UMFK prepares world-class chow for World Cup

FORT KENT – In all her years working in the University of Maine at Fort Kent dining hall, Viola Pelletier has prepared food for all kinds of appetites, diets and occasions.

But this week marks a first.

The university is housing and feeding more than 150 athletes and coaches connected to the 2004 Biathlon World Cup in town March 3-6.

Close to 150 more are housed in two other locations in Fort Kent and Frenchville. All are taking their meals at UMFK.

The teams moved into the temporary “athletes” village Sunday night. By the time they leave Saturday afternoon, food service personnel estimate they will have peeled, prepared and served 400 pounds of potatoes; boiled 360 pounds of pasta served with 120 gallons of sauce; and prepared countless sandwiches, salads, slices of cake and cookies.

“One of the athletes said of all the places they have gone, this is the best eating place,” Pelletier said as she carved roast turkey Wednesday afternoon.

Meeting the very special and finely tuned dietary needs of such athletes was a menu plan months in the making.

“We pulled in chefs from around the state to work on this,” Jason Carter, food services manager with Aramark, said Wednesday. “We pretty much hit the nail on the head.”

Aramark is UMFK’s contracted food services provider.

Carter said the menus are deliberately heavy with carbohydrate selections like pastas, fruit, rice, salads and breads to fuel the athletes.

“The pasta bar is by far the most popular thing here,” he said. “So far, all the athletes seem happy.”

In spite of the novelty of feeding elite athletes from two dozen different countries, Barry Pelletier, Aramark executive chef, said it really is not much different from feeding students.

“The menu selections are pretty much the same,” he said. “Though we have included some specialty meats like proscuttio and smoked herring.”

For French biathlete Sylvie Becaert, proper nutrition is key.

“We need to get replenished and to renourish ourselves after each event,” she said Wednesday as she finished lunch. “The food here is good.”

U.S. Biathlon Team member Jacob Beste went so far as to compare UMFK with the best of the European venues.

“This place ranks right alongside those,” he said.