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+-- Thread: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. (/showthread.php?tid=52588)
Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - Old Bay - 03-16-2008
Great article in WSJ Saturday.
The sous chef reported 5 months ago and it was -93 degrees F. There are 250 people at peak season and 60 or so between March and October-no flights in or out during that period of darkness. 3000 miles from the nearest farm. Chef Laurent Tourondel created the cuisine in the USA and tried to modify it from fresh to frozen and canned.
They have a 2800 Cubic ft green house which allows 3 salads/week in the isolation--when the temp gets above -58, flights can come from New Zealand with "freshies".
They are at 9300 ft above sea level. Dry beans are al dente in 10 hrs, a pot of soup takes 3-4 hrs to heat up, many things are stored outside--it takes meat and poultry 9-14 days to thaw in the galleys refrigerated walk in--a #10 can of fruit or vegis takes 7 days to thaw at room temp. The moisture free air prohibits anything but electricity--there was no heavy cream so a bechamel sauce was created using powdered skim milk with added butter, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and a New Zealand cheese called "Tasty"(hello Vannin) to make creamed spinach using frozen spinach.
Really a challange--good article!!
Re: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - Gourmet_Mom - 03-16-2008
That's not a challenge, that's nearly impossible conditions! I guess somebody's gotta do it. This chef must really be special to make this work and create stuff that tastes good.
Re: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - luvnit - 03-16-2008
And we think we have it tough in our kitchens... Sheesh!
Re: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - cjs - 03-17-2008
Good Lord!! And I complained having to cook in an 1860s kitchen....well almost
Re: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - bbally - 03-18-2008
Sounds like a typical catering gig!
Re: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - Harborwitch - 03-19-2008
And I whined about Ohio???? Cr@p - I had it good - well I had the best of it. Tip o'the hat to the chef that could pull that off on a regular basis.
Re: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - DFen911 - 03-19-2008
Lol but can you imagine when he returns to a more normal cooking environment? He'll forget and put a pot of soup on and wonder why it's boiling over in 20 minutes.
Talk about an adjustment. I remember my MIL talking about the steps she had to take to bake at 7200 feet. But this guy...wow.
Re: Cooking, Amundson-Scott Station, South Pole. - firechef - 03-21-2008
Sign me up for that gig! It may be tough but if anyone whines about the food it isn't like they are going elsewhere!
Any tips on a link to the article?