Chef’s army prepares 20,000 iftar meals a day

Abu Dhabi: Thanks to a devoted army of 1,000 chefs, stewards and service staff working in shifts, 20,000 iftar meals are served for worshippers ending their fast at the Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque at sunset every day during Ramadan.

The number climbs to 30,000 meals on weekends.

Gulf News visited the grand kitchen at the Armed Forces Officers’ Club and Hotel in Abu Dhabi to witness the sheer spectacle of so much food being prepared for the masses.

The two-storey kitchen is clean, calm and hygienic, and the cooks can be seen chopping, washing, mixing, frying and packaging meals in a very measured way.

350
chefs

One kitchen hand is cutting more than 50kg of onions with a machine while three others are busy cutting chicken, others are boiling rice and marinating chicken.

Speaking to Gulf News, Karsten Gottschalk, executive chef at the Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel in Abu Dhabi, said the task is large but doable with proper planning.

“A team of about 1,000 people work together to deliver our best for the devout who end their fast at the Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It’s a very big task to manage, prepare and hygienically deliver more than 20,000 iftar meals each day. The figure jumps to 30,000 during weekends starting from Thursday, but Fridays attract the largest crowd,” the chef said.

“We deliver 15,000 chicken and 8,000 lamb biryani meals, on average, daily,” he said.

160
stewards

The key is teamwork and well-planned tasks carried out by 350 chefs, 160 stewards and 450 service staff, and managers who oversee purchasing, stores, hygiene and safety aspects.

They work in shifts so that each worker gets sufficient time to sleep and neither the work nor the individual’s health is compromised, Gottschalk said.

According to him, 10 tonnes of chicken and six tonnes of lamb, 7,000kg of rice, 1,600kg of mixed vegetables, 600kg of tomatoes and 400kg of onions are used each day.

They start preparing for the grand iftar by making arrangements for the foodstuff and commodities about three months before Ramadan.

Gottschalk said it requires a lot of advance planning and dedication.

The German chef who has been behind iftar preparation for the last six years said the number of meals has jumped from Dh14,000 meals a day when he first arrived here to 30,000 now.

450
service staffs

Each iftar meal packet contains biryani, curry, water, an energy drink, apple, dates, juice, laban and salad.

Biryani and vegetable curry are cooked in giant bowls, each of which has a capacity of 1,200 meal portions. A group of 10 people line up to pack the meals, while 12 temperature-controlled trucks transport them to the nearby mosque.

“Preparing, preserving and transporting the meals to the venue in a hygienic way are challenging. We keep them in temperature-controlled units, then transfer to the mosque in air-conditioned vehicles,” he said.

The officer’s club’s kitchen started preparing iftar meals from 2004 for the mosque.

“Each day, we cook fresh meals. We start the work at 4am and finally start delivering the meals to the mosque from 2pm,” he said. “The iftar meals are served among people at the air-conditioned tents and those, who come late, sitting on carpets in the garden on the mosque premises.

“We have observed the eating habits of people. Most of them finish the whole lot and if they can’t finish it, they carry it home to eat later.”

So nothing goes to waste and the quantity is sufficient for every person, he said.

Meals prepared daily

• 20,000 on weekdays, 30,000 on weekends
• 1,000 people prepare meals in shifts
• 350 chefs
• 160 stewards
• 450 service staff
• Daily cooking items
• 10 tonnes of chicken
• 6 tonnes of lamb
• 7,000kg rice
• 1,600kg mixed vegetables
• 600kg tomatoes
• 400kg onions
• 1,000kg baby marrow
• 500kg potatoes
• 15kg biryani spices
• 200kg corn oil
• 20,000 pieces each day
• Water 330ml
• Apple
• Date portion contains about five pieces
• Laban drink
• Fruit juice
• Mixed salad box

Source: Armed Forces Officers Club