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Victoria Allman's SEAsoned: A Chef’s Journey with her Captain Reviewed By June Maffin of Bookpleasures.com
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/3536/1/Victoria-Allmans-SEAsoned-A-Chefs-Journey-with-her-Captain-Reviewed-By-June-Maffin-of-Bookpleasurescom/Page1.html
June Maffin

Reviewer June Maffin:Living on an island in British Columbia, Canada, Dr. Maffin is a neophyte organic gardener, eclectic reader, ordained minister (Anglican/Episcopal priest) and creative spirituality writer/photographer with a deep zest for life. Previously, she has been grief counselor, broadcaster, teacher, journalist, television host, chaplain and spiritual director with an earned doctorate in Pastoral Care (medical ethics i.e. euthanasia focus). Presently an educator, freelance editor, blogger, and published author of three books, her most recent (Soulistry-Artistry of the Soul: Creative Ways to Nurture your Spirituality) has been published in e-book as well as paperback format and a preview can be viewed on YouTube videos. Founder of Soulistry™ she continues to lead a variety of workshops and retreats connecting spirituality with creativity and delights in a spirituality of play. You can find out more about June by clicking on her Web Site.






 
By June Maffin
Published on May 30, 2011
 

Author: Victoria Allman

Publisher: NorLights Press

ISBN: 978-1-935254-37-9



Click Here To Purchase SEAsoned - A Chef's Journey with Her Captain

Author: Victoria Allman

Publisher: NorLights Press

ISBN: 978-1-935254-37-9


Come aboard, we're expecting you!”  Remember those words and tune from the Love Boat tv show?  I couldn’t get them out of my head as I read this delightful book by Victoria Allman and found myself aboard a luxury charter ship, cruising the Caribbean and Mediterranean with a most interesting crew headed by ship’s captain Patrick Allman and his wife, chef-extraordinaire and author Victoria Allman.  While I didn’t cook any meals, clean any toilets, rig any sails, steer into any port, offer hospitality to any cruise guests, I was on board! 

 Allman is a gifted storyteller.  I quickly found myself … concerned about mechanical problems that waylaid the ship for weeks … frightened by a group of feral pigs in the water that attacked Patrick …  enchanted by early-morning trips to local markets with foods, sights, sounds that tantalized Chef Victoria and invoked her creative-muse-within to make mouth-watering appetizers, entrees, main meals and desert delicacies … chuckling at the guests (like the couple who ignored Victoria’s plans for dinner and invited friends to dine with them at the last minute, the CEO who thinks he’s in charge, the wife looking for diversion, the Italian chef, the anorexic diva and bully of a husband, and delightful five year old Luke who taught Chef Victoria how to make the most delicious macaroni and cheese) … and hooked-into the romance aboard the ship and goings-on of crew members (including liasons in the middle of the night, a First Mate who got drunk one night and abandoned the ship the next morning). 

Author Allman has a way with words.  She captivates with her descriptive writing like this example of the Forville Market in France: “Market tables sagged with tomatoes the color of fast cars. The shine of the eggplants’ deep purple, almost black, skin formed a backdrop to the emerald green, tender zucchini. I searched for the freshest seasonal vegetables form tables laden with grey-green bulbs of baby artichokes still on the stalk and mounds of wild mushrooms gathered from the nearby woods. The damp musk of the mushrooms lingered in the air. I picked up a long braid of garlic from the table in front of me, brought it under my nose and breathed deeply.  The heady smell invaded my senses.”

How best to describe this book – is it a memoir?  a travelogue?  a cookbook?  Yes, yes and yes.  It’s all three!   And each is well written. This is Allman’s second book.  Is there a third on the horizon?  I hope so because I’m ready to “come aboard,” encounter new countries, new culinary delights and meet the guests and crew.  

 

Click Here To Purchase SEAsoned - A Chef's Journey with Her Captain