From Spectator to Sous Chef: My Unexpected Cooking Class at Sea

When I booked my seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Riviera, I'll be honest—the cooking demonstration was just something to fill a sea day. I'm not exactly Julia Child. I can barely make pasta without forgetting about it on the stove. But my cabin mate, Linda, had circled it in the daily program with a Sharpie and declared we were going, so there I was at 2 p.m., standing outside the kitchen on Deck 5, wondering if I'd made a terrible mistake. Executive Chef de Cuisine Marco Orsini met us at the door with an energy that immediately made me feel less anxious. He's this tall, animated Italian guy with salt-and-pepper hair and hands that move like he's conducting a symphony when he talks. "Welcome, welcome!" he said, gesturing us inside. "Today, we make magic. Even if you burn the butter, we make it taste good, no?" There were about twenty of us squeezed into the demonstration kitchen, which honestly looked more impressive than I expected. The Riviera, being a mid-sized luxury ship with only 750 passengers, doesn't feel cramped even when crammed with people. The kitchen gleamed with stainless steel stations, and a large video screen projected Chef Marco's hands as he prepped i…