Life on the ocean waves

When Sharon was a young girl she used to travel back and forwards to Africa where her father worked as a railway engineer.

There were long periods in the bush, punctuated at intervals by trips home to England by ship. Sharon's mother and father enjoyed the long leisurely dinners taken properly dressed while Sharon ate in the nursery. She can't remember anything about the food but says she was never hungry.

Neither were her parents. Here is a menu from a voyage to Nigeria on the M.V. Aureol, dated June 5, 1963. The Captain was W.E. Humphreys, the Chief Steward, W.H Neild, M.C.F.A., and the Chef de Cuisine, P. Brindley, M.C.F.A.

Cold Buffet

Jellied beef consomme, Vichysoise, prawns in jelly, sole in aspic, gammon ham, veal and ham pie, lambs' tongues, roulade of veal, haunch of venison. Salads: lettuce, tomatoes, beetroot, yam yam. Dressings: mayonnaise, French, creme crue. Lemon and vanilla ice cream, iced coffee.

Dinner

Appetisers: Juices: Prune, pineapple, tomato, grapefruit maraschino.
Soups: Consomme Dumont, cream Marie Stuart.
Fish: Fillets of Plaice, Meuniere.
Farinaceous: Risotto Milanaise.
To Order, 10 minutes: Eggs Princess.
Vegetarian: Dutch potato mould.
Entree: Sweetbreads, Guizot.
Chef's Special: Guinea Fowl Orleans Style, sauted, deglaced with red wine and veal stock garnished with button onions, mushrooms and diced ham.
Roast: Quarters of Canterbury lamb and mint sauce.
Vegetables: Garden peas, creamed parsnips, parsley, browned, creamed and Pont Neuf potatoes.
Sweets: Golden pudding, coupe Singapore, bombe chocolat, lemon and vanilla ice cream.
Savoury: Croutes au baron, fruit bowl, assorted nuts, coffee.

“Coffee and liqueurs will be served as Passengers desire, either in the First Class Lounge or in the Smoke Room.”

On the front of the menu above the words Elder Dempster Lines, is a colourful picture of a bird. The caption on the back tells us: “West African Bird Series, No 18. The Orange Weaver (Euplectes franciscana). These are the loveliest of the species and are often wrongly described locally as the Firefinch. They are polygamous and have a characteristic bobbing flight.”

Of course the menu was printed in England by Forman of Nottingham.

Sharon says: “I always used to sit on the rocking horse in the nursery because the motion of the boat going up and down over the waves used to make it go by itself. So, I didn't have to make it go, I just used to sit on it and I would be rocked. When we used to pass through the Bay of Biscay and it was a bit rough, I used to pretend I was a rodeo rider because the rocking horse would rock more vigorously.”

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