ONBOARD THE AMERICAN QUEEN -- November's Lower Mississippi river cruise featuring a renowned Southern chef and the co-host of the most-watched cooking show on PBS was American Queen Voyages' (AQV) first sold-out cruise of the year.
The sailing, on the 436-passenger American Queen paddlewheeler, was the inaugural in the partnership between AQV and America's Test Kitchen (ATK) and a sampling of what's to come in 2024.
Regina Charboneau, the line's culinary ambassador and interim food and beverage director, is a seventh-generation Natchez, Miss., native nicknamed the "Queen of Biscuits" by both chef and TV personality Andrew Zimmern and the New York Times. Charboneau was onboard the New Orleans-Memphis sailing and hosted two culinary demonstrations and the "Meet Regina" Q&A session during the cruise.
Bridget Lancaster, the executive editorial director of ATK, co-host of PBS shows "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country" and head instructor for the America's Test Kitchen Cooking School, also joined the ship midsailing after wrapping up a filming of one of her shows.
Lancaster and Charboneau have worked together before, but it was Lancaster's first time on an AQV vessel. She called this sailing "a fact-finding mission," seeing, for example, the ship's equipment and culinary setup.
"We want to be a tool and resource for AQV and bring a culinary spotlight to the line," Lancaster said about the partnership, adding that she'd like to also do videos for AQV about "great little places to go for great food off the ship" as well as hands-on workshops such as one about kitchen fundamentals.
The American Queen docked. Photo Credit: Gwen Pratesi
"I think we're getting more pointed as we work together, solidifying more and more," she said. "The partnership is a natural match with AQV and 'Cook's Country,' especially with the many holiday themed recipes. What I like is that it's very hyper-American. We forget about the regionality within the U.S."
Showcasing regional recipes
One of the collaborative concepts already in place with ATK on American Queen vessels is the creation of "6 Recipes, 6 Rivers," a series of recipes that showcase the regionality and cultural and culinary history of the towns along North American rivers.
The dishes are meant to create a sense of place, such as soy-glazed salmon with shiitake mushrooms and bok choy for guests on the Snake and Columbia rivers. On the Lower Mississippi, steamboaters -- which is what AQV calls its passengers -- can dine on Cornish hens, pork chops or quail stuffed with a Louisiana-style cornbread dressing with andouille sausage.
Charboneau said at least one of these dishes, and possibly two, will be available on menus every evening across the fleet.
Learning from the pros
Lancaster and Charboneau hosted an hourlong cooking demonstration, making beef Burgundy pot pie with a bacon-thyme biscuit crust, a dish that combines ATK's recipe for beef Burgundy (or boeuf bourguignon) with Charboneau's famous Natchez biscuits.
Ribeye steak with bacon-bourbon compote and mashed potatoes, an American Queen Voyages dish created with America's Test Kitchen. Photo Credit: American Queen Voyages
Lancaster and Charboneau have become close friends, and they provided lots of laughs during engaging and fun sessions on stage and over cocktails or dinner.
Lancaster, who said it was fun sailing with fans of her show, did a presentation on ATK's rigid testing process for the recipes and culinary items they review. Afterward, there was a book signing to which several guests brought their own stack of American Test Kitchen books for Lancaster to sign. Some passengers said they were longtime Test Kitchen fans and had been watching the show since its inception in 2001.
Guests on my sailing received printed color cards of the six recipes created for AQV; for Charboneau's profiteroles and biscuits, which she prepared during her cooking demonstrations; and for the two cocktails we sampled onboard, Charboneau's bourbon coffee punch and a New Orleans favorite, a Sazerac.
We also left with an ATK apron and a copy of either "The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook: 2001-2024" or "The Complete Cook's Country TV Show Cookbook: Every Recipe and Every Review from All Sixteen Seasons." Charboneau's "Mississippi Current Cookbook" was featured in the gift shop for purchase.
On the menu for 2024
While the locations and the ships have yet to be announced, there are two ATK sailings planned for 2024. Culinary and beverage enthusiasts and fans of the shows, cookbooks, website, cooking school and podcast can look for a full week of cooking demonstrations and other F&B-focused events. Charboneau told attendees that not only would she and Lancaster do another sailing together, but with other members of the show, as well.
"We're expanding next year and will bring more ATK personalities onboard," she said, to which Lancaster suggested that her longtime friend and television co-host, Julia Collin Davison, could be one of them.