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The Indian athletes participating in the Paris Olympics 2024 could get some comforting food. As per reports, the dining halls of the Athletes Village will serve a specially curated menu for the Indian athletes that will give them the comfort of home while they compete in the biggest sporting tournament. The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially called Paris 2024, is scheduled from July 26 to August 11 in France with Paris as the main host city with 16 other cities.
A few months before the tournament, a report by The Indian Express said that the dining halls of the Athletes Village will have a specially curated menu for the Indian players. The menu will have steamed Basmati rice, dal, roti, aloo-gobhi, gently-spiced Indian-style chicken curry and South Asian broths.
Menu was curated to ensure Indian athletes would feel at home, says Shiva Keshavan
India’s deputy chef de mission for the Paris Olympics 2024, Shiva Keshavan, said the menu was passed on to the organisers during their meeting with the Indian Olympics Association (IOA). Keshavan said that the meeting was held and the menu was curated so that the Indian athletes feel at home while being far away from the country.
He said, “Many of our recommendations for a modified menu to include Indian dishes were accepted. Each one was cleared by a nutritionist.” He added, “Food tends to be a big issue with our athletes. Of course, at the Olympics, you can engage with cuisines from all over the world in the main dining area. But we pressed the organisers to include a wider South Asian menu for our athletes. Athletes are anyway out of their comfort zones (while travelling), but food shouldn’t be a surprise sprung on them.”