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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - America’s influence on worldwide cuisine is unabated, even in the midst of a combat zone.
Evidence of the expanding influence was seen in October when the Luxembourg Dining Facility, a European-themed dining facility since its inception in 2007, updated its menu and began featuring more American-themed entrees.
The Luxembourg is one of five dining facilities managed by Supreme Food Services on the airfield. The majority of forces on KAF are now U.S. personnel and there’s growing demand for American-themed dishes.
Luxembourg’s old contract and previous menu was designed to cater to European personnel residing on Kandahar Airfield. When the original contract expired this year, Luxembourg – commonly referred to as Lux – updated its selections and adopted the U.S. contingency operation menu based largely on American staples.
The idea of the contingency operations menu is to give soldiers deployed anywhere in the world the opportunity to enjoy the same menu items as if they were in the U.S.
Ian Walker, the site manager of Luxembourg, said the new contracted menu provides a larger variety of food choices, partially due to an increased budget. The budget now provides an increased meal allowance, which supports the means for high-quality products. Walker said some of the items from the original European menu are still served to retain some of the European flavor of the facility and to justify its name.
“The ice cream, condiments and quality meat cuts are a few of the items on the new menu that I’m most impressed with,” Walker said. “The overall variety is great. The only major improvement I would like to see is a healthier menu.”
Walker said fresh fruit and produce is flown in twice a week in order to maintain the highest quality. The most popular menu items on the menu are T-bone steak and lobster, he said, and are featured every Friday evening for “surf and turf night.” The steak and lobster are frozen before being shipped to Asia and usually arrive in Afghanistan at the beginning of each month.
Luxembourg previously featured a sandwich line that allowed diners to choose their preference of bread and toppings. Walker said the sandwich line, which originated at the Lux, was very popular and he is working hard for its return. He also said the new tray drop feature at Supreme facilities was an idea Supreme pioneered to improve the quality of each patron’s dining experience.
Walker said that, compared to the current menu, the previous European menu featured more fresh foods and ingredients, and many dishes were made from scratch. Overall, he said the new menu does not feature quite as many fresh products, but the menu is now more diverse and has been well-received.
Walker said constructive comments are always read and considered. He said that both he and his international staff of 103 workers from places such as India, Nepal, the Philippines and Bosnia, are constantly trying to improve the dining experience for all residents of Kandahar Airfield.
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2012 04:22 |
| Story ID: | 97831 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 449 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Luxembourg’s menu now has distinctly American taste, by TSgt Tyler Meister, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
