Olympics - Chop, chop! Paris chefs prepare for athlete feeding frenzy

RUNGIS: Chef Charles Guilloy's lentil dahl is one of 550 dishes that will be served to the 15,000 athletes at the Paris Olympics, where up to 40 tons of food will be cut up and cooked daily with regard to many different tastes and cultures.

Guilloy, chef executive at Sodexo Live!, the company in charge of delivering meals 24/7 in the athletes' village just north of Paris, will head a 300-strong team tasked with feeding people from 206 countries.

Sodexo Live! has provided meals for athletes at the French Open tennis, as well as those at the French national institute of football.

"We'll be welcoming the world at our table," Guilloy told Reuters as he chopped onions and garlic before roasting curcuma, ginger and a mix of spices - key ingredients in his dahl - made with French green lentils instead of red lentils.

"We want 25% of our ingredients to be locally sourced," he explained.

"The menus are ready, they have been validated by the International Olympic Committee and Paris 2024. There is one main dining hall at the Cite du Cinema with six restaurants and another one on the Ile St Denis (both within the 52-hectare village)."

On top of that, a bakery will open and athletes will be invited to workshops to make their own baguettes.

The service will start on July 10, 16 days before the Games begin and will end on Sept. 12, four days after the completion of the Paralympics.

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, night snacks, pre-competition, pre-training, post-competition, it's culinary and logistical challenge," said Guilloy, adding that 1,000 people would work around the clock at the village.

Some 40 different dishes - for about 40,000 meals served - will be on offer every day and nutritionists will be deployed to help athletes who don't have the means to hire their own.

"We're taking into account the intolerances, allergies, but also ethical and cultural cuisines. There will be gluten free, lactose free, halal and kosher food," said Guilloy as his lentils finish cooking in coconut milk and tomato pulp before he serves them with a fat free, protein-packed Icelandic dairy product seasoned with lime and coriander.

"I like this dish because it's consistent and it's a mix of cultures. It comes from India but we're using French lentils," he said.

Guilloy, however, is no dreamer. He knows that despite his best efforts, one dish will always be the most popular - pizza.

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