When is a tart not a tart?

[claudiniusmaximus]

I've just got a back from a ship visit on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth...

 

I had phoned in advance to say I can't eat gluten and told not a problem. When got to the dining room today I mentioned it to the waiter who said "no problem - order anything you want from the menu and the chef will make it gluten free".

 

"Wow" I thought "That's impressive". So I ordered the goats cheese tart for starter.

 

When it arrived it was just the topping - no pastry base. As in, no tart! Just some goats cheese, a sauce and a garnish.

 

I'd imagined that as I was told the chef could make a gluten free version of the tart it would have a gluten free pastry base. But nope. Just the topping.

 

Can someone reassure me it's better than that on p&o?

 

I did read a while back someone on Princess ordered a dairy free cottage pie and it arrived without the mashed potato topping. So, a pie that's not a pie. A tart that's not a tart.

 

[emoji26]

 

 

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[Tom Baker]

How does one make a gluten free tart base, cook it and fill it within the 20 minutes it takes to deliver your starter?

 

On P&O what happens with people with dietary requirements is that they choose their dinner option the previous evening so a chef can prepare it specially

[claudiniusmaximus]

I didn't expect them to make a gluten free base within 20 minutes, Tom.

 

 

To be honest, I don't expect them to make a pastry base from scratch for each starter that gets ordered, whether gluten free or not. I don't think that's how it works. I suspect they have thousands of pastry bases pre-ordered in (if not thousands of pre made tarts).

 

So when the waiter said I could order anything from the menu and it would be made gluten free, I supposed that a percentage of those thousands of pre-ordered pastry bases were gluten free ones. Otherwise, why tell me I could have a gluten free version of it?

 

What I didn't expect was to just be served the topping!!

 

If the waiter had said "ah yes sir, we were informed you are gluten free and we'd like to let you know item A, C and F are gluten free, which would you like?" I wouldn't have minded. That's fairly standard.

 

It's a bit like saying "I'd like to order the gluten free ham sandwich" and just being served a slice of ham. Or "id like to order the gluten free pizza" and just being served some tomato sauce and cheese. Or even "I'd like to order the gluten free jam tart" and just being served the jam. And being charged the same price, regardless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 1, 2017 by claudiniusmaximus

[Trevor Fountain]

The fact that it had arrived, accompanied by sauce and a garnish, it could be argued that the goats cheese had indeed been 'tarted up'.

 

tr.v. tart·ed, tart·ing, tarts Chiefly British

To dress up or make fancy in a tawdry, garish way. Often used with up.

[claudiniusmaximus]

[emoji38][emoji31]

 

"Tarted up goats cheese" [emoji44]

 

But no, my mum ordered the same and got the full tart (pastry base and all). She's not gluten free.

 

 

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[Florry]

Hi, I can't eat egg so have similar problems as it is often used as an emulsifier, glazing agent, binding agent etc. Historically on P&O I've had similar experiences to the one you describe, a prime example is beef wellington without its Wellington [emoji23] anyway, on my last cruise I went to see the chefs at the dietary meeting in the morning of the first day, they said that special alternatives could be made. So, when beef welly was on the menu, I preordered and the next day was looking forward to finally having beef welly. Well, what arrived was very odd, it wasn't flakey pastry but some sort of rock hard shell - I suspect it was the gluten free option....

 

 

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[claudiniusmaximus]

Hi Florry that's really useful thanks - I didn't realise that there was a dietary meeting with the chefs that's really good of them! Very reassuring:)

 

 

 

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[Florry]

Hi Florry that's really useful thanks - I didn't realise that there was a dietary meeting with the chefs that's really good of them! Very reassuring:)

 

 

 

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Yes it's a new thing, look out in the Horizon newspaper it's usually on the first morning. The diet chef comes an takes your order each evening, I think P&O cater for gluten free quite well, there is a special section in the buffet, although not huge. I suspect if you are quite firm about your requirements from the beginning they will cater to that the whole cruise.

 

 

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[goodsailors]

We were on Queen Elizabeth two years ago and a gentleman at our table was on a gluten free diet. After the first evening when he explained his situation each evening after that the head waiter gave him the menu for the next day from which he chose what he wanted for the following day, it seemed to work perfectly for him.

 

Surprised the OP had difficulties or, was it only the 'tart' on the first night that there was an issue?

[claudiniusmaximus]

I was on a ship visit.

 

 

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[Slugsta]

We were on Queen Elizabeth two years ago and a gentleman at our table was on a gluten free diet. After the first evening when he explained his situation each evening after that the head waiter gave him the menu for the next day from which he chose what he wanted for the following day, it seemed to work perfectly for him.

 

Surprised the OP had difficulties or, was it only the 'tart' on the first night that there was an issue?

 

The OP said they were on a ship visit rather than a cruise.

[Eglesbrech]

I suppose with notice eg on a full cruise they could whizz up some gram flour pastry, bread etc.

 

I actually enjoy it for a change from the normal

[groovechick]

I've just got a back from a ship visit on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth...

 

I had phoned in advance to say I can't eat gluten and told not a problem. When got to the dining room today I mentioned it to the waiter who said "no problem - order anything you want from the menu and the chef will make it gluten free".

 

"Wow" I thought "That's impressive". So I ordered the goats cheese tart for starter.

 

When it arrived it was just the topping - no pastry base. As in, no tart! Just some goats cheese, a sauce and a garnish.

 

I'd imagined that as I was told the chef could make a gluten free version of the tart it would have a gluten free pastry base. But nope. Just the topping.

 

Can someone reassure me it's better than that on p&o?

 

I did read a while back someone on Princess ordered a dairy free cottage pie and it arrived without the mashed potato topping. So, a pie that's not a pie. A tart that's not a tart.

 

Like Florry my children had a severe egg allergy (now thankfully grown out of), but several times on P&O they've ordered things which have arrived "deconstructed" :D - spaghetti and meatballs with no spaghetti, just two meatballs in the centre of a plate! Would it have been so difficult to pop on some rice or potatoes, whatever was the accompaniment to another dish on the menu?

The dietary requirements meeting is a big improvement. Last time it was necessary to talk to the restaurant staff, I had to queue for an hour and a half with all the pax trying to change dining times, then they tried to send me away before I'd seen anyone because it was time for the muster drill - that wasn't happening!