The great Aussie bite. HMAS MANOORA sailors line up for a taste of the food that has been widely acclaimed by allied personnel in the Arabian Gulf.

HMAS Manoora's cooks have earned a reputation among allied naval forces as having the best food afloat in the Arabian Gulf.

The ship's culinary credits have spread by word of mouth following visits by the US Navy's Comdesron 50, his staff and several US Navy ensigns on short-term exchange to the ship.

The pleasant aromas from Manoora's galleys have even been influencing the Multinational Interception Force's (MIF) logistics support, with the US Navy Sea King utility helicopter, affectionately known as the 'Desert Duck', deliberately timing its deliveries to coincide with lunchtime.

Manoora's Supply Officer, LCDR Simon Ottaviano said he was very proud of his cooks and the reputation for excellence they have earned the MIF Operations command ship.

He traces the cooks' reputation back to late last year when, during Operation Relex, Manoora had 1022 people embarked for up to three weeks.

The unauthorised arrivals joined the ship under-nourished, tired and irritable but settled down when presented with food that catered for their religious needs.

"Our cooks developed menus with their specific tastes in mind, including leavened bread and this had a calming effect.

"They have certainly never, ever decreased the quality at the expense of the numbers we've had on board," he said.

LCDR Ottaviano says that same standard has carried through to the ship's Gulf deployment, with cooks working long hours including unusual arrangements to meet the watch- keeping routines.

High training standards

The supply officer attributes much of their taste-bud tingling success to high standards of training, with all RAN cooks trade-qualified through Frankston TAFE in Victoria.

"These people are very good cooks, all of them even the junior ones.

"They are relied upon at an early stage to cook for large numbers in a very tight time frame and produce a high quality product.

"Thanks to their training, what all the messes are getting onboard Manoora is what you would expect at any five star hotel," LCDR Ottaviano said.

The success of Australia's cooks has prompted work on the establishment of an exchange program aimed at getting American cooks into the ADF School of Catering at HMAS Cerberus.

By LEUT Andrew Herring