I'm looking forward, therefore, to Viking's Kitchen Table, which promises a lengthy encounter with these white-hatted heroes so seldom actually seen on cruise ships. The experience is part shore excursion, part exclusive dining experience. Viking is a cruise line keen on educational travel and cultural immersion, and Kitchen Table is a way of bringing food market to ship and learning about local produce.

We start a short walk from Barcelona's port with a morning visit to La Boqueria, one of Europe's best markets. It's a gourmet's larder of goat's cheese and hams, salted cod and snails, trotters and knobbly heirloom tomatoes. The chatty personality of ship's chef Anthony Mauboussin gets us slivers of chorizo and chargrilled leeks from stall owners as he buys the ingredients for our evening feast. We huddle in confusion over fig-shaped nispero, textured and coloured like apricots. Our accompanying local guide is unsure of their English name, but says locals use them for jellies and chutney. Anthony buys a bagful and says he'll think of a way to use them this evening.

"What I love about these excursions is that you'll see produce you might never see at home," he says gleefully. "Like these percebes, a type of barnacle that's a great delicacy here, and expensive. I'd cook them in water, white wine, lemon and thyme. Add a bay leaf and lots of pepper. Delicious!"

Anthony hauls his goodies back to the ship, where his team of sous-chefs wash, peel and prepare our market ingredients while I'm out enjoying Barcelona. It's early evening by the time I stroll into Viking Sea's main restaurant, having (for once) wisely skipped the excellent afternoon tea in the ship's Wintergarden. I'm led downstairs to a hidden test kitchen, a chic space of gleaming white; a glass cube tucked beside the real kitchen, where we can see chefs enfolded in steam, and waiters collecting orders in a ceaseless flow.

The Kitchen Table is limited to just 12 participants, and we all settle on stools around a central island already groaning with breads, olives and our market-bought Iberico hams and truffle-infused manchego cheese, pale and buttery. We're introduced to Balinese chef de cuisine Wayan Darmawan, who has worked with Anthony for a decade and with whom he has an obvious camaraderie.

Viking Sea's sommelier Lorena Merlini also appears, natty in a burgundy-coloured jacket, to pop the Veuve Clicquot. She'll be matching wines throughout our leisurely three-hour eating spree. "The idea of the Kitchen Table is also to show how wine is matched with food. It will give you an experience of some perhaps lesser-known wines that you mightn't get at home," she explains. Then after a twinkled-eyed pause: "But of course there are famous labels too if you wish, some guests will want to stay in their comfort zone."

Preparation areas lie off to the side and, as we settle in, Wayan quickly cooks some fresh squid in garlic and a twist of lime. Anthony, meanwhile, assembles another appetiser with market-fresh tuna: a Mexican-Japanese fusion taco with coriander, lime juice, black tobiko (fish roe) and chillies with mayonnaise.

One of the Kitchen Table's key pleasures is the interaction it allows with the ship's chef or – if he happens to be on board – Anthony himself. Chef Mauboussin might hail from landlocked Chamonix in the French Alps but has risen up through the ranks at cruise lines Celebrity, Azamara, Oceania and ultra-exclusive The World; he has also worked with three-star Michelin chef Michel Roux in England. Now he's Viking Cruise's director of culinary development for all of the company's nearly 70 ships on both ocean and river.

Talking to Anthony is fascinating: an insight into how ships' kitchens operate, how he juggles his vast shopping list, where the ingredients actually come from. His enthusiasm, outrageous French accent and sense of humour quickly have us relaxed. He rhapsodises over Swedish cloudberries and the rock lobster in New Caledonia, the great chefs now working in Lima. "And just recently we were at port in Ajaccio in Corsica and found fantastic honey, and lemon marmalade. And a cheese that matures for weeks, really strong, you have to pick out the worms."

In the midst of this talk, the food keeps coming. Jumbo prawns wrapped in Iberico ham are accompanied by a spritely Hartenberg sauvignon blanc from South Africa. A palate-cleansing sorbet turns out to be made from our nispero, or medlars. Then Wayan is assembling a paella, clotted with crab claws, fish and mussels. Lorena invites us to experiment with our wine matching. "The acidity of this white wine helps the flavour and sweetness of the seafood come out. But the red" – a Chateau Chamilly Bordeaux – "really works with the saffron to creates an intense flavour. It shows the difference your wine can make to the overall taste".

It's a casual atmosphere, like sitting with your friends in the kitchen at home. Some guests help with the cooking, others are happy just to watch. Eventually our dessert appears in a flight of Spanish classics: quesada pasiega orange-infused cheesecake; churros rolled in cinnamon and dipped in bitter chocolate; saffron-infused fruit salad; crema catalan, a regional custard thinly caramelised. Lorena outdoes herself with the dessert wine, a Tenute Antinori Vin Santo from Tuscany with a seductive walnut-and-caramel flavour.

By the time we're done, my waistband is popping, and my head swimming with good wine and good conversation. Forget the captain, and all hail the ship's chefs.

FIVE OTHER FOODIE EXPERIENCES

Viking itineraries emphasise the destination, with extended time in ports and immersive experiences aimed at furthering passengers' cultural understanding. Here are five food-oriented shore excursions to whet the appetite.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

Den Gyldene Freden is generally considered the world's oldest restaurant, with an interior scarcely changed since 1722. This evening excursion takes guests through a Nordic tasting menu and paired wines in the private-dining area, which is regularly used by Swedish Academy members to discuss Nobel Prize contenders.

LONDON, BRITAIN

Billingsgate in London's East End is a world-famous fish market. Passengers meet members of the Billingsgate Seafood School, tour the fish stalls and learn about the market's history. Later, in the school's kitchens, guests learn how to fillet a fish like a professional, then enjoy a fish meal.

LIMASSOL, CYPRUS

An excursion into the beautiful outdoors of this Mediterranean island takes guests to a dairy farm, where the farmer demonstrates how haloumi cheese is made. Then there's a walk through fertile farmland and orchards for scenic views over the coast, before a barbecue lunch on a secluded beach – and perhaps a dip in the sparkling sea.

VENICE, ITALY

A water taxi brings passengers to the Rialto markets for a tour before a short walk to the lavish palazzo of Contessa Lelia Passi, where the countess and her staff reveal some of the secrets of Italian cooking. Guests learn how to prepare the dishes of regions such as Venice, Naples and Sicily, and everyone tucks in afterwards.

TROMSO, NORWAY

Olhallen brewery has graced Tromso's main street since 1928 and, although the main brewery is now outside the city, a microbrewery still operates here in the historic cellars. Guests take a private tour and learn about the history of the brewery's history, established in 1877. And of course, several beers are on the tasting menu afterwards.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

vikingcruises.com.au

CRUISING THERE

The writer sailed on Viking Ocean Cruises' 15-day "Passage through Western Europe" between Barcelona and Bergen. Next departure dates are in April 2017 on Viking Sea and near-identical Viking Star. Prices from $8649 a person including meals, meal-time drinks, guided shore excursions, port charges and Wi-Fi.

Every cruise features a Kitchen Table, with market visits in ports such as Gdansk, Berlin, Bergen, Quebec City or Seville. Numbers are limited, so best book in advance; the experience costs $US199 a person.

Brian Johnston travelled courtesy of Viking Cruises.