The Ministry of Defense project “Preparing for Battle” with the participation of Yevhen Klopotenko: opinions of the military differ

The quality of military food in Ukraine remains one of the hottest topics on social networks and on the front lines. While the state is working on the reform, some units are faced with low-quality products, and chefs are forced to “juggle” limited resources. The Ministry of Defense decided to systematize experience and improve the situation by launching the “Preparing for Battle” project with the participation of the famous chef Yevhen Klopotenko. This initiative has sparked active discussions among the military, as well as civilians.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has launched the “Preparing for Battle” project, which is being implemented by the Defense Procurement Agency (DOT) as part of the military nutrition reform. The main result will be a practical collection of recipes for those responsible for organizing food in units. The initiative is designed to unite and systematize the experience of military chefs, rather than create new “author’s dishes”.

The project is being implemented in partnership with the NGO “Kult Food”, founded by chef Yevhen Klopotenko. According to him, the main goal is to collect the best practices of unit chefs and, together with technologists, adapt them for different cooking conditions. The collection will not be mandatory for everyone, but will serve as a reference for units.

“I see a lot of emotions around the topic “Klopotenko will develop recipes for the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. Let me explain right away so that there are no unnecessary myths. I am not here to create “brilliant author’s recipes”. The “Preparing for Battle” project is being carried out by the Defense Procurement Agency of the DOT. My role is to help systematize what already exists in the units and transfer our experience where it is useful.

The reality today is that many units have cool experiences and cool chefs, while in others everything is completely different. Different units have already created their cool practices, but they are not brought together. In addition, other state agencies are also working in this direction and today it is important combine them, not duplicate them.

Therefore, my task in this project is to collect the best practices of military chefs and, together with specialized technologists, systematize and adapt all this to different cooking conditions so that any kitchen can work stably – regardless of a person’s experience or conditions. And here it is important to understand that this collection will not be mandatory for everyone – it is just a tool that can be used when necessary”, – reported Klopotenko.

In addition, the chef explains that delicious food for wounded soldiers is not only about taste, but above all about care, dignity and a sense of normal life even in difficult circumstances. This was the motivation for his participation in the Mobile Evacuation of the Wounded project.

In the evacuation trains for wounded and injured soldiers, people have the opportunity to receive regular food, but previously there was often a lack of full-fledged hot meals. Klopotenko notes that the idea for the project arose to create additional portions of food that are easy to heat up on the road: pilaf, cabbage rolls, chicken with toptanka – simple, familiar, homemade food that really tastes good.

According to Yevhen Klopotenko, together with Ukrzaliznytsia, the Kolo Foundation and the Muza team, clear logistics were built for the storage and transfer of these meals. The project started in early January, and at first it was not advertised to make sure that everything was working correctly. More than 1,200 servings of hot food have already been delivered to long evacuation routes. He personally rode an evacuation train to see the process from the inside: how food is delivered, how the wounded react, how the medics work, what tastes best, what is convenient on the road, and what really supports people. This gave him confirmation that the work is organized correctly.

Klopotenko emphasizes that this is not a one-time initiative, but systematic work and another way to support those who are going through a difficult path of recovery. The main goal is simple and humane: to feed the wounded deliciously, because delicious food stimulates recovery. He also adds that this story is just beginning and must continue.

It should be noted that the military’s reaction to the initiative was different. Some people took it positively, because chefs have to work with low-quality products, and departments are raising additional funds to purchase better ingredients. The commander of the medical service of the “Da Vinci Wolves” battalion, Alina Mikhailova, said that she was glad for the reform, as it would make the work of cooks easier.

Sergiy Motuz emphasized the importance of the reform, recalling the experience of basic training, where the fish was so hard that “you could hammer a nail into it.”

Other servicemen expressed critical remarks. For example, Vladyslav Vasevych, who has experience working in kitchens in Kyiv and Europe and is a military cook, called the three-week training “useless,” as it focuses on old recipe books and field kitchens from decades past.

Among the military’s frequent complaints is the poor quality of the products. Mark Zheleznyak noted that meat often contains a lot of water and fat, chicken is watery, and some items, in particular fillet and fish, may be absent altogether.

Some social media users were ironic about the menu changes, fearing exotic dishes such as “fried maple leaves” or “beaver tail stew”.

At the same time, the Defense Procurement Agency (DOT) specified that Klopotenko will not create new unusual or exotic dishes. His task is to systematize existing recipes of military chefs and prepare technological maps based on them:

“It is worth noting that Yevhen Klopotenko will not develop recipes. The collection will consist of recipes of military chefs who want to share their experiences. Yevhen’s task is expert: to structure, scale, create technological maps for recipes, etc. Therefore, there will be no fried bees and acacias in batter”.

Yevhen Klopotenko is known as the winner of the fifth season of the show “MasterChef Ukraine” and a graduate of the French culinary school Le Cordon Bleu. He actively promotes Ukrainian cuisine and participated in the reform of school meals and the development of hot lunches for railway transportation.