Oceania Cruises will expand its culinary curriculum with 20 new classes for the Culinary Center, including a special two-day culinary program, a session focused on the life and legacy of Chef Jacques Pépin and additions to the Gourmet Explorer Series that showcases cooking styles from international destinations, according to a released statement.

The new programs were developed by longtime Director of Culinary Enrichment, Chef Kathryn Kelly, and will debut on Marina and Riviera starting in April 2015.

“In our Culinary Center, guests cook under the instruction of faculty members who are CIA graduates and have apprenticed under a who’s who of renowned chefs,” shares Kelly. “We continue to add new topics to keep things fresh for past guests and this year we’re proud to honor our consummate teacher, Jacques Pepin, with a special class.”

Culinary Center Immersion Program

In response to guest requests, the Oceania Cruises Culinary Center will offer a special Culinary School Immersion Program on select itineraries. 

The curriculum is designed to improve the skills of a home chef by focusing on the essential techniques for creating basic sauces, grilling, preparing vegetables and other culinary skills.  The in-depth instruction is spread over a morning and afternoon session and extends for two days, or four sessions in total.

The highlight of the culinary immersion program is a friendly competition where teams of four guests are paired together to prepare a dish that is judged by the faculty and executives from the shipboard culinary team.

Celebrate Jacques Pépin

Oceania is creating an exclusive class that includes recipes from Jacques’ cookbooks and family favorites. 

The new class “La Technique: A Celebration of Jacques Pépin’s 80th Birthday” covers techniques written in his early book “La Technique,” which remains an indispensable source of culinary knowledge for modern chefs, as well as “Essential Pépin,” a collection of over 700 technique-based favorite recipes that stretches over his six decades in the kitchen. 

New Regional Classes

These classes will showcase regional cuisine from Morocco, Peru, the Pacific Northwest and more. The curriculum of the Culinary Center continues to appeal to a wide range of tastes and culinary skill levels.