World Cup Cooks Bring Taste of Home to the Land of Pasta

If the West Germans want to win the World Cup they have come to the right place--at least where their taste buds are concerned.

“On match days we always have noodles or spaghetti for lunch, sometimes with tomato sauce. It’s something of a ritual,” said West German team spokesman Wolfgang Niersbach.

Food and diet are a big part of preparations for soccer’s greatest show and most of the 24 teams in Italy have brought their own cooks to the land of pasta and pizza to ensure a taste of home and guard against upset stomachs.

The South Koreans have flown in rice and marinated fish as well as spices for their national dish of kimchi--pickled cabbage doused with garlic sauce.

“They also like pasta,” Giuseppe Lorenzini, manager of the hotel where the South Koreans are staying on Lake Garda, told reporters when the squad arrived Wednesday.

“For the first day they have ordered spaghetti, although they want their own hot sauce to go with it,” he added.

The West Germans have brought their own black bread but have succumbed to mozzarella, the famous soft and creamy Italian cheese made from water buffalo milk.

The Austrians seem more cautious. Their cook bakes his own bread and has banned olive oil from the kitchen of the team’s hotel near Florence--where Italy’s best olive oil comes from.

The United States team has no complaints about Italian meals--once breakfast is over.

Cooks from a U.S. Army base near the squad’s training camp at Tirrenia have had to teach kitchen staff how to prepare an American-style breakfast of pancakes, muffins and maple syrup.

“The Italian cooks kept asking us whether Americans really did eat all this for breakfast. They thought they were things people ate for a dessert,” said U.S. Army spokesman Jeff Fry.

World Cup holders Argentina did not have to fly the entire squad from Buenos Aires since most of its stars play in Europe--but they did fly in meat for them to eat.

“As you will know, the quality is much higher than here,” said a team official, explaining that the meat would be used for charcoal-grilled Argentine ‘Asados’.

Meat for the United Arab Emirates team, playing in their first World Cup finals, is bought locally but slaughtered according to Moslem rules.

And the Gulf state’s squad won’t taste the wines for which Italy is famous. As practicing Moslems, they are not allowed to drink alcohol and instead wash down their food with water, orange juice or fizzy soft drinks.