Beer Braised Beef

I'm kind of tired of the whole eating thing on the ferry - the crowded buffet, people jostling about or just standing and gawping at the food, everything managed and arranged around mealtimes.  There are some people who are focused on what they're doing.  I mean they move from Point A to Point B with a singleness of purpose that's outstanding.  I weigh 180 lbs and I get out of the way when some of these dowagers are on the move.  They are not to be denied.  I'd end up on my ass in a head to head collision.

A little lessening of the tolerance after 7 days on the boat, eh wot?  There's a kid on the the small observation that I think of as My Small Observation Deck for no reason other than that I control the world, and he's playing a video game with loud warfare sound effects.  This is irritating me.  His whole family is there and they're from a country that annoys me for reasons that are incomprehensible even to me, a man fully aware that I live in a country that annoys almost everyone else from time to time.  And there are two people sitting right next to me eating cherries - apparently the 3 open buffets where you can eat for a couple of hours isn't supplying enough food for them - and spitting the pits into plastic cups where they land with an audible click.

Today SuperK noticed that the main course for tonight's fixed menu dinner was something called Beer Braised Beef.  Mindful that I had quite the experience in France a couple of years ago when I bought Rum Raisin Ice Cream that turned out to be 45% rum as in real fucking rum, I spoke with the attendant about this.

"Don't worry," this lovely lady said.  "All of the alcohol is cooked out.  It just tastes like beer."

"Yes, well," I said as diplomatically as possible.  "I don't want it to taste like beer.  I don't want any beer in it at all."

She disappeared for a minute, spoke to the head chef, and cheerfully told us that we would still get the beef but that it would have a different sauce on it.  I thanked her profusely.

That evening the waiter who was delivering the meals to our section blew through and put two blue triangles of paper on our table.

"Alcohol free beef, yes?" he said quite loudly.

When the meals came out he sat them down proudly and said: "Beef.  Completely alcohol free," again, quite loudly.

I bet they ladled my beef out of the same pot as everyone else's.  Tasted pretty good.