From serving birthday cake in an ancient Scottish palace to perfectly plated duck confit on a luxury cruise ship in the Amazon, 75-year-old riverboat chef Malcolm Green isn\u2019t showing any signs of turning down the steam. In fact, he says he\u2019s just getting the engine revved up.<\/p>\n
As co-owner and master chef for Kosher Riverboat Cruises, he\u2019s literally traveled the world; but while his passengers are out exploring exotic ports\u00a0\u2014 from the sun-drenched beaches of the Caribbean to the icy shores of Antarctica\u00a0\u2014 Malcolm Green is doing what he does best: running a glatt kosher kitchen in the far-flung corners of the globe.<\/p>\n
Despite the picturesque scenery and luxurious surroundings, Malcolm prefers the insular world of the galley. \u201cYeah, I don\u2019t see much of that,\u201d he says, referring to the cerulean waters and sandy shores that others rave about. \u201cI\u2019m in the kitchen. That\u2019s my office. The ship\u2019s out there, the guests are luxuriating, but I\u2019m working.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, maybe that\u2019s true for the actual week of the tour, but getting all that fresh, mehadrin food onto the boat in far-off locations is often an international project in itself.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t scare him. For the past three decades, Malcolm has been at the forefront of international kosher expeditions. Years before he established his cruise business, he launched a company that brought kosher food to private parties and tours in some of the most unlikely places.<\/p>\n
\u201cI once catered in Disney World for a Satmar chassid and his family,\u201d Malcolm relates. \u201cAnd then, since we were already in Florida, we were asked if we could cater for a group in Jamaica that would be arriving the following Sunday. So I went to the butcher in Boca Raton and asked him if he could deliver the meat to Jamaica. He agreed, and I thought, \u2018That was easy enough.\u2019 Our plan was to fly from Miami to Jamaica that next Sunday, except that when I opened my emails after Shabbos, I found an urgent message: Apparently, customs in Jamaica had destroyed all of our meat. Every single package. Because someone hadn\u2019t filled out the proper forms. But since there\u2019s no option for panic in the catering business, I immediately changed the menu to fish for the first day, ran out and bought some hard-shelled suitcases and met the butcher at the airport, where we filled my suitcases with meat and loaded them through the baggage drop. In Jamaica, as I held my suitcases that now had condensation running down the sides, the customs official asked me what was in my bags.<\/p>\n
\u201cScuba gear,\u201d I said, and they waved me through.<\/p>\n
Out of the Oven<\/p>\n
Malcolm Green didn\u2019t just fall into kosher catering\u00a0\u2014 it\u2019s in his blood. Born into a food-loving family in 1950, he was steeped in the flavors and traditions of the kosher kitchen from a young age. His grandfather was the landlord of the Crown and Angel pub in Whitechapel, a staple in East London. Meanwhile, his father worked in catering, running a food bar at London\u2019s Yiddish theater.<\/p>\n
But Malcolm\u2019s early career trajectory was anything but straight. He recalls how in the 1970s, he took over the kosher catering at the last kosher hotel in Brighton, The Kings, as a favor to his family, as his aunt had been managing the hotel for 20 years. In the 1940s, there were dozens of kosher hotels and boarding houses in Brighton, but this was the end of the era. Five years later, the hotel closed, and Malcolm became the main kosher caterer for the city. It was hard work, but it seemed that he was destined for a life behind the kitchen doors.<\/p>\n
Yet Malcolm\u2019s story truly begins with a bold move: his first attempt at aliyah to Israel in 1983.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know, Israel wasn\u2019t ready for top-tier catering at that time,\u201d he remembers. \u201cI had been focusing on the Israeli market and that market was hypercompetitive, plus it was a bad time financially. I sold everything I\u2019d invested in and returned to the UK with \u00a31,000 in my pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
He and his wife, Diane, with their two-year-old son and baby daughter, had to start over.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiane was incredibly strong,\u201d he remembers. \u201cShe went right back to her job in medical insurance and supported us, while I stayed home with the children and sent out over a thousand letters telling all of England that I was back and looking for work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malcolm ended up starting a kosher Meals on Wheels for the elderly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d pack up the double pram: babies on one side, food piled high on the other, balancing our way through deliveries,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
That tided them over for several months; all the while Malcolm was building up contacts for his eventual comeback.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d made the mistake of not looking toward the Anglo market the first time, but I was better prepared the second time around,\u201d he says. And so, in 1989, Malcolm, Diane, and the children made aliyah once again. This time, they would cater for the Anglos. And the Anglos were welcoming and enthusiastic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had been headhunted while in England to come settle in the northern town of Maalot,\u201d Malcolm shares. \u201cThere was a social service organization that was in charge of this whole flock of teenage boys from Ethiopia, who had been rescued in one of the operations. As a dad with social work training and as an experienced hotel manager, they felt we were qualified to assist.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boys of Maalot would help Malcolm with deliveries and errands for his fledgling on-the-side catering business. \u201cThey were warm and friendly and we loved them,\u201d Malcolm says, remembering how they would come to him looking for asimons\u00a0\u2014 pay-phone tokens\u00a0\u2014 in order to make phone calls.<\/p>\n
After two years, the Greens bid the boys and the Galil goodbye and moved to the more centrally-located city of Netanya, where they tried to boost their business. It took time for their name to get out there, but they doubled down and lived frugally while they built up their food contacts.<\/p>\n
Slowly, Malcolm\u2019s reputation spread, and he found himself becoming the go-to caterer for Anglos in need of reliable, high-quality food for their simchahs. The Green family settled into life in Israel, this time their roots taking hold as Malcolm began to make a name for himself in this discerning market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did every type of event, be it a bris, a wedding, a bar mitzvah, 900-people banquets and embassy dinners,\u201d Malcolm says. \u201cIf someone needed kosher food for an event, I gave it to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing\u00a0Too Far <\/p>\n
As Malcolm\u2019s reputation grew, word spread to friends and relatives beyond Israel\u2019s borders, and he started catering for wealthy clients vacationing in spots all over the world.<\/p>\n
His first global event came with a call he received from a past client, an Englishman living in Israel, who wanted his 70th birthday party in an ancient castle in Scotland. \u201cHe was thinking of having the party on a yacht, but his kids didn\u2019t get along with each other, and he said he was afraid they\u2019d try to drown each other,\u201d Malcolm says dryly. \u201cHe was kidding, of course, but it did give me an incentive to make a really nice party and do my share in keeping the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was once asked to cater for a party of 11 who were touching down in Barbados on their private jet from South Africa on the way to L.A. for a short visit. Could he provide gourmet meals for them for two days on this Carribbean island, both on the way and on the return flight? Green, who never balks at a challenge, was happy to comply, for the right price. The following week he flew to Barbados, where he kashered a section of one of the fancy hotels and catered for the group, both on the outbound and on their return.<\/p>\n
That client was so pleased with the service that he hired Malcolm to cater for two weeks on their family vacation in Mauritius.<\/p>\n
After a few more similar events, seeing that he could break into this niche market, Malcolm launched what he called Kosher Services Worldwide, a company that would bring kosher food to some of the most unlikely corners of the globe.<\/p>\n
International events meant that Malcolm had to quickly hone his ability to adapt and handle pressure in the face of unexpected challenges. He recalls a wedding originally planned in the Bahamas that had to be relocated to Key West after a hurricane destroyed the original venue. Despite the last-minute change, Malcolm and his team pulled it off\u00a0\u2014 shipping in all the food, kashering the kitchen, and delivering a wedding meal that impressed even the most discerning guests. At another wedding that was originally scheduled for the Cayman Islands off Cuba, the hotel at the last minute wasn\u2019t able to operate, so Malcolm quickly found an alternative option in Key West, which proved to be an easier venue. Malcolm chuckles at the memory of that particular event: Most of the guests had never been to a traditional Jewish wedding before, and devoured the pre-ceremony snacks and shmorg, down to the last crumb. They hadn\u2019t realized that a full dinner would be served later.<\/p>\n
He was once mistaken for a thief by a chef he\u2019d hired in a distant locale, as he was unloading supplies; and he even found himself stepping in as the officiant at a destination wedding (the couple was already married by law, but now wanted to arrange a halachic marriage, and the rabbi they hired missed his flight).<\/p>\n
With his success in the international tourist market, it wasn\u2019t long before Malcolm added ocean cruises to his portfolio\u00a0\u2014 an industry that was just beginning to recognize the need for kosher options.<\/p>\n
Upstream<\/p>\n
The challenges of keeping kosher on the high seas are immense. The kitchens are small, the equipment is often inadequate, and yet Malcolm never compromises.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe equipment on board is sometimes laughable,\u201d he admits. \u201cBut we make do. We bring our own utensils when we can. You can\u2019t just rely on what\u2019s on the boat\u00a0\u2014 that\u2019s not the way it works when you\u2019re cooking glatt kosher.\u201d<\/p>\n
For five years, Malcolm was employed as the kosher executive chef on the cruise ship Marco Polo. \u201cDuring Pesach,\u201d he says, \u201cthe ship we catered on hosted a Reform group and served kosher chickens. The group wanted the Pesach experience, too, so the ship\u2019s chef decided to make matzah balls for them, but they kept collapsing, and no one could figure out why. When I came on board for a kosher cruise of ours, they showed me the packets of instant mix. Unfortunately they had been using falafel mix by mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruise ships are like entire cities on enormous boats, carrying up to 3,000 passengers, and kosher catering on a cruise ship consists of cordoning off a \u201cJewish section\u201d amid an entire existing universe.<\/p>\n
Malcolm recalls a particular challenge in his early days of kosher catering on ships. \u201cOne time,\u201d he says, \u201cI told the sous-chef to make sure the chicken wasn\u2019t salted too much because kosher meat is saltier by nature. Well, I took a wing out of the oven to taste it and had to spit it out\u00a0\u2014 it was full of salt. We had to boil the whole batch in sauce just to make it edible. That\u2019s the kind of thing you learn along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was on a cruise about ten years ago that he met David Lawrence, a travel agent and US-based business partner; together they started what they called Kosher Cruises Enterprise, a kosher cruise division, and that segued into Kosher River Cruises \u2014 exclusive kosher riverboats rather than a \u201ckosher section\u201d on giant cruise ships. Unlike other kosher Jewish cruise programs that take place on larger ships\u00a0\u2014 where several dozen kosher passengers share a vessel with thousands of other guests\u00a0\u2014 Kosher River Cruise tours host from 50 (expeditions vessels) to 140 (established waterways) guests on a 5-star luxury vessel reserved exclusively for glatt-kosher vacationers. With the new business taking up most of his time, he now limits international destination vacation catering to large parties and more limited times.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything on our kosher riverboats is geared toward a religious atmosphere,\u201d Malcolm explains. \u201cReligious travelers are no longer relegated to a corner. The entire dining room is ours. On Shabbos we sing Shalom Aleichem, Eishes Chayil, zemiros, and bentshing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malcolm\u2019s company offers a diverse array of destinations, most of them focusing on European waterways. Their itineraries include the Danube River, with stops in cities such as Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, and the Wachau Valley; the Rhine River, with explorations of Jewish communities in Germany, France, and the Netherlands; and cruises along the Seine and Rh\u00f4ne rivers, including stops in Lyon, Avignon, and the beaches of Normandy. But he also does cruises along the Mekong River, journeying through Vietnam, Cambodia, and other sites in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
On a recent cruise, 14 of the passengers were return customers, a testament to the strong sense of community in a industry where there\u2019s often very little Yiddishkeit.<\/p>\n
The logistics of running kosher kitchens on the water can be daunting, but Malcolm has built a system that works. For starters, his team brings everything along\u00a0\u2014 six pallets of food including kosher meat, fresh vegetables, and accessories like an extra oven, Shabbos urns and warming trays, and even the chafing dishes. He oversees every detail, down to the smallest knife and carving station insert. For logistic convenience, he often stores equipment in various locations around the globe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have our own equipment stored in places like Austria and Manaus, but sometimes have had to buy new gear for a trip,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
On Europe-based cruises and other events, Malcolm\u2019s team would ship all their kosher goods from Golders Green in London and then drive into Europe. They\u2019d fill a 40-ton truck with meat, vegetables, and kosher supplies in a finely-tuned operation, with everything sourced from the highest quality suppliers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had it down to a science,\u201d he says. \u201cThe butcher was there, the baker just down the road, and the wine merchant in Wembley. The driver would pick up everything, load it up, and be on his way. A \u00a350 note here, a \u00a350 note there. Everything ran smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n
But then came Brexit, and the old system came to an end. With new challenges in customs, tariffs and supply chains, it became too complicated to take food out of the UK into Europe, so Malcolm had to adapt quickly and find new suppliers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe moved storage to Austria and began sourcing food in Budapest,\u201d he says. \u201cPastries and chocolates now come from Paris. One of the biggest challenges is the massive amount of fresh fruit and vegetables we use, particularly for our elaborate salad bars. On a recent cruise to the Mekong, everything had to be flown in from abroad, with the help of the Chabad rabbi, piggybacking on the shipping containers of dry food he receives. We\u2019re currently planning cruises to Japan and Antarctica, which come with immense logistical hurdles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The food had to be fresh, mehadrin\u00a0\u2014 all meat is glatt kosher, dairy products are chalav Yisrael and baked goods are pas Yisrael\u00a0\u2014 and meeting the expectations for a discerning international clientele who are paying top dollar for a luxury, as well as an immersive educational and meaningful vacation. Each tour has a rav hamachshir and additional rabbinic and educational staff in addition to entertainment.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn these ships, it\u2019s not just about the food; it\u2019s about the experience,\u201d Malcolm explains. \u201cWe\u2019re catering to Jewish families who want to enjoy the same kosher standards they have at home, no matter where in the world they are. One client, a Mexican, came up to me and said, \u2018I have to tell you I own a five-star hotel in Mexico and the food here is better.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n
Malcolm says that in addition to tailoring a theme menu to each destination, there are certain staples his guests have come to expect. Everyone loves the French onion soup, and another favorite is Diane\u2019s lemon meringue pie. Either she makes it herself, or she oversees the production so no guest will leave pie-less.<\/p>\n
Every Connection\u00a0Counts<\/p>\n
Catering kosher meals around the world isn\u2019t just about cooking\u00a0\u2014 it\u2019s about navigating complex logistics and handling the unexpected at every turn. Whether it\u2019s a cruise from Panama to Costa Rica or sourcing ingredients from Hungary to Thailand, Malcolm Green\u2019s business is as much about adaptability as it is about food.<\/p>\n
One of his most recent ventures was catering a cruise from Panama to Costa Rica. While the scenic beauty of Central America was the draw for passengers, for Malcolm and his team, it was all about the logistics and the guests. They worked closely with local kosher supermarkets in Panama, spending around $62,000 to source ingredients for the trip. But it wasn\u2019t just about the money.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really hit it off with the folks at the kosher supermarkets in Panama.\u201d Malcolm relates. \u201cThey invited us for Friday night dinner, and it was such a beautiful gesture. You build relationships like that, and they last.\u201d<\/p>\n
One time, a boat they were scheduled to use on the Danube River was unable to sail due to low water levels. Instead of letting the situation ruin the trip, Malcolm called in a favor from a hotel in Vienna, bringing in his team and cooking for the passengers there for one night. \u201cIt cost us \u20ac25,000, but we had to do it,\u201d he says. \u201cThe passengers would not have been happy if we didn\u2019t find a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
From vendors to local communities, every connection counts when you\u2019re running a global kosher catering business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work for six months on just one menu cycle, constantly adapting everything from kashrus requirements to how we bring in equipment. Without a strong relationship with headquarters, we\u2019re essentially dead from the start,\u201d Malcolm relates. \u201cOne partner we chose not to use couldn\u2019t accommodate a cruise in India due to meat restrictions conflicting with their beliefs, but his son came on board with his new bride to visit even though we didn\u2019t use that partner\u2019s services. Our partners go out of their way to help us because they know we do everything possible to minimize problems. For an upcoming cruise on the Lower Danube, they\u2019ve gone above and beyond\u00a0\u2014 providing all necessary contacts and even sending staff so our team can visit sites and build connections. It\u2019s a true partnership built on mutual respect.<\/p>\n
Where\u2019s the\u00a0Cream?<\/p>\n
When preparing for a cruise, Malcolm\u2019s days start early, often by 5\u00a0a.m. On the first day, the galley is kashered by three rabbanim, who also help bring in the necessary equipment. Once the guests are on board, Malcolm begins preparing breakfast at 5:30 and continues working straight through lunch. After a short break, he returns to set up for tea and begins dinner prep, which keeps him busy until dinner ends around 8:30.<\/p>\n
He oversees a team of 12 chefs, nine of whom \u201ccome with boat,\u201d plus three of his own crew, one who is an expert on kosher meat. And nothing leaves the galley unless Malcolm has tasted it first. \u201cMy most important tool,\u201d he says, \u201cis my teaspoon, to take a little taste of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Very rarely has he tasted something and had to call it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf something isn\u2019t perfect, it needs to be taken off menu,\u201d he admits, but qualifies that, \u201cI trust my own chefs completely. I have great respect for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each of these cruises takes up to two years of planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already been working on the next one for a year, and there\u2019s still another year to go,\u201d Malcolm says. \u201cAnd while the hard work pays off, there are still moments that make you question all the effort you put in\u00a0\u2014 like the time we were in Manaus in the Amazon. We shipped our equipment from London\u00a0\u2014 only to find out, too late, that the shipper routed it through Miami without telling us. When it arrived, customs in Miami demanded an unexpected extra payment, and I told them to just leave it. We flew into Manaus, went straight to a local wholesaler, and ordered brand new equipment on the spot. The new equipment turned out to be excellent, and we received everything within half an hour. But this is a very remote place, and don\u2019t ask how we turned somersaults to get kosher meat, produce, and other food there. One of our guests asked for cream in her coffee, and when I explained that it was one of the few items we weren\u2019t able to procure, she said, \u2018If I\u2019d known that, I wouldn\u2019t have come.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n
Malcolm\u2019s riverboat itineraries are inspired by his past experiences catering on other cruises\u00a0\u2014 Tahiti, Alaska, the North Cape, Vietnam, Bali, the Philippines, Antarctica twice, and the Greek islands. On those first few trips, their kids came along.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son was pre-army then and went ashore wearing a cap,\u201d Malcolm remembers. \u201cWe told him, \u2018Whatever you do, don\u2019t speak Ivrit\u00a0\u2014 don\u2019t let them know you\u2019re Israeli.\u2019 But then he heard a vendor call out, \u2018Bo, heinah hachi zol [Come, here I have the cheapest prices]!\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, though, the atmosphere is more charged. Malcolm\u2019s team had organized a cruise in France, just a few months into the war in Gaza. Safety concerns were high, and Malcolm took extra precautions by arranging for armed guards to accompany the guests ashore. They also worked closely with local authorities, ensuring that every step of the journey was carefully coordinated. \u201cWe had our own armed guards, and we always inform the local authorities. You have to be careful, especially with everything going on in the world right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Food for Thought<\/p>\n
So, who are the people who actually sign up for these luxury cruises? \u201cIt\u2019s mostly retirees, about ninety percent American. But recently, we\u2019ve seen more young people as well,\u201d Malcolm says. \u201cThese guests are used to traveling anywhere as long as they have access to prepacked kosher meals, but what they really want is fresh, hot food and a genuine Jewish atmosphere. They don\u2019t want to feel like a tiny part of a huge mainstream cruise. Here, when guests arrive, the first thing they ask is where they can daven Shacharis, not what breakfast options are available. And if someone misses weekday Krias HaTorah because of traveling, we offer Minchah leining on Monday to accommodate them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years, Malcolm has learned that good food is only part of the equation.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreating an experience\u00a0\u2014 one that\u2019s seamless, memorable, and above all, personal\u00a0\u2014 and the ability to bring people together through food, is what counts most.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s one reason he\u2019s always the first one on the site and rarely leaves his post. \u201cThe passengers expect the highest standards, and that\u2019s what we deliver,\u201d he says. And he\u2019s not kidding. Here\u2019s a sample of what\u2019s on the menu for one meal in the upcoming Northern Italy cruise, scheduled for the end of October:<\/p>\n
Salad Bar and Starters: Couscous, egg salad, grilled vegetables, spicy carrots, coleslaw, fresh vegetable platter, fresh fruit platter, chicken liver p\u00e2t\u00e9, cornichons, onion marmelade, vegetable caponata, Spaghetti Bolognese;Soup: Cream of pumpkin with apricot and ginger, chicken soup with dumplings and chives;Main: Salt beef, roasted breast of duckling, spare ribs, roasted fillet of halibut, pareve chili, roast chicken;Sides: Roasted stuffed potatoes, string beans, yellow zucchini;Dessert: Lemon meringue pie (the one the repeat customers have been waiting for), mixed fruit crumble, pareve custard, fresh fruit salad, pareve ice cream.<\/p>\n
With such a selection several times a day, no wonder Malcolm never leaves the galley.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1074)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From serving birthday cake in an ancient Scottish palace to perfectly plated duck confit on a luxury cruise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[102,6636,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-65539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}