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Portugal recovering on cod and bananas
SEOUL, June 7 (Reuters): After the disastrous start to their World
Cup campaign, Portugal need all the help they can get and team chef
Helio Loureiro is doing his best to make the players feel better.

Loureiro has brought with him to South Korea some 200 kg of salted
cod, a dish that is never off the menu in Portugal and which the
coastal sea-faring nation boasts it can make in 365 different ways.

Also important to the players, who lost their opening group D game 3-
2 to the United States, are sardines, which come into season in
Portugal in June, when the streets are filled with the smell of the
fish being grilled in annual festivals.

"We brought enough cod to keep homesickness at bay when needs be.
It's not in every meal, just on days off after games, when we also
have sardines and rice with beans," Loureiro said, nodding at a
salver of cod steaks in garlic and butter sauce.

Speaking in the team hotel, Loureiro noted that Portuguese
journalists had already eaten half the team's supply of cod at a
lunch offered by soccer officials and personalities, including great
Portuguese striker Eusebio.

Loureiro, who has been catering for the squad at home and abroad for
six years, said that he had first visited Korea a month ago to check
on food supplies and was satisfied that most of what he needed was
locally available.

The chef said he normally arrived at the team hotel two days early to
check on conditions and local supplies, and to buy enough food to be
ready for the squad's arrival.

"Nowadays with globalisation, you can find produce almost everywhere,
and it isn't hard to get fresh fish as good as in Portugal, and meat
which is just as good, from Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and
even the United States," he said.

Apart from cod, all the squad had to bring with them were some
Portuguese food and drink unavailable elsewhere, like sausages, cured
cheeses and wine from the northern Douro river.

"The players drink a glass of wine at supper, but not on match days,"
Loureiro said.

After tiring games such as the surprise defeat on Wednesday to a
physical US side, the players began their recovery by drinking a
banana milk shake prepared with yoghurt and raisins.

"This helps the body get back into balance and to ingest the
potassium, carbohydrates and sugar which it needs to recover,"
Loureiro said.

Other strict conditions for the team are to eat a low-fat diet, with
semi-skimmed milk and cheese, and green rather than root vegetables,
which Loureiro said had a higher water content.

The players also eat sugary foods only on the day before or after
matches, and Loureiro raises the salt content in his dishes by 10-15
per cent to help them retain fluids while playing in the heat.

Loureiro promised to prepare a special treat for the team if they had
something to celebrate, though they now need to win both their
remaining group D games against Poland and South Korea to be sure of
qualifying for the World Cup's second round.

"If there is, as I hope and I'm certain, there'll be something to
celebrate, it will definitely be a seafood dish, which Portuguese
people adore. Lobster and crab are celebratory dishes and we've also
brought some bottles of good Port wine," he said.

(courtesy: Navhind Times / 8 June 2002)

- Forwarded by www.goa-world.net
on 7 June 2002
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