EMPRESS OF BRITAIN'S KITCHENS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 84, 9 April 1938, Page 18

EMPRESS OF BRITAIN'S KITCHENS

Tomorrow morning the Empress of Britain, the largest luxury liner that has ever visited New Zealand, is due in Wellington harbour. It seems a great pity that she will not be open to the public, as a visit to the kitchen would be a revelation to Wellington women, for if the equipment of these kitchens could be reduced to household proportions, what a joy it would be to the average housewife. Great steam dish-washers can handle 100 dishes at a time, and there is a giant washer for glass. Knives, forks, spoons, and other table silver are handled by a machine which polishes them for use. This is just*as well, as there are 31,000 pieces of silver aboard, and an average of 4000 dishes, 1500 glasses, and 5000 pieces of silver are used for each meal. The little matter of cooking demands the services of 90 men. There are 12 chefs and 10 pastrycooks. For vegetables a,ione there are eight men, and the sole object in life for six more is to prepare tempting salads. The baker, with six assistants, turns out an amazing variety of bread and 12,000 rolls, piping hot, every morning. Fish? There are a thousand and one ways of preparing fish, but the Empress of Britain's special cook, with three assistants, knows of one thousand and two. WORK FOR MATHEMATICIAN. In the catering department of the Empress of Britain, there are 390 people. They will deal with 17,0001b. of turkey, 60001b of duck, and 32,0001b of chicken; 840 brace of game, and 12,0001b of ham, 20,0001b of bacon, and j 70001b of pork. The imaginative might like to guess how far 20001b of sausages would stretch, and how many lambs would make up a total of 30,0001b. Then how much Yorkshire pudding would accompany 60,0001b of beef. Then, in the larder, there will be just 45,0001b of fish, and just the bare 152,000 eggs. There were 140,0001b of potatoes taken on board, 35,0001b of sugar, 12,800 gallons of milk, and 1600 gallons of cream. Then there are vegetables, tea, and coffee, and other beverages, even to 850 gallons of tomato juice. More fresh fruit and vegetables are , loaded at ; every port. Four thousand five hundred tons of water are carried. In the laundry department, items such as 15,000 sheets, 14,000 pillow-1 'cases, ■■ 10,000 bath towels, ■-■ -2000 table cloths, and 25,000 serviettes are normally dealt with. ■ Of course, there is a printer's shop. There is' a newspaper, notices of all kinds, menus, pamphlets, and invitations to be printed. SHIP'S GARDENER. There are more than a thousand growing plants on board. An experienced horticulturist, whose profession might once have rivalled the mythical "horse marines," spends the entire voyage looking after them. He has some Asparagus sprengerii, which are now enjoying their third world cruise. The ship is more than a floating hotel, she is a floating holiday resort. Her deck space is not far short of I

HOUSEKEEPING ON GIGANTIC SCALE

the fairway of a golf course, and two double-decker buses could drive through the huge funnels. It is scarcely surprising that the tennis court is regulation size, but if one feels the need for country diversions one has only to wander round the booths of a typical old English fair where there are hoopla stalls, coconut shy men, and fortune-tellers. There is plenty of social life and a constant round of entertainment, on board—movies, bridge parties, treasure hunts, lectures, swimming meets, gymkhanas, dancing, tennis matches, cocktail and dinner parties, club meetings, and so forth, make the distances between ports all too short. The children's, nursery contains all manner of games and entertainment

for the younger fry. Along the walls are moving figures from nursery rhymes, and a fine Indian tent and a rocking canoe lend;a sense, of adventure. Four tiny white cots, where the J little ones may take a hap under the I watchful eye of the nursery stewardess, are also provided. DENTIST AND BEAUTY SALON. As well as a hospital, with a senior surgeon and staff of nurses, there is an up-to-date dental surgery in the charge of a qualified dentist on board the Empress of Britain. The beauty salon is panelled • in sycamore to represent the cliffs of Dover, and is equipped with the last word in beauty appliances. There are six of the most up-to-date dryers in the lounge, and there are ' four operators. A steam permanent waving machine, claimed to be,the latest, is available. ~ . . ; . The men Appreciate the barber, shop, and there is a room set aside for a qualified chiropodist.