Vegetable sausage, beetroot falafels... During the Olympics, the Concorde site will only serve vegetarian recipes

On the Concorde site, which will host urban sports during the Paris Olympic Games this summer, the catering offered to the public will be vegetarian only, a “first” in the history of the games, the organizers announced on Tuesday. “The Games are a unique opportunity to show that another model is possible,” underlined Philipp Würz, catering manager at the Olympic organizing committee, during a presentation to the press of the recipes which will be served to the athletes and the team. public by Sodexo Live.

The emblematic Parisian square will host the events of four so-called urban sports (BMX freestyle, three-person basketball, breaking and skateboarding) from July 27 to August 10. “We wanted to push the cursor as far as possible,” Mr. Würz told AFP, explaining that one of the recipes which will be offered on the Concorde site, the vegetarian hot dog, had been preferred to the beef burger by the public during a mountain bike test event in Elancourt organized at the end of September.

“We want to show that we can offer gourmet recipes without meat, without being in the caricature of a replacement of meat,” explains the manager, for whom “this decision is the culmination of 4 years of work.” Pasta salad, vegetarian croque-monsieur, beetroot falafels... Around fifteen vegetarian recipes have been developed by the chefs of Sodexo Live, which manages, in addition to the catering of the athletes' village, the meal offerings on 14 sites competition.

The vegetable sausage was worked “on a base of apples, potatoes and peas”, according to Stéphane Chicheri, executive chef of Sodexo Live, who promised “gourmet and invigorating” recipes. The prices of the vegetarian offer have not yet been finalized but they will be similar to the prices offered during other international events in Paris, according to Mr. Würz, mentioning a basic range “between 6 and 10 euros”.

Athletes will, however, have access to an offer with meat if they wish. Catering is an important lever for “greening” the Games, with the objective of halving the carbon footprint of the 13 million meals that will be served during the competitions (Olympics and Paralympics), of using 80% of products from of French origin, to offer 60% plant-based recipes to the general public and 50% to volunteers, staff and media.