Father Abram feeds masses

Delicious: Sgt James Abram goes bananas over fruit and vegies. Photo by WOFF Dave Pang

By Cpl Simone Liebelt
Volume 11, No. 38, March 8, 2006

SGT James Abram, a father of 10, knows how hard it can be to satisfy hungry bellies. It’s made him the perfect choice to run the only Australian soldiers’ mess in the Middle East.

Every day Sgt Abram creates an imaginative array of dishes for more than 100 soldiers at the Secdet 8 compound in Baghdad, using a mixture of fresh ingredients and a lucky dip of rations supplied by the US Army.

He and Pte Todd Ellis convert 50-man ration packs into palatable Australian cuisine.
Both cooks are from 1RAR Catering Pl and are constantly challenged by the supplies the Americans deliver.

“The ration packs are full of preservatives so they have no taste, and the Americans don’t use herbs and spices, so we brought over two trunks of our own so we can add flavour to everything. If you have a good imagination, you take anything that looks ordinary and make it taste nice.”

He said the other problem was getting fresh fruit and vegetables, as they had to rely on a local contractor named Fil to deliver the goods.

“Fil tries to get whatever fresh food he can for us, but there are times when he can’t even get through the checkpoints to deliver it,” he said.

“During the elections, there were 14 days when we couldn’t have salads because Fil couldn’t get into the city. It also depends on the seasons; for a while the [Secdet] guys had to put up with tinned peas and beans every day.”

After 20 years in the kitchen, Operation Catalyst is his first operational deployment, but he can’t wait to get home to his own pots and pans in Townsville.

“I’m looking forward to getting home to my 10 kids because I really miss them and hate being away from them,” he said.

“That’s the great thing about going away – coming back to my kids. Whenever I go away, I always get mobbed when I get home.”

It’s easy to see why, with eight children aged from nine to 25 still living at home with his wife Janet. Seven are their children, and they have custody of another three children from a broken home.

“When you’ve got seven children already, what’s another three more?” he said.
“I’m from a big family myself so I just love kids and Janet does a wonderful job; I don’t know what we’d do without her.

“You learn a lot of short cuts and make things go a long way when you have to, because it’s amazing how much food you need for that many kids.

“I’ve been cooking for over 20 years and I’ve never stopped learning, which is why I’ll never stop whipping up a meal for anybody; I just love it.”.