Five-star meals in sub-zero temperatures: Inside life working at the Australian Antarctic Division

A job at Antarctica is certainly a unique experience.

But it is not just environmentalists on the books helping the world gain a better understanding of the icy continent.

The Australian Antarctic Division's chef Noel Tennant has divulged some of the secrets of the Antarctica station.

And it's not all tinned food and packaged food coming out of the kitchens.

To give the public an insight into life and work in Antarctica, the Australian Antarctic Division has held the first of seven live Q and A sessions on its Twitter account.

For an hour on Monday, Mr Tennant answered questions on everything from food preparation to birthday cakes and baking.

A staff member with the Australian Antarctic Division for 19 years, Mr Tennant serves between 14 and 100 people each meal time, in a commercial kitchen.

There are 206 Australian expeditioners living at four permanent research stations —Mawson, Davis and Casey are on the Antarctic continent, and Macquarie Island is in the subantarctic.

All four stations are occupied year-round by scientists and support staff.

An expeditioner's diet these days is a far cry from the dry sledging biscuit and pemmican ingested in the name of food by early Antarctic explorers.

During the Q and A, Mr Tennant said all food was shipped from Australia, but a small hydroponic set up allowed the staff to grow herbs and leafy vegetables that often do not keep well for long periods.

All stations have productive hydroponic facilities to ensure a steady supply of fresh and colourful produce all-year round against the often grey, whites and blues of the snow and ice.

The crops also provide a recreational activity for expeditioners during the long winter months where there is little or no sun.

Typical hydroponics crops include tomatoes, lettuces, cucumbers, capsicums, beans, zucchinis, spinach, snow peas, fennel, coriander and basil. Expeditioners germinate seedlings on a regular basis to ensure continuous cropping.

One Q and A follower asked if simply a "hole in the wall" was enough to keep food cold in the chilly temporary home for staff.

"Our freezers are full to the brim," Mr Tennant said.

"Summer temps can be up to 10 degrees (Celsius)."

Away from the kitchen, the chefs are able to head outside each day and travel further afield every few weeks, Mr Tennant revealed in the Q and A.

And it's not just the chefs heading out to explore their surroundings.

The Australian Antarctic Division has launched the Twitter Q and A sessions as part of its recruitment drive to find new staff to join them in one of the most untouched continents in the world.

Roles include medical practitioners, watercraft operators, chefs, carpenters and plumbers.

Source: ABC News, Megan Mackander, 12^th January 2016