See our special feature on Polokwane 2007.
By Thomas Hartleb
With 1,5 tons of meat and 3 500 litres of ice cream consumed daily at the ANC's conference in Limpopo, it came as no surprise that provisions had to be "imported".
That amount of ice cream would fill almost three, six-seater jacuzzis.
There was not enough meat in Polokwane, so it had to be shipped in from Johannesburg and kept in cold storage near the venue, said Tinus Ferreira, general manager of the House of Bonne Cuisine.
About 6 200 meals were served three times a day, including 1 200 halaal meals. Delegates could choose between two kinds of meat, two vegetables and two starchy foods.
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On the ANC-approved menu on Tuesday were pies, green beans, meat, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, Greek salad and samp. The menu for the entire conference had been given the thumbs-up by the ANC's steering committee three months ago.
It would take a two-ton truck eight trips between the conference venue at the University of Limpopo and an industrial kitchen where it was prepared, 30 minutes' drive away, to cart all the food for a single meal.
This was partly due to the bulky plastic boxes the food was transported in to keep it warm and hygienic.
"There aren't any leftovers," Ferreira said. What little did remain went to the catering staff and other workers on the campus.
Shortly before lunch on Tuesday, a weary-looking Ferreira stood in a receiving area next to the dining tent, shouting orders to his staff as the food began arriving.
A total of 526 staff were helping to keep delegates fed, Ferreira said. Four hundred came from the area and had been trained as waiters. They typically started work at 4am, finishing around 11pm.
Ten-thousand plates were used every mealtime.
Red meat was the favourite protein. Heavy starches such as pap and samp were the popular carbohydrates. - Sapa
See our special feature on Polokwane 2007.
- This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Times on December 19, 2007
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