PHOTO ESSAY/A taste of home: Taiwan opens comfort food station for traveling Olympians

Paris, July 27 (CNA) Keeping in line with tradition, Taiwan's Sports Administration has established a support hub this year to care for the mental and physical well-being of the nation's athletes at the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Located in Levallois-Perret, a commune on the right bank of the Seine about 6 km outside of Paris, the station was set up by the Taiwan Sports Administration, the National Sports Training Center and the Taiwan Institute of Sports Science.

Those working there, from physical therapists to nutritionists, were deployed to France earlier in the month to prepare.

The way station this year features services including better recovery and medical equipment and in-house psychologists.

Speaking with CNA on Friday, Taiwan's badminton ace Chou Tien-chen (周天成) praised the establishment for providing a place to support Taiwan's athletes. "This is of course great," Chou said, "especially during times when we can't practice in the venues which we have to compete in. This sports center acts as a great training location. To be able to get an environment and space like this during the Olympics is very helpful to athletes."

However, the most popular perk beloved by Taiwan's athletes is arguably the so-called "Cuisines Apartment" where three Taiwanese chefs are stationed to satisfy the cravings of the nation's Olympians.

The chefs were sent by the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) and Taiwan's Han Dian food company to bring a slice of home to Taiwanese athletes.

As the first patrons to the apartment, Taiwan's female archery delegation had the opportunity to satisfy their appetite with soup dumplings and rib noodle soup.

Seasoned archer Lei Chien-ying (雷千瑩) said she has sampled every dish at least once, adding she was happy to get a taste of home because she was not very used to the cold dishes she has found to be more prevalent in Europe.

Echoing Lei, archer Li Tsai-chi (李彩綺) said she was happy to take a break from uncooked vegetables and get a bellyful of cooked vegetables from home.

According to one of the chefs at the apartment, they have prepped a thousand portions for each of the Taiwanese dishes they designed.

CTOC president Lin Hong-dow (林鴻道) added that given the popularity of the cuisines, they might have to increase the portion size of the dishes, especially beef noodles, which is the most popular among Taiwan's Olympians.

Lin said that given most dishes are prepped from frozen, there are discussions about sending food to the athletes' village so the athletes and coaches can cook for themselves.