He’s considered one of three award-winning cooks overseeing the French meals for the 15,000 athletes of the Olympic Village subsequent summer time.
“When there are 40,000 meals per day, I don’t need anybody to be let down. I would like individuals who eat kosher to eat with me, individuals who eat halal, the Christians and Buddhists too,” he says.
Michelin-star restaurant chef Akrame Benallal serves loads of steaks, burgers and different meat in his eating places, however his flagship dish for the Video games will likely be muesli with quinoa.
With France slowly weaning itself off its conventional obsession with meat, the highest cooks answerable for feeding the sporting plenty on the 2024 Olympic Video games are emphasising a extra vegetarian method.
One other is Alexandre Mazzia, a former skilled basketball participant, who’s providing recipes based mostly round chickpeas, peas and smoked beetroot , and smoked fish with chard.
Traditionally, there aren’t any well-known French dishes that don’t embrace meat Meals historian Loic Bienassis
These cooks are working with an enormous meals group, Sodexo Stay!, that’s operating the eating places and has made it a key goal to cut back the carbon footprint of its menu and use much less animal protein.
It claims {that a} third of the protein throughout its 500 dishes will come from greens, and considered one of its signature dishes will likely be a dal of inexperienced lentils from the Paris area with skyr (a kind of yogurt), coriander and corn oil.
French folks on common devour 113kg (250 kilos) of meat yearly – greater than most European international locations and virtually double the worldwide common – based on Our World in Information.
Alexandre Mazzia will likely be specializing in chickpeas, peas and smoked beetroot for a few of his dishes on the Video games. Picture: AFP
However with the nation dedicated to slicing its meat consumption for environmental causes, the Olympics may mark a turning level, says meals historian Loic Bienassis.
“Traditionally, there aren’t any well-known French dishes that don’t embrace meat. To say ‘Let’s do some French delicacies however minimize out the meat’ is a significant turnaround,” he says.
There’ll nonetheless be loads of meat within the Olympic Village, after all.
The final of the three prime French cooks is Amandine Chaignot, who has chosen guinea fowl with crayfish as her signature meal.
“Clearly, once we consider conventional French delicacies, we predict extra of ‘steak au poivre’ than quinoa risotto,” she jokes.
However greens alone can’t meet all of the wants of the world’s prime sportspeople, says Hélène Defrance, a medal-winning sailor and nutritionist who’s on the athletes’ fee for 2024.
Amandine Chaignot will likely be cooking guinea fowl with crayfish as her signature dish on the Video games. Picture: AFP
Vegetarianism is an enormous pattern … however it’s not one thing that we are able to impose on everybody,” she says.
Pulses will be laborious to digest and never everybody converts plant proteins successfully, she mentioned.
However as Mazzia factors out, their meals is extra for celebrating after the competitors than through the build-up.
Folks wait outdoors the headquarters of the Paris Olympic organisers, in Saint-Denis, outdoors Paris. Picture: AP
“I’m fascinated by every part associated to kilocalories and the like, however that’s not what I’m right here for,” he says.
“The essential factor through the Video games is to cease and take a second to take pleasure in one thing completely completely different. I hope the athletes come to have a good time their medal victories with me.”