Army chefs based in Iraq with 1^st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (1 RHA) are rising to the challenge of feeding hundreds of hungry soldiers every day.   As temperatures in the desert rise to over 50 degrees centigrade they are using all their skills to give the troops the right type of food for the vital job they are doing.

Feeding hundreds of hungry soldiers is a tough enough job back home for the Royal Logistics Corps chefs, but out in Iraq it is as demanding and important as ever.  Meal times become a very important event for the soldiers far from home so the quality and variety have to be second to none.

The chefs with 1 RHA are normally based in Tidworth and form part of Mechanised Brigade (1 Mech Bde). They have a very busy Regimental Cookhouse out in Basra that feeds the regiment and its attached personnel - over 600 people three times a day.

The Regimental Catering Warrant Officer and his staff have to produce menus on a 14 day cycle with a budget of £2.57 per person per day.

Lance Corporal Carl Watson, 23, is one of the highly trained army chefs that work there. He works at least 11 hours a day producing top quality food.  He produces seven to eight choices per meal from fresh produce shipped in from Kuwait.  It's no mean feat, especially working in temperatures of up to 60 degrees in the kitchens.

"These are harder working conditions than back home.  It's important to keep everybody fed, morale high and enabling them to do their jobs," says L/Cpl Watson.

Soldiers can start the day with a full English breakfast, with fresh fruit salad and porridge. A typical lunch menu consists of salads, sandwiches, freshly made omelettes, steak and kidney pies, pan-fried chicken breast and noodles and a host of fresh vegetables and fruit.  Dinner in the evening offers a choice of Bacon Carbonara and garlic bread, salmon and hollandaise sauce and lamb Rogan Josh. Truly dedicated foodies can follow this with a choice of hot and cold puddings, cheeseboard or fresh fruit.

Chef Cpl Lee Corrington said. "It's a challenge to make sure the food is ready on time, but it's important to feed the troops."