinary Institute of America in New York and Le Cordon BleuInstitute at the California Culinary Academy, and I have botha culinary arts and a patisserie degree. Over the years, I've workedin some of the best restaurants in the world, including El Bulli[Catalonia, Spain] and The French Laundry [California, US] - bothwith three Michelin stars. But it was growing up with amazing cooks(the women in my family) that taught me to love honest food thatputs a smile on people's faces.After years working in restaurants, it seemed natural to take myskills to sea. I worked on two private yachts and the expeditionyacht Seahawk before my current post on High Chaparral. It is hardwork but I love it. I usually wake around five in the morning andgo to bed after midnight. I spend almost all my time in thegalley, although sometimes I'll nip out to buy fresh fish or visita local market.Working on a yacht is such a great opportunity to explore cuisine;having so much exposure to constantly changing influences makesit easy to come up with ideas and create new menus. EverywhereI cruise I try to visit the best restaurants, particularly ones withupcoming chefs. Among my favourites are Locanda dell'Oste Poeta inTuscany in Italy, and a small restaurant in Tokyo where I had the bestfish I've ever tasted. Its name translates as 'come in if you like'.a taste of the good lifeI see cooking as an evolving and creative art form that should bekept amusing without losing touch with the honesty of theingredients. I find it really exciting to adapt menus to suit cruisingareas, and I love using all the techniques I have learned frommasters of modern cuisine. Pre-charter, I try to gather as much information as possible so I havea very clear idea of the guests' preferences. Using regionalcharter cuisinePhotography: Jeff Brown / Jérôme Kélagopian

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