I was reading the account of a journalist's first trip to Le Mans. Amidst all the excitement of being in a foreign country for the first time, the cars and the people around him, he described in detail the food offerings at the track and said it was the best food he had ever had at a race. Not that this would surprise any Frenchmen!
When I first returned to the races a few years ago after a considerable hiatus, I saw a phenomenon that had escaped my scrutiny as a fan in those earlier years. It was: how do these people in hospitality actually manage to cook and serve so much good food? In some cases the food is not only good, it is magnificent. I mean, dinners I could not pull off in my own kitchen, all done out of a truck or on a grill. Imagine gourmet food while you are camping. It is something like that. And, in many of the hospitality tents, real china and cutlery is used, not styrofoam and plastic.
Like, when the German chef from a large hotel in Stutgart came with the Mercedes team to cook on a weekend in October at Sebring International Speedway. I happened to be with him as he prepared the "snack" to bring to the crew down at the pits during the 12 hour race. It was Delmonico Steak done to perfection sandwiched on the luscious homemade rolls he had baked.
I was hooked on the idea of finding out how it is possible to do this kind of cooking under conditions that were certainly a whole lot more primitive than in a fully equipped kitchen. It was then that I also decided that these behind the scenes people were in fact the real heroes of the circuits, the ones who fueled the more visible parts of the race teams, the crew and the drivers.
My first glimpse into the secret behind the hospitality suites was by invitation to one at Daytona. It was my first Rolex 24 Hours and I was excited. I was also freezing and wet.
I was a friend of a friend in that situation and went into the tent to get out of an amazing downpour. The wind was blowing so hard that the tent was flapping and people were tying it down. The rain was heavy, most of the flooring was wet, yet the spread of food was hard to believe. There were delicious meats and pastas, fruits, salads, snacks, a continuous supply of hot tea, coffee and hot chocolate for the guests, crew and drivers.
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