DATE: Thursday, May 22, 1997                TAG: 9705210698

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Military 

SOURCE: BY FRANK ALFANO 

                                            LENGTH:   66 lines

NAVY COOK ACCUSTOMED TO FIXING FOR THRONGS

Steaks on the grill, medium rare. Baked potates smothered with butter and sour cream. Tossed garden salad with crisp vegetables and homemade dressing.

I'm singin' and this house is rockin'. Actually, this warship is movin'. Preparing that kind of meal for six people at home is a breeze, especially since cooking is my hobby. But when you add a few more ingredients - say, saffron and salt for 4,000 hungry sailors and Marines who are steaming on a ship 6,000 miles away from American soil - it's a challenge.

The people out here are working 14- to 19-hour days, training and keeping this mighty ship of steel ready if the call comes to carry ``The Big Stick.'' You can bet that when they come off the ``roof,'' or flight deck, they're hungry.

Making the crew's favorite foods isn't easy. Let's take steak, for example. Instead of adding a dash of salt and a sprinkle of my favorite seasonings on a cut of meat three inches thick, we're preparing thousands of steaks. It would be nice to ask each person how they want it cooked, but the reality is that we prepare it three ways: medium, medium and medium.

We're broiling about 30 steaks at a time on a 16 by 20 flat metal sheet in the oven, using six ovens with six shelves in each. If you can imagine a line of people going up one flight of stairs and lining one of the massive steel doors that separate the three hangar bays, that's how it is for each meal we serve. It would be like several thousand of your neighbors dropping by your house for a barbecue, and the line for chow wraps around the block. Here, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get through the food line on a good day.

I didn't even mention breakfast. That's a favorite. We crack more than 3,000 eggs and use at least 10 cases of ``instant eggs'' each morning, preparing about 2,000 omelets and 1,500 orders of scrambled eggs. It's precision how the cooks keep the line moving - 10 people a minute is my best guess.

It's the best meal because it's made on the spot and the way they like it. If they want chopped ham, onions, mushrooms, cheese, peppers, tomatoes or olives in their eggs, they get it.

The aroma of melting cheese and fresh bacon fills the lower decks. Can't forget the mounds of bacon, sausage, pancakes, French toast and biscuits that go on the side.

When I reported to the Theodore Roosevelt last July, I came to the enlisted mess and was assigned to work on the salad bar.

I decided to spruce it up a little by adding new pasta dishes, different combinations of vegetables and fruits, stuff like that. I think the most noticeable change was how the salad bar looked. I made garnishes out of fruits and vegetables and created different tropical scenes. It may look hard, but it's pretty easy to turn a carrot into a palm tree, an apple into a rose or bird.

Since I work the night shift, my chow line catches the eye of everyone who eats the evening meal and ``mid-rats'' (midnight rations for the night crew, served from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.) This ship operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's always go, go, go.

When people from other branches of the service come to the ship and go through the chow line, they are amazed at how great the food is.

When they come back after a meal and jokingly ask, ``Where do I sign up?'' I know I've made a lasting impression. I'd like to tell you how tough my job is, and we do work long hours to service the crew, but I know deep down that the toughest job is being done back home by my family. I wonder if she'll let me do the cooking when I get home. MEMO: (He'll find out soon. The Theodore Roosevelt comes home today.

Alfano is a mess management specialist 2nd class.)

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