Princess Elisabeth, the Southern Arctic research station in Queen Maud Land, has faced wind speeds of up to 249km/h and temperatures dropping to minus 50 degrees Celsius.
This means that chefs need to be highly skilled and sophisticated to be able to cook the right meals in this harsh environment.
"Since people work outdoors in extremely cold temperatures, I want to make something hot, like hot sauce or Raclette grilled cheese... and many other dishes," said Thomas Duconseille, a manager at the Princess Elisabeth research station.
When a group of scientists live 5,000km from the nearest city and at least 16,000km from home, grilled cheese will "travel" together on a long journey - cooking in this condition is an extremely unique challenge.
7 seasons in the Southern Hemisphere
The Princess Elisabeth research station is located on the slope of Utsteinen Nunatak. Outside Duconseille's offices are granite mountains and white lowlands that block the experimental station and wind turbines hidden in the snow.
In the summer months from November to February, scientists from Belgium, France, Germany, Turkey, India and the US will study up to 200km of mountains, coast, rivers and the surrounding Arctic plateau to develop strategies to address climate change. Some will stay for a few weeks, while others may stay until the end of the summer.
Duconseille, a resident chef at Princess Elisabeth, has been there for four months. This year is the 7th season Duconseille has been associated with life here.
It is hard to believe that inside the Princess Elisabeth research station there is a Brioche chamomile flower miniature kiln.
"We prepare the noodles and cook here. Maintaining the freshness of the fried kimchi is very important and I like making Brioche with chocolate for breakfast" - Duconseille said.
As a Frenchman, the fresh apricot blossoms are the flavor and lifestyle of Duconseille in the South as well as when returning home in Normandy, or in the Alps.
Challenges of fresh food in a land of distant origin
To travel to Princess Elisabeth, you will have to fly from Cape Town (South Africa) on a DC-3 aircraft, a cargo transport aircraft and suitable for operating on ice banks. The flight will take more than 6 hours and then will take 90 minutes to go from the runway to the station.
Fresh foods including vegetables and milk are also transported by DC-3, and this journey is repeated every month (if weather conditions allow).
Providing and storing food
Duconseille's meals at Princess Elisabeth are quite diverse, including soups, meat, pizza, salads and desserts. Duconseille said: "Each person will have different eating options such as vegetarian or vegan - so I also adjusted the menu to suit each person."
For special occasions, such as Christmas and New Year, Duconseille will prepare dishes including stewed liver, stuffed chicken and candy.
As a diner, I can say that feeling is like being in a restaurant. It was wonderful, it was a prosperous dinner, said scientist Robert.
From Belgium, we load containers with large amounts of dry and frozen food and every two consecutive years, a ship comes and supplies us with these ingredients, Duconseille said.
At the research station, food was stored on the lower floor, where there was a large room with a freezer for dry food, a container-sized refrigerator and a smaller refrigerator.
Duconseille said: These field trips can take two to three weeks and require four to six workers. With this, I need to estimate the meals they will need when leaving the station.
Every time I cook a large amount of food, I freeze the meals so that researchers can pick them up, defrost them and enjoy them without wasting precious time at the station.
Food and spirit are blended
In the Arctic, food is very important for everyone's spirit, and above all, it is to ensure that everyone is happy to gather together after a long day of work. I like to make desserts and cakes to give them more energy, Duconseille said.
Chef Duconseille took the time to make the whole group happy by creating cakes and hot cheese, so what brought him joy?
"The first days away from home were difficult. But what comforts me is being in this environment, where I can focus on work and be attracted by the beautiful scenery around me. Life is interesting, something always happens.
Duconseille said: At the end of the summer, we were happy to be home, but it was a mixed feeling: we were sad to leave the Arctic. It was a unique life that we had.
