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UANGZHOU, CHINA: Doug Bradley, the head chef at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a former White House chef, is in charge of serving more than 13,000 athletes and coaches at the Asian Games.

Bradley and his team are serving over 26,000 meals a day and will have prepared 30 tons of meat by the time the Asiad concludes on Nov. 27, the Huashang Daily reported. One millions bananas will be eaten during the games, the organizers said.

“Of course [athletes] like to eat all kinds of fruit, they also like pizza and Italian pasta. Young people all over the world like to eat this,” Bradley told the paper.

“We have a five-day cycle, divided into 22 hot dishes and 12 vegetable dishes. Every day one or two new dishes are introduced to give the athletes a different flavor.”

Bradley, who is currently living in China, has served four American presidents including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George Bush and his son George W. Bush, according to his employer, Aramark Sports and Entertainment, caterer to the Asian Games. He has also served six Catholic cardinals and numerous world leaders over his 23-year career.

The Bushes liked to eat Texas barbecue, while Clinton ate so fast he always had stomach problems, Bradley said, adding that he once saw Clinton eat an apple in two bites.

At the Asiad, Bradley oversees 51 chefs, including 20 Cantonese cooks and numerous others from Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.

About 80 percent of the food at the Asian Games Town is produced in China, where food safety inspectors carefully monitor and test for banned substances that may have entered the food chain, the paper said. — JP