Slogging down the Amazon or breaking ice in Antarctica? The gourmet meals are on Malcolm Green

Photos: Elchanan Kotler, Personal archives

When caterer Malcolm Green and his wife Diane made aliyah nearly four decades ago, he faced a tough market with little appreciation for his high-end talents — until he realized that wealthy glatt-kosher vacationers in the most far-flung places want more than field rations. It wasn’t long before he added ocean cruises to his portfolio, and today, whether it’s on the sandy shores of the Carribbean, slogging downstream on the Amazon, or breaking ice in Antarctica, Malcolm is there with five-star service

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’t showing any signs of turning down the steam. In fact, he says he’s just getting the engine revved up.

As co-owner and master chef for Kosher Riverboat Cruises, he’s literally traveled the world; but while his passengers are out exploring exotic ports — from the sun-drenched beaches of the Caribbean to the icy shores of Antarctica — Malcolm Green is doing what he does best: running a glatt kosher kitchen in the far-flung corners of the globe.

Despite the picturesque scenery and luxurious surroundings, Malcolm prefers the insular world of the galley. “Yeah, I don’t see much of that,” he says, referring to the cerulean waters and sandy shores that others rave about. “I’m in the kitchen. That’s my office. The ship’s out there, the guests are luxuriating, but I’m working.”

Well, maybe that’s 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.

But that doesn’t 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.

“I once catered in Disney World for a Satmar chassid and his family,” Malcolm relates. “And 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, ‘That was easy enough.’ 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’t filled out the proper forms. But since there’s 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.

“Scuba gear,” I said, and they waved me through.