Meals, Ready-to-Eat: From the American “Vomelet” to France’s Duck Cassoulet.
“What’s the deal with military food?” -Pfc. Seinfeld
Maybe you have already guessed, or maybe you haven’t, but I’m a huge fan of Steve1989’s Youtube channel. He eats MREs from all over the world and, surprisingly, from all periods in history too. Here’s him eating something made during the American Civil War. God bless that man.
One day he brought us a real treat. He ate a vomelet on camera. On camera. If you don’t know what a vomelet is, it’s an old MRE menu, discontinued sometime during the late 2000s and early 2010s, and it’s widely described as one of the worst meals ever served to US troops at any point in time since the foundation of that country in 1776 — truly, historically revolting. The taste has been described as “vomit-inducing”, which is one of the two reasons why it gained this nickname. The other is because that MRE’s official name is “Vegetarian Omelet”.
That video had me thinking about MREs, and how they tend to reflect the culture and cuisine of the country whose military issues them. America has menus such as “Beef Shredded in Barbecue Sauce” (as pictured above) and “Beef Strips in Tomato Sauce”. France has “Alsatian pork stew and Pork and Lentils” (yes, two main dishes) which comes with “Duck mousse” Hors d’oeuvre, as well as a “Sauté of rabbit and Whitefish, rice and vegetables” MRE that comes with “Chicken liver paté” Hors d’oeuvre, and that’s just the main items. Apparently, the cheese spread contained in French MREs is the best in the world. I’ve also been informed that they put the US’ Jalapeño Cheese Spread to shame.
There’s a lot of variety in the quality of MREs worldwide. The UAE’s rations are renowned for being absolutely packed with high-quality, Halal-certified goods, while the People’s Republic of China’s rations are quite the opposite, with a reputation for being “packed” with little more than the main course, a drink, and maybe dessert, all of which are of lower quality when compared to most other rations.
MREs are also responsible for the development of one of my favourite pieces of technology. Or I guess you’d call that chemistry? Anyways, allow me to introduce you to the Flameless Ration Heater:
Anyone who’s eaten a lot of MREs that come with these is probably used to — and tired of — seeing them, so apologies for the over-excitedness. But for those of you who haven’t, an FRH is a little bag you put your food into, pour some water in there, and it’ll heat said food without the need to light a fire or anything of that nature. The only thing you need is your MRE, some water, and a rock or something.
You can purchase MREs yourself if that’s something that interests you. There are multiple places on the internet where you can get them. They may not be exactly “gourmet”, but they’re ideal for camping and even for some (really) long hiking trips. Just remember to pick up your litter.
