TARIN KOT, Afghanistan - Rumor is the Tarin Kot dining facility is the most popular mess in Afghanistan and Australian army caterer Warrant Officer Class 2 Darren Matthew is not in a position to deny this.
“All our meals are prepared to suit Australian tastes and preferences,” he said.
“The food here is outstanding because of the freshness of our produce and the quality our meals.”
Warrant Officer Class 2 Matthew and Sgt. Jane Baxter from FSU are the service delivery managers for the Multinational Base – Tarin Kot DFAC and are responsible for the supervision of the contracted civilian catering staff.
The caterers at the DFAC provide close to 150,000 meals a month, or 5000 meals a day, and prepare nearly 7000 eggs every breakfast for the coalition troops and contractors at the base.
Each day they roast, boil, broil or bake an average of 600kg of chicken, 500kg of beef, nearly a tonne of potatoes and 500kg of other vegetables to feed the coalition troops and contractors who live on the base.
Warrant Officer Class 2 Matthew, who has deployed to Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Malaysia, said the logistics involved in providing food to Tarin Kot were astonishing.
“The produce must meet Australian food health and safety standards and our budget, and it is sourced worldwide,” he said.
Fifty-eight 20-foot containers are used for dry stores for the DFAC at Camp Holland and 25 cold storage containers store enough perishable food to last 50 days.
Sgt Baxter, a veteran of Solomon Island and Timor Leste, said she loved working with the friendly, hardworking catering staff at Tarin Kot.
“The main difference to working here compared to other operations or exercises is we don’t have the ADF caterers in the kitchen,” she said.
“We have more the 100 civilian workers who are from countries such as Sri Lanka, India and South Africa who cook amazing meals.
“We even have a Scotsman.”
Planning has already begun for the drawdown of the Tarin Kot DFAC as the base infrastructure is reduced.
Fresh meals will cease in late November and the last coalition troops in Uruzgan will be eating combat ration packs until the end of their mission.
Warrant Officer Class 2 Matthew said the catering role in Tarin Kot had been a fantastic experience.
“It has been worthwhile to learn how this catering company goes about it business, especially the logistics side of it...We have also seen procedures we could use within our Australian army catering corps," he said.
"The only frustrating part for me is I don’t have catering soldiers here cooking with me.”
| Date Taken: |
07.18.2013 |
| Date Posted: |
08.06.2013 07:50 |
| Story ID: |
111407 |
| Location: |
TARIN KOWT, AF |
| Web Views: |
464 |
| Downloads: |
2 |
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