Ship Steward’s Handbook

by J.J. Trayner & E.C. Plumb

Introduction by The Rt Hon John Prescott MP

‘…a good Steward needs to know as much about food as to how good service is provided’

From the introduction to Ship Steward’s Handbook, by The Rt Hon John Prescott MP, who served as a ship steward on the great Cunard Liners between 1955 and 1964

This charming little handbook was first published in the 1950s as an aid to stewards in the Merchant Navy.

With an emphasis on pride in one’s work, and a thoroughness and dedication to the highest level of service, it sets out precise instructions on a steward’s duties from table etiquette to cabin service and is packed with all sorts of fascinating facts, tips and hints. Evoking the heyday of the passenger liner and the emerging cruise industry, there are authentic examples of breakfast and dinner menus for first class and tourist class, definitions of French terms, sauces to accompany meat dishes, basic cocktails, through to the practicalities of getting a drinking glass sparkling clean, and even how to lay a table in rough weather!

Stewards were instructed to remember a long list of special requirements for their passengers including the following:

>> Which passengers liked cheese with their apple pie?

>> Roast Pork: apple sauce, crushed pineapple? With or without stuffing?

>> Soups: melba toast or crackers? Turtle soup: lemon? Bortsch: Beet juice and sour cream?

>> A la carte orders: knowing how long an order for a sirloin steak, roast poussin, lamp chops would take to prepare and cook.

>> That a high tea menu consisted of poached egg on poached haddock, assorted cold meats, Russian salad, macédoine of fruit and cream, white and wholemeal bread, tea cakes, assorted pastries, jams, honeys, Indian and China Teas.

>> Which wines to serve before, during and after dinner, as well as the correct etiquette in how to serve champagne and knowing that a good cigar produces a firm, grey ash which lasts a considerable time before falling!

>> Glasses should be washed in warm water…rinsed…and dried with a linen cloth (linen does not leave fluff on the glass…). If water jugs have a “waterline”, clean off with potato peelings. (Care of Equipment).

>> Sauces are semi-liquid foods devised to make other foods look, smell and taste better and hence more easily digested, and more beneficial to the body.

Relevant to any service industry and workplace and not just the Merchant Navy, many of the instructions in this handbook will be just as useful today as they were 50 years ago!

E. C. Plumb and J. J. Traynor were teachers at the National Sea Training School at Gravesend. In their own words, ‘The aims are that these notes will guide young stewards setting out on their careers afloat…’

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