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Chef’s table - An Interview with Paul Watts

P&O Cruises Development Chef Paul Watts gives us some food for thought: everything from his top dishes from our new menus to the bit of kitchen kit he can’t live without.

3 min 08 May 2025

Editorial Team

Author

Paul Watts knows food. He’s been in the industry for some 30 years, six and counting as Development Chef with P&O Cruises. He’s the culinary mastermind behind many of the dishes you enjoy on board, including the new menus in the Freedom and Club dining restaurants across the fleet, for which he created hundreds of new dishes – planning, tasting and perfecting, and teaching the on-board chefs how to replicate them.

We recently caught up with Chef Paul at a photoshoot in the P&O Cruises development kitchen and in a rare moment between planning, cooking and plating, got him to dish on all things food.

What’s your favourite…

Venue on board?

Sindhu particularly on Iona is my favourite place to eat. I love the aesthetic, the ambiance. I think everything just works.

Bit of kitchen kit?

I couldn’t live without a Thermomix. Essentially it’s a blender, but it works at such a high speed that you could turn granulated sugar into icing sugar in seconds. You can put ingredients in raw and cook to make a soup. You can use it as a set of scales, a steamer, it can knead dough… it can do all sorts.

Ingredient to work with?

Labneh is one of my newfound favourite ingredients. When I created the menu for Green & Co feat. Mizuhana, I used coconut vegan yoghurts to create labneh and I fell in love with it. So I’ve used it in the vegetarian dishes in the new menu. The texture, the flavour, what it brings… it just lifts dishes.

Cuisine to cook?

When I cook for myself, I like cooking Indian food. If I was to be a vegetarian I think I would have to live in India… the flavours you can get are amazing!

Chef?

Throughout my career, there have been a lot of chefs that I’ve really aspired to. Daniel Humm is one – he used to run a restaurant called Eleven Madison Park in New York that was always on my bucket list. I like Raymond Blanc, I think he’s unbelievable. I recently ate at Le Manoir and it has to be the best meal I’ve ever had. The service, the food, the flavours… I couldn’t fault anything.

Piece of advice for aspiring cooks?

A lot of people in their day-to-day lives get stuck in a routine and have the same meals every week. Don’t be afraid to experiment

Chef Paul’s top 5 dishes from the new Freedom and Club Dining menus

1. Curried Smoked Haddock Fishcake served on a bed of Minted Crushed Peas with a Mild Masala Mayonnaise

The flavours work really well together, and it’s complemented by the crushed peas with fresh mint. It’s very, very tasty.

2. Crispy Prosciutto and Bocconcini Salad complemented by Roasted Black Grapes, Toasted Hazelnuts and a Creamy Gorgonzola Cheese Dressing (Gluten Free)

The gorgonzola dressing is fabulous. I’ve used black grapes – if you roast them really slowly it creates this beautiful, almost balsamic dressing.

3. Deep-fried Sesame-crusted Halloumi served with a Creamy Lemon-scented Coconut Labneh and Harissa-roasted Cherry Tomatoes (Vegetarian)

This one is fantastic. I’ve taken halloumi and coated it in white and black sesame seeds, then deep-fried it so it’s soft and almost gooey in the middle, and served it with coconut labneh my favourite ingredient, and roasted tomatoes with harissa.

4. Pan-roasted Duck Breast with a Decadent Blackberry Jus with Pommes Sarladaise, Garlic and Lemon Cavolo Nero and Roasted Shallots (Gluten Free)

This is a must-try dish for me. When you buy a duck breast it comes with a lot of excess fat, which would normally get thrown in the bin. But with this menu we’re trying to avoid wastage, so I’ve rendered it down to release all the fat, and I’ve used that to cook the potatoes.

5. White Chocolate and Hazelnut Caramel Cup

This is like a Ferrero Rocher. It’s filled with a velvety white chocolate mousse, raspberry jelly, soft muscovado sponge, gianduja crunch, raspberries and lemon balm and it’s served with white chocolate ice cream and crunchy caramelised hazelnuts. It’s fantastic, it really is.