Last spring celebrity chef Elizabeth Falkner became the newest — and first female — member of Holland America Line’s Culinary Council, a group of chefs from around the world. Now, guests can sample Falkner’s menu additions aboard the Holland America Line ships.
The new dishes will be seen on the main dining room menu of the line’s 15 ships. In addition to Falkner, Holland America Line’s Culinary Council members include council chairman and master chef Rudi Sodamin, along with renowned chefs Jonnie Boer, David Burke, Jacques Torres and Charlie Trotter. Each of the Culinary Council members contributed signature dishes to Holland America Line’s menus.
Among the flavors that Falkner is working with, guests can count on a little spice, whether it is from the Cajun-inspired shrimp, andouille and grits served with braised okra and roasted poblano peppers, or the Asian influences in the vegetable curry with forbidden rice and soft shell crab pad thai.
Not all of Falkner’s dishes have heat. A taste of piedmont surfaces in Falkner’s radicchio salad with warm bagna cauda, a play on the Italian regional dish served with toasted hazelnut and a warm dressing of anchovy, garlic and truffle oil.
Falkner stepped into the national spotlight as a competitor on television shows including “Next Iron Chef” and “Top Chef Masters.” Currently she is at the helm of Luis Gonzalez’s new Upper West Side restaurant, Corvo Bianco. Before delving into the savory side of the industry, she was a pastry chef based in San Francisco, Calif., with a James Beard nomination for pastry chef of the year in 2005 and a successful cookbook, “Demolition Desserts,” that was a finalist for the Julia Child Best First Cookbook award in 2008. In December 2012, she was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame.
For more information, visit www.hollandamerica.com.