Food logistics are another critical element of the organization at Concordia. Inside the station, half the second floor of the “bâtiment bruyant” is devoted to food storage; there is a dry foods room, with row upon row of canned vegetables, cereals, cookies, pasta, condiments, tea and coffee, a -20°C walk-in freezer and a +4°C walk-in fridge for storing dairy products, beverages and fresh fruits and vegetables. Most of the food is actually kept in containers outside; as the temperatures rarely go above -30°C, this is an ideal and cost-efficient way to store food for extended periods. There are 5 containers full of frozen goods, as well as a backup container near the summer camp, and some stocks at the summer camp itself. We might run out of fuel, but we will definitely not run out of food!!! Good to know, considering that the nearest grocery store is thousands of kilometers away, does not do drone delivery, and will be unreachable for 9 months….
Every raid and plane arrival brings new provisions. Unloading box after box is labor-intensive. It involves chains of people carting boxes from transport containers to storage containers. It also means lifting some of the crates to the top of the station with a crane, where 2 of us are linked to the station by a safety harness and ropes, and then climb into a huge metal bin to hand over the cartons to people inside. Despite the fact that these activities inevitably lead to frozen hands and toes, they are always carried out in good spirits and a great occasion for everyone to participate. Unfortunately as they are also always done in a hurry, both because of the cold and the fact that some things cannot freeze (like the wine!), the majority of the boxes end up being “thrown” wherever there is free space. Subsequently, everything will have to be sorted out in an orderly fashion, with older items at the front. Some things also have to be locked away or hidden to ensure they are left for the winter-overers; these little luxuries (mostly sweets) will be appreciated in the cold of winter!!!
The summer campaign chefs obviously spend hours in the kitchen, cooking for up to 91 people when we are at full capacity in mid-December. The outgoing and incoming winter-over chefs overlap with a chef who comes specifically for the summer campaign; there are therefore always at least 2 of them together. We have buffet-style meals with a vegetarian option always included, fresh bread and scrumptious desserts every day (some will also say pasta twice a day… but after all half the station is Italian!). On Saturday evenings, we usually have pizza after pizza churning out of the ovens, whereas Sunday lunches are a little bit more formal, with white tablecloths on the tables of the cafeteria. No rest for the chefs!
Most of the food we eat is standard occidental cuisine (with the exception of a little kangaroo meat!), and relatively varied for as long as there are fresh fruit and vegetables. There are a few specifics to keeping food for such extended periods though. For example, the eggs are coated in paraffin, which means they are still edible months after their expiry date, if a little dehydrated… Surprisingly they actually still make great omelets! The only thing is both the yolk and egg whites shrink so much you need double the amount for any recipe… In addition, the combination of these “dry” eggs and the low pressure means that a lot of cakes and pastries rise and then fall spectacularly like soufflés. Finally, as it is extremely difficult to estimate how much food will be needed each year, and transporting surplus back to the coast is costly, all the leftovers accumulate after each winter-over. Finding frozen or dry food way past its expiry date (but still very good!) actually becomes something of an inside joke amongst the winter-over crew. Our record is mackerel expired in 1999 (truthfully, though, we have no plan to taste that one…). Despite this, I must admit I had not thought I would be this spoiled for choice with the food! And having a private chef for a whole year is definitely a luxury…
75 Degrees South 