I hear every time I get together with friends that there is not much work in the winter months in Palma.  But in the STP shipyard there is lots of work on repairing yachts. It is a season to fix, repair and revitalize to prepare for the next season.

At Sabor Vegan Culinary Academy we realized that the fastest growing area of our academy was coming from the two areas: 1) The Yachting World, 2) Environmental Sustainability sector.

On Environmental Sustainability there is an interest from large companies around the world to have people that can show their employees how moving to a vegan way of life is more economical, healthier, and more sustainable. So both the company and the employee wins in the long run. I will write about the next issue of Islander Magazine.

In the Yachting World people are coming from all over to brush up on their culinary skills and to add a new coat of varnish to their CV by adding vegan training.

In January of 2016 our academy held its first workshop exclusive for yacht chefs taught by myself and Svenja Galle of the famous Mallorca vegetarian/vegan restaurant Bellaverde in the the port town of Port Pollensa.  I decided to devote this article to each of the students that came and their story. I believe it paints a picture for those thinking about coming for training what is drawing people to a vegan way of life.

Tess Quintana

Tess is originally from Argentina and she started cooking at a very young age, around her mother’s kitchen. As an Argentinean, you get used to do everything around the food: family gatherings, friends, fun parties, barbecues and guitars. Nothing suits better than a good vino and a good story. She has been working in the yachting world for a long time on various type of yachts and due to having a yoga and therapeutic background, she is improving her culinary knowledge towards a more healthy standard and way of eating. Tess says that at Sabor Vegan Academy you learn how to create conventional dishes with a new twist that will please the healthy palates. Tel +34 634 319 397 Email tessquintana@gmail.com Tel +34 634 319 397 Email: tessquintana@gmail.com

Emmeline Gee

I find it incredibly proactive and professional when someone from one line of work trains in a completely different world simply to enhance their clients’ experience. Emmeline is originally from Devon, UK and has lived in Mallorca for 3 years. She runs the very popular company Angels on Board, providing massage, beauty and fitness services for charter yachts .  She took the time out of her busy schedule to learn more about veganism and health, and said it would help her to better meet the needs of clients who may only want oils and other massage products that are vegan.  She also said that working in the wellbeing industry, it is always helpful to provide your clients with some gems of knowledge that help them remember you.  Emmeline learned that eating one Brazil Nut per week could lower your blood pressure. Emmeline is a perfect example of how veganism is touching every corner of the yachting world. Tel +34 628 805 588 Email: info@angels-on-board.com

Hollie Duncan

Hollie is an international freelance chef originally from Australia, she has been working globally on private luxury motor yachts (50 to 70m) and villas for 5 years for high end clientele. She promotes wellness through fitness and food, specialises in Paleo cooking. Hollie has noticed a fast growing trend in yachting vegan clientele and raw diets from celebrity influence. Hollie came to the academy wanting to gain specialty knowledge and learn new molecular gastronomy techniques. Sabor Vegan Academy shares with students how to use natural algae and salts to create dishes that would show like a Michelin Star chef. Tel +33 6 28 98 35 41 Email: holliegolightly85@gmail.com

Emma Broome

Emma is from Wiltshire, UK and has worked in the yachting world for over 5 years.  She wanted to expand her knowledge of the vegan culinary skills as it is the fastest growing movement in the food world. Emma has a diploma in nutrition, and has worked with elite athletes globally. Emma came to Sabor Vegan Academy to learn about the health aspects of switching to a vegan diet and how she can improve her own health while eating and serving delicious food.

Tel: +44 7894 706150 Email: culinaryacrobat@yahoo.com

Molly Mykisen

From Las Vegas to Mallorca… an interesting journey.  She says she was landlocked in the “island of Las Vegas” and she wanted to pursue a life in sailing.  Molly has all the certifications to work on a yacht and is even pursuing potential training in the male dominated world of engineering or navigation on super yachts.  She wants to show the yachting world that as a women she can enter the man’s world – and she thinks she can do it through the galley.  Molly is a vegan and believes that she can open people’s minds by showing them to eat a wide variety of flavors they could have never imagined. She has trained at our academy to learn about the flavors of the 21 countries that touch the Mediterranean Sea in our V21 Course. She continued with our Yacht Chef Workshop to learn from our instructor Svenja Galle who runs the top vegetarian/vegan restaurant on Mallorca and has also done work for Sunseeker in attracting global customers through her decorative plating techniques. Molly said learning to make bacon that is 3X more protein, is healthier for you than pork, and makes people come back for more is her way of convincing captains and engineers that she can be part of changing the yachting world. Tel: +34 661 793 431, mollymykisen@gmail.com CV: https://goo.gl/qYlUI9

Verity Chase

Every story has an interesting journey.  Verity, originally from the UK, works on a private sail yacht and she herself is a vegetarian.  She did not come to convince her crew or clients to switch to veganism. She merely came because she wanted to lead the way when they came to her asking for vegan meals. Tel +34 664 155 493 or +44 7719 987554 Email: Veritychase@hotmail.com

Sonja Mehmel

Originally from Kiel on the North Coast of Germany I told Sonja it was very coincidental where she grew up.  It just so happens that Sabor Vegan Culinary Academy’s first trainee years and years ago was from the same town and came to us to help her fight breast cancer.  Today that student is now providing advanced raw vegan training on super yachts in Monaco.  Sonja came to us to meet the growing demands of German clients who are now 8-10% vegan and are always looking for good vacation food that is also healthy for the planet and for the human body.  Sonja took copious notes when we explained how certain foods can help reverse the effects of diabetes, prevent cancer and also help with gastrointestinal problems. She said, “It is amazing that owners and crew do not even realize how healthy they are eating and especially for the guys that they are not even missing meat on their plate. On my last yacht I had been cooking nearly entirely gluten free and dairy free and no one actually noticed it! They just noticed how good they felt at the end of their holiday”.  Sonja believes that the best medicine we can give the human body is good, healthy food.  Tel: +49 157 58988109 sonja.mehmel@gmail.com

Lars Molin

Everyone that reads this magazine is probably also part of the popular Palma Yacht Crew Facebook group.  Lars is the founder of this group, Antibes Yacht Crew and a number of other yacht crew communities worldwide. Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark he joined the yachting industry in 1993 as deck crew. I asked him how many times he had to cook onboard to which, he replied “almost never”. However, this past season, his present yacht had an all vegan charter, which really was an eye opener to him. The Chef was indeed challenged, but with the help of the charterer, he succeeded to such an extent, he was later offered a job at their private residence, while also wanting to attend a future class at the Sabor Vegan Culinary Academy. The Yacht Chef Vegan course teaches a few simple tricks that can be used to handle people, who are very particular about veganism, including how the kitchen is run, which products are onboard in the bathrooms, crew mess, lounges etc. Despite the name of the course, Lars felt all the vegan theories discussed in class would benefit any crew at any level. As he went back for second plates, his response was “this is different, but actually really good !”.
You can reach Lars at palmayachtcrew@gmail.com for an elaboration of his testimonial.

So the world is changing very quickly in light of our ability to quickly research information on the internet about the foods we eat.  Even when it comes to alcohol at Sabor Vegan Culinary Academy we show how certain wines are making people sick and why – wine making processes that are vegan eliminate those problems.

Come join a Vegan Yacht Chef workshop and develop skills to better interface with your clientele, meet the needs of your charter, or simply enhance your CV to embrace the major wave of change that is coming in the form of simply tasty food.