GRIFTER’S TALES
Eggs Benny, oven bacon, and a little morning preparation
Breakfast??? On a slave ship—oh, oh, I mean a workboat? There’s the morning joke out of the way. In my experience, breakfast aboard can be a big thing or barely a thing at all. A lot comes down to how the boat is run—and, yes, the captain.
If you’re on a crew that gets a proper breakfast, congratulations. If you’re the one cooking it, here’s your play: it’s all in the prep, dude.
Keep the quick fixes ready
Have milk, yogurt, fruit and easy breakfast options available, as fresh as you can manage. Some mornings call for a plate of something hot. Other mornings, people want something quick and simple.
Either way, it helps when breakfast doesn’t begin with a treasure hunt through the fridge. Know what you’ve got and what you’re going to use before the morning gets away from you.
The plated meal is where you can shine
When you’re putting a proper breakfast on the table, you don’t have to make it complicated to make it good. Here are a couple of my go-tos.
| Breakfast | My approach |
|---|---|
| Eggs Benny | Powdered hollandaise makes the sauce side of things easier. Follow the packet instructions and get the other parts ready to come together. |
| Bacon and eggs | Use the oven for the bacon so the stovetop has room for the eggs. Set a timer and check it as it cooks. |
| The quick option | Milk, yogurt, fruit and other easy choices for the mornings that need them. |
Let the oven help—not run the whole show
Oven bacon is one of my favourite ways to make breakfast easier. It gives you room to work on the other parts of the meal without another frying pan taking over the stove.
But “set and forget” is a joke, not the method. Keep cooking attended, use a timer and check the bacon; the timing depends on the oven and how thick it is. Deck chores can wait or be handed over while you’re responsible for hot cooking.
🏴☠️ The goal: breakfast on the plates before the crew starts looking at the cook like he’s the next item on the menu.
A little prep goes a long way
Get the ingredients organized, make room to work, and think about what needs to finish together. A straightforward breakfast, done well, is a good start before the deck work begins.
Need more ideas? Take a look through our cookbooks, including The Pirate’s Cookbook.
Both images are illustrations created for this story.
