By Jackie Sheckler Finch

One of the great joys of travel is savoring local cultures and cuisine. And, thanks to the generosity of AmaWaterways, I can try to create a spring specialty that is a European favorite.

The recipe doesn’t sound very difficult and I can find the ingredients in my hometown. Known as Lamb Navarin, the traditional treat is lamb stew bathed in a decadently rich gravy. It is usually accompanied by fresh root vegetables, sweet peas and polenta.

Of course, the best way to enjoy such delicious food is to cruise with AmaWaterways. Founded in 2002, the family-owned AmaWaterways gets its name from the Latin word for “love” – Ama. AmaWaterways has 20 custom-designed vessels with river cruises in Europe, Asia and Africa.

For my AmaWaterways cruise, I boarded the AmaCerto. Resembling a luxurious long yacht, the AmaCerto can accommodate 164 passengers and sails to Austria, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Debuting in 2012, AmaCerto is big enough to be comfortable but small enough to easily dock along the rivers. The Certo part is a musical nod as in concerto. The three decks of the AmaCerto are named Piano, Violin and Cello.

My outside stateroom featured AmaWaterways exclusive twin balconies which meant my cabin had an inside balcony and an outside balcony for a whole wall of sliding glass doors for excellent water views.

A ship’s balcony is one of my favorite places to sit and watch the water roll and I was happy to get a chance to try both an inside and an outside balcony. My cabin had a big bed, flat screen TV), refrigerator, plenty of dresser drawers, shelves and roomy closet, plus private bath with a large walk-in-shower. The refrigerator was already stocked with free bottles of water, a very welcome plus.

One of my pet peeves is hotels and ships that don’t provide complimentary bottled water. Sure, they might have a big bottle of water in my room but it also has a big price tag. Little things like that mean a lot.

One neat element that I didn’t figure out immediately was a glass window between the bathroom and bedroom area. How nice, I thought, to make the room seem even bigger and lighter with that window. Then I realized that, although I am cruising alone, other passengers might not want all their bathroom actions so highly visible through that glass window. No problem. A switch at the entry to my cabin turned the window from see-through to private reflective glass. Nice touch.

 Lamb Navarin

2 lbs. lamb shoulder stew meat, cleaned and cut into bite size cubes
3 tbsp. sunflower oil
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. flour
4 cups red wine
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. herbs de Provence
1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups veal stock
1 tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 tbsp. thyme, chopped

Brown lamb cubes in small batches in cooking oil and set aside reserving all juices. Heat the sunflower oil until just smoking and add browned lamb cubes and sugar. Cook over high heat until meat is caramelized. Add flour and reduce heat to medium. Cook the flour stirring often for 5-7 minutes. Add red wine and reserved lamb juices. Stir constantly to thicken. Add salt, pepper, herbs de Provence, tomatoes, minced garlic and cook for 10 minutes. Add veal stock and simmer for one hour or until meat is tender. Take out the meat and let the sauce reduce to desired consistency. Add fresh herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with polenta.

Makes 6 servings.

Photo courtesy of AmaWaterways