KOCHI: A proper, balanced diet is the fuel that drives sporting achievements. As the eight-day Kerala State School Sports Meet concluded on Monday, the food provided to the nearly 24,000 participating athletes and officials is coming in for high praise.

The sheer scale of the operation called for clockwork precision and planning to ensure that participants get food on time, without compromising on taste, quality and hygiene. Overseeing this key aspect of the sports meet was a person with the experience of handling kitchens at such big events.

Consider this: As the extravaganza came to a close, a total of 1,40,000 eggs, 28,000kg of chicken, and 9,000kg of beef were cooked and served to participants. This was in addition to 13 tonnes of rice, 18 tonnes of vegetables, 23,600 litres of milk and other ingredients that went into preparing the various meals at different venues across Ernakulam district.

It might seem an overwhelming task for a normal person, but not for Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboothiri, a veteran when it comes to catering meals at state school events since 2002.

“This is an event which is even bigger than the Olympics in terms of number of participants and events. Of course, I have handled the kitchens of state school sports meets continuously since 2002 with a break only last year and state school youth festivals since 2005, besides other events. But those were smaller compared to this event.”

And, adding to the achievement of providing such a diverse fare is the fact that Pazhayidom is a Brahmin.

Pazhayidom bagged the contract to run the sports meet kitchen through a tender process. “This is an event that holds the pride of place. Since this is the first time that the sports meet is being conducted along the lines of the Olympics, the state government has been worried about how things might fare. So, I wanted to do my part and that was to provide quality food for athletes but at an affordable price,” he added.

His work started on the night of November 4, when he and his team got busy preparing chapattis and egg curry for athletes who converged on Ernakulam from all 14 districts plus the special-needs children and those from UAE.

“Around 150 people were engaged in parcelling food for 16,000 students on the opening night,” he adds.

Pazhayidom operated six kitchens to supply meals to the
students taking part in events at 17 venues across the district. “Operating kitchens at every venue was not practical. Hence, we set up kitchens in six venues including the main venue at Maharaja’s College Stadium. The kitchen at Kothamangalam was a standalone one that catered to the athletes based in MA College Kothamangalam. The kitchen for venues at Puthencruz, Kadayiruppu and Kolencherry was set up at Kadayiruppu Government Boys HS. For Panampilly Nagar, Kadavanthra and Tripunithura, a kitchen functioned at Kadavanthra, while the food was supplied to Kalamassery Town Hall and Kalamassery St Joseph’s HS ground from the kitchen set up on the school premises. For venues at Fort Kochi, Veli and Thoppumpady, a kitchen operated at Thoppumpady while the main kitchen at Maharaja’s College stadium served meals to athletes at the stadium and those taking part in the inclusive sports at Sacred Heart HSS Thevara,”he said.

But things were far from smooth for the teams manning the kitchens. Pazhayidom says, “The lack of basic facilities like chairs and toilets proved taxing. Another issue was the lack of facilities to dispose of wastewater and solid waste. We took up the issues with the authorities. Everything would have been perfect if all these things were also taken care of. At a time around 50 people worked at a single kitchen.”

As for the inclusion of non-vegetarian dishes, Pazhayidom says, “The menu was not prepared by me. It was drawn up by nutritionists associated with the noon-meal scheme and we went by that. Since I lack expertise in making non-vegetarian dishes, I brought in Rony from Adoor, who has the experience of making non-vegetarian meals for more than 30,000 people.”

Pazhayidom prides himself on being able to serve quality food and maintaining high standards of hygiene. He is now gearing up for his next assignment: the State Science Fair in Alappuzha.