Destination Antarctica: Ohioan Makes Meals

The portobello mushrooms are sliced, diced and ready to cook.

Trumbull County native and Executive Sous Chef Lou Sabella must cook enough to feed a small army.

"We cook like 90% from scratch," said Sabella.

He creates the menus and feeds the people (all 1200 of them) at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

"We are prepping two days out and trying to have our proteins ready to go.  Any given meal has between 8-12 man hours of prep time going into it," Sabella explained.

These researchers and government contractors fill their bellies with the elaborate dishes coming from Sabella's kitchen.

"Two-hundred and 50 pounds of pork tenderloin we have to filet out and stuff, roll, and tie," he added.

While the food is tasty, the culinary challenges are great, reported ONN's Harrison Hove.

"All of our meat comes in on a vessel that comes in January. It is stored in freezer units down here on station and that supplies us through the summer season and through the next winter," Sabella said.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are scarce. They're delivered once a week, if you're lucky.

"The freshies, which are anything fresh, comes down on a C-17 from New Zealand and that supplies for about a week," he explained.

After allocating the ingredients with enough protein, Sabella says taste is key.  Food here tastes more like it came from a cruise ship than a school cafeteria, which makes him pretty popular.  

"What we really try to focus on is trying to keep morale up and keep people happy. Food is the biggest way we can do that around here," Sabella added.

After all, the way to a person's heart is through their taste buds.

Tune to ONN-TV and ONNtv.com for the latest Harrison Hove Destination Antarctica story and watch the entire special report on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.