Davos: Beating world hunger with gourmet dining

Same old lunch queue: It's not all glamorous dining at Davos

Everyone knows that it's hungry work improving the state of the world.

While the participants of the World Economic Forum are busy discussing where the next big technological breakthrough is coming from or how to better spread wealth around the world, they need to be fed.

All 2,500-plus - and most of them, being world leaders and chief executives, are accustomed to a certain standard.

So, how do you go about it?

It takes months of planning, says Noud Van den Boer, who runs the family-owned Dutch catering company Van den Boer Group.

The company has been coming to snowy Davos, in the Swiss Alps, for 13 years to cater to clients.

Dinner for 128, please

As we meet them, his team are preparing for a World Food Programme (WFP) dinner of 128 dignitaries including the current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, his predecessor Kofi Annan, as well as Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

It's 2016, so of course some are vegetarian, some gluten-free and some are vegan.

Excellent, now just another 125 more portions to be plated up

But the kitchen is used to this - and they also have a few spare in case of any unexpected dietary requirements.

The menu is a Davos twist on a recipe provided by Refika, a Syrian refugee now living in a camp in Turkey.

She is part of the WFP's family chef initiative, in which refugees who benefit from its cash and vouchers programme share their local recipes online.

The first course is a "cremeux" of green peas (creamed peas to you and me, but this is Davos) with panna cotta and a parmesan cheese crisp.

This is a nod to 2016 itself - named by the UN as the International Year of Pulses - and which has been launched to raise awareness of the protein power and health benefits of beans and peas.

Dining irony

The main course - which looks delicious - is guinea fowl supreme, with white rice, eggplant and peanuts. It's a posher version of chicken and rice, if you like.

They've used guinea fowl because it's easier to source locally - which they do for all the food they use.

It is also much less spicy than the original recipe, in order to cater for a broader range of palates.

The World Food Programme says dinners like this are essential in helping to eradicate hunger

By going to Davos, the WFP says it can "keep hunger, and its solutions, on the agenda"

For the vegetarians it's braised asparagus with herb cream and red pepper sauce with potato rosti with tomato, zucchini and onion.

Dessert will be small chocolates and sweets to go with the coffee.

There is, of course, an inescapable irony in hosting a gourmet dinner to discuss world hunger.

But, a WFP representative tells me, events such as these are vital if the organisation is to achieve its goal of eradicating hunger in 15 years.

They will use the time to explain and persuade companies how to help them reach this lofty goal. And it's not just financial donations they want, it's all sorts of help.

For example, they have an arrangement with the telecoms company Ericsson, which provides them with assistance wherever necessary, including 150 voluntary employees who can help out whenever an emergency strikes, and also helps to provide Internet access and phone lines.

And it's worth pointing out that none of this is paid for by the WFP - its whole presence is paid for by the companies who sponsor them.

"The food is subordinate to the total theme but it still has to be there," says Mr Van den Boer.