What's on the menu of an Antarctic cruise?

13 February 2024

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the food on board an Antarctic expedition would be practical and bland, simply fuel for the hardworking scientists. However, the meals and snacks have delighted the team so far!

Gui Bortolotto (University of Aberystwyth)

Sure, we have a lot of work to do and time is short. Aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough, researchers and crew spend most of the time doing science. But when we are not working or sleeping, we may be eating… and the food has been good!

Apart from delicious breakfasts, lunches and dinners, the apparently unlimited supply of amazing ice-cream is an always present temptation: chocolate chip, strawberry, lemon curd and cherry swirl (my personal favourite, and of the chief cook!) are the colourful flavours that few people can say no to.

Let us not forget that we are in a very cold environment, and we need that extra energy to maintain body temperature. Did I mention that we are all working very hard, and we need extra energy for that too? Anyway, exercising daily looks like a good idea to balance things out.

A group of us have been doing a 25-minute exercise every day. Some are using exercise circuits, and others walk outside on the deck.

Prof Karen Heywood

Here on the ship, all the food is cooked for us, and it’s easy to get very lazy and eat too much. There’s a cooked breakfast with delicious home-made pastries, cereal and toast. Earlier in the cruise, there was plenty of fresh fruit available which was lovely, but now, after four weeks at sea, it’s just frozen or tinned. Lunch is some kind of soup, followed by a substantial main course. Dinner is also soup of the day, a main course, and a pudding – usually one that reminds me of school dinners, such as apple crumble with custard. Main courses typically have plenty of potatoes in various forms – chips, wedges, roasties. Today, it’s lasagne which I’m looking forward to.

There’s always a vegetarian choice. We’re already missing fresh vegetables. There are just a few sad-looking tomatoes left. And there is a ship-wide shortage of cheese! But there is a drawer in the social area with endless chocolate, and there are always ice cream cones available! Each day some treats appear – cakes or traybakes. It’s a good thing the Chief Scientist’s cabin is on the sixth deck so I have to climb up and down several sets of stairs all the time! Strangely, my trousers seem to have shrunk – it must be the ship’s tumble dryer, mustn’t it?