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Monday, January 23, 2006
Chicken on the grill, Iraq-style
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Moni Basu/AJC
Lt. Michael Zellous, 41, of Riverdale fires up his grill.
Tallil Air Base, Iraq — On the menu at the dining facility here:
Fried chicken, pork chops, veal cutlets, fried rice, taco bar, succotash, mixed vegetables, salad bar, onion rings, French fries, hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken breasts, sandwiches, apple pie, brownies, layer cake and ice-cream.
So much food. And yet, for soldiers spending an entire year deployed in Iraq, it all begins to taste the same after a while. There’s a distinctly bland flavor and not much variation to the daily menu.
Veteran soldiers in the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team scoff at complaints - think about the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy and shivered in the trenches all over Europe,eating cold slop in tin cans. Or C Rations in Vietnam.
Yes, but this is a different world. And Iraq is a vastly different war.
Georgia soldiers have learned to be inventive when keeping their stomachs full, their energy levels up. At some camps, soldiers are offered a wide array of microwavable items they can take back to their tents or trailers. Thai soup bowls, Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs, Ramen noodles, canned soups. Others buy meat at the PX to cook to their liking.
Take 1st Lt. Michael Zellous, for instance. Dressed in his Riverdale High School (where Zellous teaches math) t-shirt worn stylishly over Army-issued long johns, Zellous took time out to clean out his Weber grill.
“I like to cook, he said standing amid a field of gravel at Base Camp Adder’s Living Area III. “I do it all the time at home.”
With that, Zellous fought the chilly wind to light a fire and throw some chicken on the grill.
At Camp Liberty in Baghdad, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment’s Charlie Company often grill hunks of USDA approved steak - sometimes so thick that it’s impossible to cut with a plastic knife.
At Camp Scania in central Iraq, home to soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, an enterprising young Iraqi named Qasim Jidan opened a small café within the confines of the military base.
The café offers freshly baked Iraqi flat bread, falafel, hot soup, tea and soon, Jidan promised, roasted chicken and kebabs.
“I wanted the soldiers to try Iraqi food,” said Jidan, 22, who also owns a small shop next door.
The soldiers love the café. Unlike the bustling chow hall with its rows and rows of tables and chairs, Jidan’s café offers tables of four - a place for the soldiers to gather and “just hang out” like they would at a restaurant back home.
“It’s a nice break from the chow hall,” said 1st Lt. Jeff Morgan, an engineering inspector from Douglasville. “It’s a good place to come socialize.”
Now, if only they could get a mug of icy cold beer. Alcohol, of course, is forbidden for military personnel in Iraq, but there’s always “near beer.” Odoul’s, Coors and even Becks offer non-alcoholic options.
And no, you still don’t feel a buzz if you drink in quantity. This according to official testing conducted by Georgia soldiers.
