THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY -- Lunch at the Calgary Stampeders training camp officially started at 11:30 a.m., but half a dozen players stood around 20 minutes early with plates in their hands and their mouths open Friday.

They burn up to 5,000 calories per day during two-a-day workouts at training camp, so they're bottomless pits when it comes to food. The Stampeders consume 300 kilograms of it a day during training camp.

Chef Kevin Pelissier and his staff at the Main Dish scramble to get fried chicken and lasagna out of their van and into the steam trays.

"You always have a sinking feeling in your stomach when you open the door and see 20 guys waiting there," Pelissier said. "You know you have about five or six minutes to get everything set and ready to go.

"When grown men are hungry, they're hungry. You can't tell them 11:30. Not feeding them is not an option. And late is never an option."

Training camp is an 18-day, 38-meal marathon for The Main Dish. Preparation for lunch starts at 6 a.m. at their downtown restaurant.

The mid-day meal is transported to McMahon Stadium in a van equipped with hot ovens but, before they leave, preparation for supper is already underway. They start grilling 120 steaks for supper as soon as they return from serving lunch.

At today's lunch, 400 pieces of fried chicken, six pans of lasagna, 10 kilograms of broccoli salad, 12 kilograms of Caesar salad, about 15 kilograms of cut fruit, 120 cookies and a full tray of desserts will disappear.

The team has gone through almost 16 litres of hot, ranch and barbecue sauce since camp began.

During training camp, the players are voracious engines consuming and expending energy.

The linemen especially want to keep their bulk. Offensive lineman John Hashem, six-foot-seven and 310 pounds, constructs a small mountain of food on his plate and intends to come back for seconds and thirds.

"If you ate a normal three meals, you'll lose weight, but if you shove three plates down each time, it's even hard to keep your weight up," Hashem said. "You have to eat a bunch of cake and fried chicken to stay above weight.

"It's fun being an offensive lineman. You can eat what you want."

While quarterback Henry Burris doesn't have quite as much frame to maintain at six-foot-one and 220 pounds, he eats several times a day, starting with steak and eggs for breakfast.

He supplements The Main Dish's meals with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before and after practice.

"Just to maintain your weight you have to," Burris said. "If I don't maintain, I'll lose 10 or 12 pounds during training camp easy. Don't want to do that. I'm at a great weight now and I want to stay there."

Even when the initial flurry of early birds have loaded up their plates, Pelissier nervously watches the food intake and mentally calculates how many more players he has yet to feed.

Sometimes a dish is so popular there's not a lot left for stragglers, which is his nightmare.

"The worst feeling for us is when you have to get into that last 10 per cent of food," he said.

"When you pull the last empty pan and know that a couple of guys haven't been through, you have to tell somebody 'you're not getting sausage and peppers.'

"You don't want to tell the guys not to eat but at the same time you're watching them load up."

Today, the fried chicken is a hit with players from the southern United States.

"They keep asking for grits but I'm not going to be the guy to run the risk of ruining grits for them," he said.

Pelissier has also made catfish, but will do that once a season because it doesn't travel well and can't sit for long in steam trays.

"We love that they appreciate it, but it's the most temperamental of dishes and it's 240 pieces," he explained. "That's the day you don't want practise to run late."

He and his staff must have a backup plan in case the schedule changes. If coach and general manager John Hufnagel suddenly announces practice will run short, the players still have to be fed right after it.

"His organization has to be prepared to stop and turn on a dime and so do we," Pelissier said.

For the football players, the meals are a highlight in their day, which gives Pelissier job satisfaction.

"You see genuine reaction and appreciation when they like something," Pelissier said. "Most of these guys are getting beat up on the field in two-a-days. The coaches are there to make their lives hell.

"I'm trying to give them something they like."