Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite

In SEAsoned, a Chef's Journey with Her Captain, chef Victoria Allman describes her sea journeys with her captain husband, Patrick. Being a seasoned seafarer, Victoria, with her husband and two friends, decides to operate a charter boat. They run into storms at sea, entitled customers, horrendous hours, kind and gentle island people and a myriad of adventures.

Victoria gets food stocks and authentic food recipes from the island people, and she learns to cook foods that would water the mouth of any reader. At times, her efforts are rejected by her customers, but this does not deter or discourage the chef from experimenting and learning new culinary ways.

This book is part autobiographical, part travelogue and part culinary. There is something on the pages for nearly every type of reader. There are failures and triumphs galore, some in the chef's interpersonal relationships and some in her culinary skills.

This is a good read for those wishing to comfortably explore the seas from the safety of an armchair. The reader will learn about life in the Bahamas, how to make macaroni and cheese from a child chef, how "normal" hours in a ship charter are nonexistent and how an international incident nearly undermined a pleasant cruise. The reader will meander in Marrakech and be a voyeur sampler of octopus, eel, shrimp, fish and nearly every other delicacy that can be pulled from the ocean. There is a time for play and a time for work, and all of the activities are presented in a package which is a culinary delight for the reader.