In the galley with Sabi Csitari

I’m the head chef on M/Y Skyfall at the moment and we’ve just finished the busy charter season. I’m now going to help a friend out in the middle east to do a week’s charter over there.

Thomas Keller because he is the history.
Bjorn Frantzen because he is the best.
And Josh Niland because he is the future.

Spanish Smoked paprika, rendered chicken fat and fresh gambero rosso.

Momofuku from David Chang for the classic Asian recipes and tastes.
The Nomad cookbook from Daniel Humm because of the plating style.
Sergiology from Sergio Herman for blowing my mind.

Thermomixer , sous vide circulator, food dehydrator, paco jet, kitchen aid, robot coup and steamer and microplane and Japanese mandoline. Was this 3? ☺

The above plus good ovens and good cooktop. A real deal bbq would be just the cherry on the top.

In my opinion I’d say truffle, caviar and foie gras – they are both nice to use but I wouldn’t lose my mind over them just because they are expensive. Where I grew up we had goose farms around the town and we had foie gras way too many times.

Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac and fish bones.

Salt baked sea bass, lobster spaghetti and wagyu beef.

My mate Nathan Clements (he is a yacht chef as well), because I like the way he cooks and presents his dishes.

Limp Bizkit, Jay z, Chris Brown (sorry) ☺

Your mise en place is your bible!

I haven’t worked anywhere like Alaska or the South Pacific but I do remember parts of Sardinia were not easy. I use Google maps, and I seek advice from other yacht chefs and local agents.

The shopping is the best and worst part. I personally prefer to go shopping myself and pick out the stuff I deem perfect but then I have to carry a lot of stuff back to the yacht. I feel like I’m on a cross fit training programme when I have to do a “farmers carry”!

I’d say the prejudice of your name and your looks. I think the most important thing is how you actually cook but how many times does a yacht chef have to cook for the captain or the boss prior to be hired?

Most of the time they are right! There are a few exceptions but most of the chefs are prima donnas. Sometimes I tend to behave like that. When I’m aware of it I try to go back to normal ASAP.

On a normal level not a problem, but when they change from one day to another – that I won’t tolerate. For example, there was one crew member who was vegetarian but suddenly gave it up when burgers were served as the crew food. Then I stopped doing veggie dishes for that person individually.

Lambs brain, tripe, suckling pig, baked fish head.

Perfectly executed beef wellington, roast suckling pig and chocolate spheres.

I’ll ask them how would you do this and that and make them go into detail. I would ask about the smallest things. I would also ask which restaurants are their favorites and what cookbooks they read or they follow on social media.

Use less plastic wrap, don’t waste too much and never do unnecessary things.

Re-use leftover crew food and keep an eye on the veg and fruit in the fridge. Check to see if something needs to be used up first and don’t just ignore it and throw it out later – create your menus around what need s to be used up first.

A chef.