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Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

nytimes.com

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Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#31

Post by fencepost »

tyingq wrote: post #28
jimmygrapes wrote: post #3

Can't read due to pay wall but I'm kind of offended by the headline. MREs have gotten better over the years, give or take a few missteps, and haven't been anywhere near bad (yes, even veggie omelet can be salvaged) for decades. The current lineup[0] is downright decadent, at least in the US, and has been for longer than any writer at NYT has been alive. [0]: https://www.mreinfo.com/mre-menus-2021/

In the 90's they had the "Dehydrated Pork Patty". I am not surprised this set them back for the next 30 years. Though the British troops near us had some kind of canned cod fish in tomato sauce that was worse.

Yeah, but how was that patty on a bun, dripping with barbecue sauce and maybe with some sliced onions on it?

Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#33

Post by toast0 »

UncleEntity wrote: post #23
jasonladuke0311 wrote: post #13

Maybe I’m crazy but I loved a lot of MREs, even after eating them for weeks on end.

Try eating them for six months straight… Mostly, the cooks did their best to give us one hot meal a day for a good bit of that. The first gulf war it was a couple months straight with no hot meals and the relatively bad older MREs, lots of fun.

My 5th grade class got sent some MREs from the first gulf war. Surviving on them was certainly a feat of bravery. I don't remember what they tasted like, but I knew I didn't want to go to war.

Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#34

Post by User23 »

trhway wrote: post #5

At some point in the very beginning of 199x the humanitarian aid of NATO MRE got distributed in our dormitories - it were kind of hungry years in USSR, empty store shelves, rationing of staples, and as a student i had at that time barely enough money only for cheap illegal vodka (highest bang for the buck) and hardly could even indulge in beer, let alone buy any food - and those MREs went down very nicely, 30 years l…

The Night Watch series books talk about “fake vodka” which I found highly amusing. I assume it’s watered back industrial ethanol?

Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#35

Post by goldenkey »

chiph wrote: post #24
jimmygrapes wrote: post #3

Can't read due to pay wall but I'm kind of offended by the headline. MREs have gotten better over the years, give or take a few missteps, and haven't been anywhere near bad (yes, even veggie omelet can be salvaged) for decades. The current lineup[0] is downright decadent, at least in the US, and has been for longer than any writer at NYT has been alive. [0]: https://www.mreinfo.com/mre-menus-2021/

I haven't tasted the delights of the veggie omelet yet. But the dried pork patty we had in the mid 1980's was horrific. This was before the flameless ration heaters, so your choice was to hydrate it with cold water, or break pieces off and place it in your mouth & allow your saliva to reconstitute it. It smelled like cat food, IIRC.

Cat food is a good sedative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSyqWbrxcG4

Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#36

Post by tyingq »

fencepost wrote: post #31
tyingq wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the 90's they had the "Dehydrated Pork Patty". I am not surprised this set them back for the next 30 years. Though the British troops near us had some kind of canned cod fish in tomato sauce that was worse.

Yeah, but how was that patty on a bun, dripping with barbecue sauce and maybe with some sliced onions on it?

Ah, you're saying that's now the McRib?

Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#38

Post by LanceH »

dylan604 wrote: post #17
jasonladuke0311 wrote: post #13

Maybe I’m crazy but I loved a lot of MREs, even after eating them for weeks on end.

Stockholm syndrome maybe? Any chance you grew up on a diet of processed foods, so switching to the MRE wasn't that big of a switch?

Or, you're working your ass off in the field carrying a hundred pounds up and down hills, and suddenly everything tastes great.

Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#39

Post by dikei »

dmoy wrote: post #27
dikei wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember Steve video about China's MRE where he had stomach problem after eating. Eat some biscuit from WW1-era: totally fine, eat some chow mein from PRC's MRE: instant diarrhea

I've had Chinese MREs, once. It was the worst food I've ever tasted. Someone in the family had a can from former prc military service. I don't know what it is, but maybe the Chinese army deploys so infrequently (almost never?) that they place zero priority on their MREs. I begrudgingly eat US MREs once every 3-5 years for about a week or so as I replenish my one case of MREs for earthquake supplies. They're actually…

>> I don't know what it is, but maybe the Chinese army deploys so infrequently (almost never?) that they place zero priority on their MREs.

I don't know about the Chinese, but my poor army doesn't have an official MRE. On the rare occasion that they are deployed to where they can't setup kitchens, like disaster zones: storm, flooding, etc.., the soldiers typically make do with instant noodle or ration bar until a field kitchen can be established.

Re: Unloved by generations of soldiers, the MRE finds a fan base

#40

Post by jimmygrapes »

tyingq wrote: post #36
fencepost wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but how was that patty on a bun, dripping with barbecue sauce and maybe with some sliced onions on it?

Ah, you're saying that's now the McRib?

Unironically yeah, if you heat the pork rib, put it on the hardtack style bread, and pretend you have onion (take a deep whiff of your battle buddy for the pure essence) it's pretty close
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