What's cooking at the 7th CISM CWG Athletes Canteen?
WUHAN (CHN) - Cameroon’s Emmanuel Alobwende Esseme is counting down the days to the completion of track-and-field events at the 7th International Sports Military Council (CISM) Military World Summer Games (CWG) in Wuhan, China. A Master Corporal with the Cameroonian Army, Esseme has resolved to resist the plenteous, succulent steak on offer at the Open Kitchen of the Athletes Canteen in the Athletes Village, until he is done competing in his sprinting events during the closing days of the Games.
“Oh, it’s difficult to resist the meat – there’s so much meat on that counter there – but I am just trying to manage what I eat because I have my competitions coming up,” Esseme says. “It’s a very good menu overall at the Athletes Canteen, given they have taken into consideration the tastes and preferences of the different [competing] nations. They have given us the option of choosing from so many cuisines, apart from Chinese food.”
“However,” he adds, “as an athlete, it’s important to not complicate one’s diet before one’s competition, and manage the way you did back home. I love steak, and the steak here at the Open Kitchen looks so delicious, but I don’t want to take a chance before my running events because I may put on weight. That said, when the time comes, I know I will explore, and explore well (laughs). It’s the end of season after this, and no more competitions for some time after this [event], so yeah, I will make use of the cuisines here, and of course, the Open Kitchen is an interesting spot because it’s full of meat.”
The Open Kitchen is among the seven counters serving food at the Athletes Canteen; the others include booths dishing up European food, Chinese delicacies, Mediterranean food, Halal food, and two counters are dedicated only to baked items. Athletes can also dig into delicacies from the ‘Cold Dishes’ section where plentiful vegetables, exotic fruits, and an enviable variety of cheese and sausages are on offer. Refrigerators at the two ‘Beverages’ units, meanwhile, are stacked with a wide array of fruit juices, soda water, yoghurts, and sweetened aerated drinks.
Aside from Cameroon’s Esseme, the Open Kitchen is also a big hit among the USA women’s track-and-field athletes. The better part of their loyalties, though, are, by their own admission, reserved for the hugely popular noodles served at the Chinese counter.
“The Open Kitchen, with the beef and the vegetables, is amazing, but we love the ramen more; it’s so good!” says Michelle Spires, a high jumper from USA contingent. “We also like the dumplings… effectively all of the Chinese fare. We eat a lot of the Chinese food. At breakfast and lunch, we like the coffee we get from the coffee machine – we appreciate all the varieties that are there to be had.”
In the unanimous opinion of the members of the USA track-and-field team, the military personnel participating at the 7th CISM CWG are spoilt for choice when it comes to dining at the Athletes Canteen.
“There’s so much variety here at that we often have to explore the counters with two plates each (laughs),” says Carina Gillespie, a runner on the USA team in the 1500m event. “We don’t want to miss out on any item, so we try our best to make sure we explore enough – and with enough plates – to be able to appreciate the work of the chefs cooking food for us. We do not skimp on any category; we just walk along the whole line, and go, ‘Ah, that looks interesting. Let’s try that out.’”
With nearly 1,100 staff working in shifts for a combined – and uninterrupted – 19 hours every day, from 6am to 1am, some 4,500 people can eat together at a time at the Athletes Canteen. Located next to the canteen for the staff working at the Athletes Village, the Athletes Canteen opened on October 11, and saw a footfall of over 25,370 on October 21 alone, which, according to the staff, was one of the busiest days at the Canteen.
In general, evening hours between 7-9pm see most people have their meals at the Canteen, with the serving hours through the day slotted into four phases: 00:06-10:30 hours (breakfast), 10:30-16:00 hours (lunch), 16:00-21:00 hours (dinner), and 21:00-01:00 hours (night snack).
“It’s great they have kept time for night snack because a few days ago,” says Gillespie, “we got back from the men’s basketball game, and were able to eat some kind of dinner thanks to the night snack. Even after the Opening Ceremony, we all got back a little after midnight, and we were all a little hungry, so were able to walk right in [to the Athletes Canteen] and grab a bite, which was pretty cool.”
For Serbian judoka Aleksandar Kukolj, a competitor in the men’s 90kg division, the 7th CISM CWG Athletes Canteen is the best one he has come across at the global sporting events he has participated in.
“I was at the Olympic Games in Rio three years ago, I was at the 2015 and 2019 European Games in Baku and Minsk respectively, and at the 2013 Summer University Games in Russia too, but I think the best food I have had at these competitions is here, at the CISM World Games,” says Kukolj. “The chefs here have put in a lot of effort to make the food tasty, and you can feel that. So, besides producing high-quality food, they ae also producing tasty food. Tasty stuff is not a priority for athletes, but it’s good we have both the tasty and the healthy here at the CISM Games.”
(Source: CISM Media and Communication Department - Journalist and Pictures: Ms. Annesha Gosh)
