A View from the Kitchen: Nipura

June 27

The afternoon/ dinner team is made up of Manogati who is from Russia. She has worked on our races as an invaluable helper both in medical and as an assistant to fellow Russian participants. She is now in the kitchen as an awesome salad and juice chef where her understanding of the runners needs is very welcome.

The next addition is Irena who is also from the Czech Republic. She is the Chief Dishwasher and Potato peeler. Her help is wonderful and always cheerful. She also is a dab cleaner of floors as well! Her duties do not stop there though...she is a very willing and efficient lap counter for the runners and also will become a helper for Surasa, one of the 3 girl runners we have doing the 3100 mile race.

Nipura who comes from New Zealand is the third person on the team. She has worked on the 6 and 10-Day race in the kitchen for the last 2 years. She is the main cook for the afternoon/dinner shift.

The 3100-mile race has 12 participants. They are from Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Austria and Australia.

Nirjharini and Nipura decide the menu for the runners with invaluable input from the rest of the team. We will be sharing with you some of the culinary delights of this 52-day feat.

June 25

The kitchen has been abuzz with getting ready for the start of the 3100-mile race. What with shopping, chopping, prepping, cooking, mixing, blending, stirring and slicing we have been busy compiling ideas and recipes for the 12 runners who are going to be participating in this immortal race.

The kitchen team consists of 6 girls, who come from different parts of the world. First up is the ever willing and awesome Nirjharini. She is one of the main chefs from our beautiful cafe/restaurant in Oslo, The Fragrance of the Heart. She is an amazingly gifted and dynamic individual who runs the kitchen with a sweet, funny and caring attitude. She is in charge of the early morning breakfast/lunch crew.

Second up is the one, the only.... Tanuja! Tanuja hails from the Czech Republic. She is an accomplished restaurant worker who has, over many years, worked all over the world, helping to nurture and nourish people from all walks of life. She is so witty and smart with kindness and compassion thrown into the mix. She is an awesome addition to the morning team and is a hard and capable worker.

We are so lucky to have Tejini, who has been an invaluable help in the mornings. Tejini comes from Germany and is helping in the kitchen part time while also helping with counting the runners laps. Her cheerful, bright persona is very appreciated and enjoyed by us all. She is an accomplished cook in the race kitchen as she has helped in many past years.

The morning shift consists of a snack at 6am ish when the runners start their day, breakfast at 8am, which is an accomplished feat in itself. The runners all have individual needs for the first big meal of the day and they vary from kitchoury to scrambled eggs to fresh fruit salad and Greek salad with other variations in between. There are unique requirements for these extremely unique individuals.
At 10am there is another snack and then at midday there is lunch.
A lot of organization and planning goes into the preparation of all the meals and we try to vary the protein/carbohydrate combinations. There is always fresh fruit and smoothies, rehydrating drinks plus both sweet and savory food items.
It is a lot of fun and we have heaps of laughs.

Tomorrow will be the next installment where we cover the afternoon/evening shift.

Hasta la vista