When many people hear the world vegan, they want to set those sails with the wind behind them and disappear over the horizon – and I get that – I love a good steak! But due to health issues, a year ago I changed my diet and went vegan with a twist – the twist being oil-free as well. When I tell people about this way of eating, their reaction is to say, ‘Oh!’ Their face clouds over as if a weather bombe is about to hit, there’s a long pause, before ‘Shall we have a drink then?’

Given our mission to ‘connect people with the impact of climate change through science and adventure’, it makes sense that the food onboard is mostly vegan as we do our bit to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. I decided to create a selection of vegan and oil-free recipes that anyone can make onboard. I first tested it out on the crew on the way from Oban to Dover.

The issue was what to feed five hungry people for a week on-board?

In days when fried foods were high on my list of things to eat, crisps – especially those lathered in salt, were my go-to snack – no surprise I had high cholesterol! One of the first recipes I developed was to find an alternative to those delicious delights. First attempts to take out the oil and reduce the salt and still come up with an edible cracker reminded me of that old sailing food; dry Hard Tack* (or ships’ biscuits).

By the time we cast off the mooring lines in Oban, this recipe was refined to the point that everyone on board ate them in handfuls – as well as the home-made oil-free pesto and an olive tapenade that went with them.

The basic recipe has developed a long way from Hard Tack, but has a nod to these origins; it’s oat and rye flours soaked in water along with seeds of your choice, rolled and baked in a hot oven.

After a week, with all the crackers eaten, and just crumbs left in the tin, the verdict was if vegan can be this tasty, then maybe it was worth a shot

*According to the Royal Museum of Greenwich, ‘Hard tack’ was the most well-known term for the ships’ biscuit. The ingredients were stone ground flour, water and salt, which were mixed into a stiff dough, baked in a hot oven for 30 minutes and then left to harden and dry.