Culinary cruising

The obsession with chefs knows no boundaries. Now it has invaded the high seas, with the Holland America Line outfitting each of its 14 ships with demonstration kitchens, each worth more than $US1.5 million...

The kitchens - or to use their official title, Culinary Arts Centres - are standardised across the fleet and resemble the kitchens we've grown accustomed to seeing on television. As well as all the latest equipment, each kitchen has two 42-inch plasma screens so passengers don't miss a single whisk or dice. Between 100 and 245 passengers, depending on the size of the ship, can be seated in the auditoriums facing the kitchens.

The marketing director for the 137-year-old cruise line, Erik Elvejord, says it has been money well spent.

"The centres have been hugely popular with our guests," he says. "The activities in the Centre, be they seminars, demonstrations or hands-on cooking classes, are consistently the most popular activity on board."

Children and teenagers don't miss out on the fun either, with programs aimed at introducing them to the pleasures of cooking. And this coming year, Holland America ships will host more than 60 mainly American celebrity chefs, authors and wine experts.

Australian chef Benjamin Christie, who has worked at the Watermark Restaurant, the Banyan Tree Resort in Indonesia and Angsana Spa Resort, as well as presenting the television show Dining Downunder, will be the chef on board the MS Volendam when it leaves Sydney on January 6 for a 14-day Pacific Treasures cruise.

See hollandamerica.com.