Review: Carnival Kitchen El Fuego, a Latin Incident with Dinner

[dropbackandpunt]

I was recently on the Mardi Gras for the week of December 16-23 and my wife and I signed up for the evening dinner class, "El Fuego - A Latin Incident class with dinner."  We booked prior to the cruise but space was not an issue for this particular class as there were only two other couples there.  The class started at 6 pm on a port night.  We had already taken a couple of the day classes so the staff was familiar with us and welcomed us warmly as we arrived in order to fill out the quick health survey (checking boxes that you don't have a fever, the runs, etc.).

 

  For the class we made Peruvian ceviche, Colombian Arroz con Pollo, cheese empanadas, tortilla soup, and Lomo Saltado.  All ingredients were neatly organized for us at our work station and instruction from the chef was pretty easy to follow.  As we prepared each dish we were able to scoop some out on little dishes in order to sample and all of us there made the mistake of believing that this was when we should get our fill of what we were making.  They would take away the dish after you finished it in order to make more room so we all kept trying to pile a little more on the little plates to eat.  At the conclusion of our cooking they indicated we could sit down at the tables with the place settings (our big obvious clue that we were getting food later, duh) so that they could feed us a fully prepared feast of the dishes that we had just prepared. 

 

Comparing what we personally prepared vs what they whipped up was nice as in all cases but one (the soup) I felt like my wife and I did just as good if not a little better.  I'm not sure what they did different with their soup but all of us there were blown away by how different the prepared soup tasted compared to what we made (we all thought we did pretty good but the one they brought out was out of this world good).  They brought out a selection of wines to have with dinner but as my wife and I do not drink I can't speak to what they had or if it was any good.  The other couples seemed to enjoy them for what that's worth.  The classes was scheduled from 6-8 but it was about 8:15 when we left.  We left our email addresses and received an email later that night that included all the recipes for the dishes we made including the dessert that they served us that we did not make in the class.  We had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and food.  I love cooking and it sounded like at least one person from each of those couples shared the same passion.  If a cooking class sounds like a good time for you I'm pretty sure you would enjoy this one.  

[ldubs]

Sounds like fun.  I don't understand the use of the word "incident" in the description of the class. What does it mean?  

[dropbackandpunt]

8 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Sounds like fun.  I don't understand the use of the word "incident" in the description of the class. What does it mean?  

No clue at all.  That got churned out of whatever focus group was spitballing name ideas for the class.  

[Drazil65]

We were on the same cruise and almost signed up for this class but it interfered with another reservation we had at the same time.  So happy to hear you enjoyed it and it will probably be something we will plan on doing in the future.  Thank you for the review and details, sounds like you had a blast! 

[Mike45LC]

35 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Sounds like fun.  I don't understand the use of the word "incident" in the description of the class. What does it mean?  

I also don't understand the word "Latin" in this context.  No Romans were mentioned and the dishes don't sound Italian or Roman.

[ldubs]

3 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I also don't understand the word "Latin" in this context.  No Romans were mentioned and the dishes don't sound Italian or Roman.

 

Latin food makes a lot of sense in this context to me.   I don't think I've ever thought of Latin food and Romans being connected, but what do I know.    

[ColeThornton]

18 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I also don't understand the word "Latin" in this context.  No Romans were mentioned and the dishes don't sound Italian or Roman.

 

Partial definition of Latin...

 

.

Relating to the countries or peoples using languages, especially Spanish, that developed from Latin.

"Mexico and other Latin countries

[ShellieB]

We booked the Italian class for our upcoming cruise on the Celebration but I've been debating adding the Latin class too. This sounds fun and delicious. I think I'll add the 2nd class. Thank you for your review!

[edspec]

Thank-you for this.  We were on the Panorama on her third cruise and tried 3 of the Carnival Kitchen classes.  We didn't enjoy them much and I think it was because they weren't very organized, the pacing was off, basically I think too new of a concept.  It sounds as if they've fixed those issues, I will look forward to trying the classes on my next Carnival cruise.

[jimbo5544]

Great post.  I think we would totally enjoy the experience.  Thanks for posting your expereince.

[carohs]

Ooh this sounds interesting. How did you sign up ahead of time, was it under excursions?

[dropbackandpunt]

5 minutes ago, carohs said:

Ooh this sounds interesting. How did you sign up ahead of time, was it under excursions?

It is under Specialty Dining with the Steakhouse, Rudi's, etc.

[Elaine5715]

All tomato based soups taste better after they sit for awhile

[TravelBluebird]

I took this class on the Carnival Celebration earlier this month!

 

I also really loved it. Like you, I didn’t realize there would be a whole entire feast prepared for us after the class!  Needs to be better explained. I really liked a few of the extra twists our chef threw into the dishes we were cooking. We also had a small group for our class; perhaps because it was for dinner? We liked that it was dinner—it was like having a small, private specialty dinner!

 

Would definitely take another Carnival Kitchen class!

[cyntil8ing]

On 12/29/2023 at 3:12 PM, Mike45LC said:

I also don't understand the word "Latin" in this context.  No Romans were mentioned and the dishes don't sound Italian or Roman.

Ever heard of Latin America? Here’s another surprise for you — Latinos don’t speak Latin. 😀

 

The class sounds interesting. My son would love it, both the food and the cooking. 

[Roscoe13]

On 12/29/2023 at 11:46 AM, dropbackandpunt said:

No clue at all.  That got churned out of whatever focus group was spitballing name ideas for the class.  

I almost signed up for the Irish potato catastrophe class but it wasn't available.

[babsinpbg]

Thank you so much for posting this. We took the pasta making class on the Celebration recently and really enjoyed it. Couldn't find a lot of info on the Latin dinner so we skipped it, but I'm def booking it next time. I think the Carnival Kitchen is a great addition to the new ships and well worth the $$.

[dropbackandpunt]

8 minutes ago, babsinpbg said:

Thank you so much for posting this. We took the pasta making class on the Celebration recently and really enjoyed it. Couldn't find a lot of info on the Latin dinner so we skipped it, but I'm def booking it next time. I think the Carnival Kitchen is a great addition to the new ships and well worth the $$.

We are doing the pasta class in March on the Jubilee. I've heard a lot of positive feedback on it so we are really looming forward to it.

[BossyKat]

I signed up for this on the Celebration and I'm so excited!!!

 

Have done the pasta making class on the Panorama!  So glad they are adding more choices, the kitchen is

beautiful!

[ninjacat123]

My mom and I did a Carnival Kitchen class making empanadas and other nibbles on MG.  We had a great time!  Thanks for posting about this!!