Defence forces’ gourmet menus get top ranking

The Irish Defence Forces may not have any Tomahawks — but they do have their rocket salad and avocado.

The 9,110 strong defence forces may languish near the bottom of the table when it comes to possessing military hardware, but is near top of the league when it comes to cooking gourmet food.

This follows the defence forces including ingredients that wouldn’t be out of place on a menu in a top class restaurant in its newly published tender for fresh food.

The tender includes new products such as fennel, watercress, lambs lettuce, boc choy, aubergines, avocado, courgettes, chard, celeriac, chives and wild mushrooms.

Perhaps mindful that no army can fight on an empty stomach, the tender also includes super foods such as blueberries, blackberries, sweet potatoes and ginger.

The army’s top brass has ordered 1,552 kg of rocket along with a wide assortment of herbs that include 70 kg of basil, 68kg of chervil and 126kg of coriander.

In a move that would make TV chef Jamie Oliver proud, the army insist that the ingredient cost of feeding each member totals a recession busting €4.20 per day.

According to a Defence Force spokesman, the ingredient cost of each breakfast is €1.05, with each lunch costing €1.05 and each dinner costing €2.10.

The spokesman confirmed that the products sought in each new tender are based on advice of the defence force catering personnel.

The estimated daily spend of €38,262 on ingredients shows that across a full year the price would amount to around €1.396 million.

Meals are provided three times daily across 14 locations — some with several catering centres — and on the eight-strong Navy Service flotilla.