Was talking a few weeks back with good friend Chap of the Chapomatic blog.
Chap, a career Naval officer, was concerned to learn that I had been putting in some late hours in the office and actually missing a few meals. He promised to send me some emergency rations from the base PX when he had a minute. Yeah, right, I thought. Ha ha. I've known Chap for (cough, cough) over twenty years now, we kid each other about stuff all the time, and I didn't really think anything more about it.
Until a package arrived in the mail several days later. The contents: two complete Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), the military's standard field rations these days. There was an "international" MRE ("Chicken in Thai Style Sauce") and a vegetarian MRE ("Veggie Burger in Barbecue Sauce") in Chap's care-package.
You know what I had to do.
Herewith, the enrevanche Test Kitchen report on MREs (sample size n=2.)
(Click on the pictures to see larger and higher-resolution versions.)
Step 1. Unpack your MRE. (Camo tablecloth optional.)
Step 2. Put entree in chemical heating pouch, add water.
Stuff back in cardboard carton.
Step 3. Rest entree heating assembly on an incline for 10-15 minutes.
Step 4. Open the pouch (careful, contents are hot)...
Step 5. ...and plate it up. (Plate not provided.) Mmm, mmm.
So, how was it, I hear you asking?
Article comments
1 - SFC SKI
MRE's are better now than they were 15 years ago, but it stll depends on which meals you get.
2 - RJ
After the hurricanes that thrashed Florida last summer, the National Guard set up little areas where they would hand out supplies to those who were without power. These supplies included ice, bottled water, and MREs.
I gotta tell ya, the ones I had were pretty damn tasty. IIRC, I tried a ravioli (or was it ziti?) and some kind of rice-and-beans meal.
Not exactly five-star dining, but certainly better than I had expected...
3 - RJ
I also seem to recall there being an Asian dish as well, though I don't believe it was the Thai chicken Barry had...
4 - Dave Nalle
Some things just work better for the MRE format than other things. Stuff in a sauce and stuff which keeps well naturally without refrigiration are always your safest bets, plus stuff which has a high acidity like tomato or pepper based sauces.
I've used MREs when camping and hunting, and you've got to use some common sense in selecting them. For example, a veggie burger wouldn't be good if it was fresh at a restaurant. All it can do as an MRE is get even worse.
I do like this article, btw. Just the kind of thing I like to write myself.
Dave
5 - Victor Plenty
The photos add spice to the article. I wonder where one can actually buy a camo tablecloth.
Not enough to actually search for one, though. Wouldn't do me any good anyway. First I would need to obtain a table of some kind.