Various Topics on Greece

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ATHENS (Reuters) -- Healthy, delicious food for 16,500 people from 202
nations, three times a day for two weeks?

No problem, say the 700 cooks preparing to feed the Olympic family in
Athens.

"We are ready right now, we can promise that we will serve the Olympics with
nutritious Greek food, and with a big smile," said Makis Fokas, food
services manager for the Athens Organising Committee (ATHOC).

Some 50 chefs and 650 cooks will work round the clock to prepare 50,000
Greek, Mediterranean and Asian meals a day in the Olympic village at the
foot of Athens' Mount Parnitha.

Traditional Greek dishes such as moussaka and pastitsio, noodles and curries
will be served alongside meat with precision-cut vegetables, terriyaki
sauce, ginger and sesame oil.

Senior chef Michael Crane said organisers will import halal and kosher foods
as well as vegetables like water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and Chinese pak
choy to satisfy every national, religious and dietary need.

A particularly pungent package will be the four tonnes of kimchi, a Korean
dish of fermented cabbage seasoned with garlic and red chili that is eaten
in soups and with steamed rice.

"We are bringing it in prepared because it is a type of dish that needs to
be marinaded and fermented for many, many months," Crane said.

In the mornings athletes can choose from pancakes, waffles, croissants and
hot cereal bakes, or the Greek breakfast of cheese or spinach pie with a
strong coffee on the side.

And with all that calorie-burning Olympic competition, who needs an excuse
to indulge their sweet tooth with chocolate cakes, eclairs and profiteroles
or syrupy baklava and kadaif?

However, there is no excuse for putting on the pounds. Every dish will carry
a label with its name, ingredients - and calorie content.

INTERNATIONAL VARIETY

"Our goal is to provide international athletes with variety. They must find
something they feel comfortable with as well as something which reminds them
of home," one head chef said.

"Athletes do want to experience different types of dishes. But during the
competitions they will eat the food they were used to eating during training
to help them perform at their best," Crane added.

The planning required to feed the 10,500 athletes plus their coaches and
officials is reminiscent of a military campaign.

In overall charge will be AramarkDasko, a joint venture between U.S. food
service giant Aramark and Greek hotel operator Daskalantonakis group, which
won the contract worth around 32 million euros ($39 million).

One of two self-service restaurants in the village, Filoxenos, the Greek
word for hospitable, can serve 5,500 people at the same time while athletes
can choose the smaller and less crowded Epicouros.

Non-alcoholic drinks will be available at the Poseidon cafe by the Olympic
village pool, 27 coffee stations and two Internet cafes.

Fokas said organisers would set up extra food stalls on the night of the
August 13 opening ceremony. "Those people get here tired, hungry and nervous
sometimes. There is a special plan for that night," he said.

Health concerns are paramount in a cooking and serving area as big as three
football fields, officials say.

Greece's food authority EFET will check the quality of the food before it is
stored and carried to the kitchens as well as during cooking.

Experts will monitor the chefs while they cook and can step in if they fear
food safety standards are not being met.

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