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chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Ukrainian Rations

This is a somewhat odd ration for me to be eating at the moment, considering that it was sent to my from the capital of a country currently experiencing a civil war/invasion by Russia. It's actually two rations in one review, as Ukraine changed its ration style during the current conflict to one that (outwardly) resembles MRE-style bagged rations. The contents are the same, just different packaging, but I got different cans in each.


The packaging is one of the odder ones for rations, basically an oversized frozen dinner tray. It has rather flimsy foil covering a green tray with three deep divided sections. The sections are actually scored so they can be broken into three separate pieces for each meal, but the scoring was done very poorly and you'd need a knife or heavy-duty scissors to actually cut into it.


As you can see, it's almost the same size as an MRE.


The first thing that usually jumps out at you is "Holy gently caress, that's a lot of crackers." Each meal came with two bags of crackers, and one bag easily has twice as much total square inches of bread as a single MRE cracker pack. What you can't see is that one corner was somehow damaged during packaging or transport and torn open, which also tore open the bag of crackers. In fact, most of the cracker bags had torn open in the sealed ration for no apparent reason. At first I thought this would make them stale. I soon discovered that this was accurate, but not for the reasons I expected.




The crackers are похід type. This is pokhid, or Hike in English. I'm not sure of the exact manufacturer, like if the label in the top-left corner includes the full name with the letters in the circle or if it's an acronym or what. As I expected, the torn bags of crackers were stale. Surprisingly, however, the undamaged bag was also stale. None of the items appeared to be past their expiration date, so I'm not sure if I got unlucky with old crackers or if they're just packaging cheap crap. They had a strong bready taste, and I think they were just wheat crackers.


The damage to the container also tore the napkin in the breakfast menu.



I believe this was a moist towelette. Burger Club is a Ukrainian fast food chain active in Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan.



The predominant beverage in Ukraine is tea, so several instant tea packets are included in the ration. These seem to be a pre-made mixture of tea and brown sugar in crystal form, which are simply mixed with hot water. It was surprisingly tasty, though obviously quite sweet out of the packet.



The spoons of these rations were the subject of mockery in a video review of this ration for how rapidly they snapped in half trying to dig into the food. While I never broke any spoons, I did notice that they were incredibly thin and bent very easily.




After mulling it over for a while, I finally dug out the breakfast can and cracked it open. Our first meal of the day is buckwheat kasha. Kasha is an Eastern European porridge made from buckwheat, barley, or oats. It can be quite tasty when prepared properly and with additional ingredients, and can be made a savory or sweet dish depending on what you cook it with. I believe this was meant to be a beef kasha, but it had no noticeable ingredients apart from the buckwheat and some fat. The only word I can use to describe the flavor is bland. It had virtually no taste other than buckwheat, which is kind of like edible cardboard when cooked like this. This was the first in a consistent series of missteps by the ration which only got worse as time went on.






The next can of stuff was more kasha with beef, I think barley this time. Whereas I simply microwaved my breakfast, I decided to do something a little more authentic. I happen to own a Soviet mess kit that has been cleaned and made food safe! The mess kit consists of two parts: a larger pot with a wire handle for hanging over a fire, and a lid with a folding handle that doubles as a serving container. I put the mess kit on my stove top and dumped my meat into some water; from what I read, the food was supposedly meant to be cooked and eaten as a stew rather than just eating it right out of a can. As soon as the heat started, the fat floated to the top of the water and formed a nasty scum. However, it boiled away and eventually the food started to look sorta like mystery meat!


It came out surprisingly edible....and bland. Just like the buckwheat kasha, it had virtually no flavor. Despite the visible presence of meat it tasted almost like nothing of the sort and was still so fatty as to coat my mouth in a layer of grease as I chewed and swallowed. It appears that absolutely zero spice or flavor elements were used to brighten up the dish, leaving it reliant on whatever soldiers could scrounge up if they wanted something that tasted like more than sadness. I finished it, but felt bad about it.




The second dish was horrifying. I think it was meant to be some kind of canned sausage or meat patty? I have no clue. I poured the incredible amount of grease out of the can before cooking it, and there was still enough fat to melt into a puddle during reheating. It tasted meaty all right, but also incredibly salty and with that same grease film on the roof of my mouth as the kasha. It was close to vomit-worthy and I chucked it after two bites.



As the kasha cooked, I made myself the crystallized instant beverage in the tray. While it smelled strongly fruity, it came out with virtually no flavor aside from a faint sweetness. I could drink it just fine, but it was boring.



A little packet of sugar was included. Felt somewhat redundant, as the two drinks available already had sugar mixed in.



The final challenge of Ration 1 was two dishes. The first was a pate. Speaking as someone who gladly ate liverwurst as a child, this was revolting. I feel like it was a take on the old potted meat, where you packed meat in a ton of fat to preserve it. It was encased in goopy fat that couldn't be removed even with the aid of heat. Not only did you get the typical bland "I taste nothing but faint salt" Ukrainian meat, but It was one of the worst things in all of Ukraine, and I'm including artillery in that list.



The sprats that came with it were almost as bad. I'm already not a fan of these fake sardines, but the thick tomato sauce was doing these fish no favors as they stared at me. Like the pate, I couldn't finish it.



The horrors of war.




The new Ukrainian ration is based on the MRE only in outside looks. Inside, the contents are little different from the old ration and are simply placed into three bags. Whereas the MRE has such thick plastic that you need to use a blade or peel along a seal to open it, the Ukrainian ration is so flimsy that I could puncture it with my fingers.




The first of two new cans in this ration was another barley kasha and beef dish, merely a different brand. Like before, bland and scummy on the inside of my mouth. At least it's filling.




A little instant coffee was included. Like the tea, I enjoyed it. It was easily improved by the mongo pack of sugar included.



The moist towelette was a commercial brand this time instead of a restaurant advertisement.


A little pouch of jelly was included. I don't remember exactly what flavor it was, but it was definitely a little gritty.


Interestingly, the crackers changed. Same brand and taste, but now a smaller number of larger crackers.


The last of the new items. What could be inside?


:stonk:



This putrid mess tasted exactly like it looks. This is the first time I could describe the dish as gelatinous. I'm wondering if feeding this to your soldiers counts as a war crime.

And there you have it. Two rations currently seeing action at this very moment! The old one is sometimes sold as the "officer's ration", but as far as I know it's just an older version that has since been supplemented or replaced by the faux MRE. It's easily the worst of all the rations I've tried or seen other people try, even worse than the Russian ration (which itself is only slightly improved). They clearly went for the cheapest food possible and only made a token effort at morale-boosting food.

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Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
It almost looks like a ration that wouldn't be out of place 70 years ago. It's...actually kinda sad imagining that's all a Ukrainian soldier would get in the field today :smith:

Siivola
Dec 23, 2012

So one day's ration is mostly meat with crackers? It's almost as if you're supposed to loot some poor gently caress's potato cellar to make a full meal. :smith:

Secret Spoon
Mar 22, 2009

Siivola posted:

So one day's ration is mostly meat with crackers? It's almost as if you're supposed to loot some poor gently caress's potato cellar to make a full meal. :smith:

The era in which these where designed; there where no old soldiers.

mindphlux
Jan 8, 2004

by R. Guyovich
please tell me rations are only really issued during actual wartime in like front line conditions, and that the Ukrainian army has happy-funtime-group-hugmeal in a big tent with some fat dude slopping up actual food or something

Force de Fappe
Nov 7, 2008

Maybe they have field kitches, I dunno. We gave those up a long time ago. Freeze-dried meat, biscuits, and snacks all the way.

Squashy Nipples
Aug 18, 2007

chitoryu12 posted:

This putrid mess tasted exactly like it looks. This is the first time I could describe the dish as gelatinous. I'm wondering if feeding this to your soldiers counts as a war crime.

I would eat my cat's canned, prescription renal cat food before I ate that.

Pornographic Memory
Dec 17, 2008

Squashy Nipples posted:

I would eat my cat's canned, prescription renal cat food before I ate that.

Seriously my first thought was that stuff looks just like canned dog food. It'd be a challenge for me to get as far as putting it in my mouth before giving up and getting something else to eat.

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug

Davin Valkri posted:

It almost looks like a ration that wouldn't be out of place 70 years ago. It's...actually kinda sad imagining that's all a Ukrainian soldier would get in the field today :smith:

I've read complaints that they aren't even getting these rations since corrupt quartermasters keep selling them off to line their pockets.

Edit: speaking of Soviet mess kits, here's a design proposed by some guy in 1939 that integrates the spoon into the kit as a latch, so that the soldier wouldn't lose it, and also to cut down on the amount of aluminum used. It was rejected since any spoon that still works as a spoon doesn't work as a latch.

Ensign Expendable fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Dec 4, 2015

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

mindphlux posted:

please tell me rations are only really issued during actual wartime in like front line conditions, and that the Ukrainian army has happy-funtime-group-hugmeal in a big tent with some fat dude slopping up actual food or something

Yeah, all armies to my knowledge predominately feed their soldiers through field kitchens or garrisons. They aren't necessarily good ones, but they're better than canned offal. You'll see similar dishes like kasha with meat, but also prepared foods like pelmeni (Russian pirogis) and soups.

I somehow can't find it right now, but there's an article I found that had a ton of pictures showing a Belarusian field kitchen during training.

smackfu
Jun 7, 2004

Makes me wonder if those canned goods have a civilian counterpart in the Ukraine, that we are just unfamiliar with.

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

smackfu posted:

Makes me wonder if those canned goods have a civilian counterpart in the Ukraine, that we are just unfamiliar with.

I think they are civilian foods. All of them have commercial designs and decoration and looking at other pictures and reviews of the ration shows a variety of cans different from the ones I gagged on.

I posted the same review in the Anti-Food Porn thread and Paladinus gave a little more info on it:

quote:

Instant teas is very uncommon in Eastern Europe, so I'm surprised they didn't just pack a tea bag.

The fruity drink is supposed to be something like Kool-Aid. I don't know if you used cold water, but it's definitely supposed to be somewhat refreshing. You might have also poured too much water, as it only requires 200 ml.

The pâté-looking thing is what I would call bologna spread. It says sausage mince on the tin. Never seen this stuff before, surprisingly, but I just know it tastes.

As for sprats they go better with tough rye bread like Borodinsky, but I would never try to down them on their own.

The last item is called Tourist's Breakfast. Again, you are supposed to add it to potatoes, spaghetti, or kasha. Eating it as it is is pretty sad.

I never tried those particular brands, but judging just by how tins look, they are not the cheapest ones, but then canned foods are not exactly upmarket anyway, so it's a moot point.

As for the spoons, I think soldiers are issued personal metal spoons and mugs. Maybe the plastic ones are in case you need to share your ration with someone.

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug

smackfu posted:

Makes me wonder if those canned goods have a civilian counterpart in the Ukraine, that we are just unfamiliar with.

Most, if not all of it. "Tourist's Breakfast" at least is very popular throughout the former USSR.

Edit: beaten. I can comment on the sprats though, Riga sprats on dark rye are divine. That stuff looks... well... maybe if starvation was my only alternative, I'd think about it.

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Ensign Expendable posted:

Most, if not all of it. "Tourist's Breakfast" at least is very popular throughout the former USSR.

Which might be why they're all so drunk.

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug
Oh, also that pouch of jelly is supposed to be honey. That probably explains why it was gritty, but the fact that you didn't recognize it as honey might be a bad sign.

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Ensign Expendable posted:

Oh, also that pouch of jelly is supposed to be honey. That probably explains why it was gritty, but the fact that you didn't recognize it as honey might be a bad sign.

It was so fruity I couldn't even tell.

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug
Oh, also your moist towelettes were expired. Good for two years, packet says 2010.

MrYenko
Jun 18, 2012

#2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

Ukrainian Rations Are Worse Than Artillery Fire - The Military Food Thread

Or:

War Crimes in a Can - The Military Food Thread

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Ensign Expendable posted:

Oh, also your moist towelettes were expired. Good for two years, packet says 2010.

Man, that makes me wonder about the age of that stuff. I ate it earlier this year and my info has said that the green pack is a newer ration that only started appearing in the field around the start of the Civil War. Are they filling it with old components?

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug

chitoryu12 posted:

Man, that makes me wonder about the age of that stuff. I ate it earlier this year and my info has said that the green pack is a newer ration that only started appearing in the field around the start of the Civil War. Are they filling it with old components?

The green bag says made in 2014 good until 2016, but the instant tea packet says it's only good for one year. I was horrified to see 2-12-96, but upon further inspection that turned out to be a phone number rather than a date.

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

I only have an American MCW ration left to put up a review for until I start truly eating the Russian ration (God help me), but I have a little more content planned in the immediate future.

First off, these are recipe cards from the 1950s or 1960s for the US Navy. They were hung up at the Intrepid museum, a floating museum on a former US Navy aircraft carrier (the USS Intrepid) docked in Manhattan. I have some interest in recruiting my girlfriend to help me make and taste test these recipes:






The other neat idea I had planned was another recipe!


For those who forgot, D-rations were heat-resistant chocolate bars developed by Hershey in World War II as an emergency ration. They were designed to have a very high calorie count (600 calories in that little 4 oz. bar), not melt in desert temperatures, and not taste so good that you'd devour it needlessly. It succeeded in every respect. Unfortunately, it was also tooth-breakingly hard and tasted very bitter. Someone on MRE Info translated the original Hershey recipe into measurements for a single bar and posted it, and my girlfriend is excited to make it as an experiment so I can definitively describe the taste of something from 70 years ago!

quote:

The original formula, as published in "Development of Special Rations in the Army," by Harold Thatcher - September 1944.

160 parts - chocolate, plain, adjusted to 54% cacao fat
160 parts - Sucrose
70 parts - milk, dry, powdered, skimmed
30 parts - added cacao fat
20 parts - oat flour, raw
1/2 part - vanillin, OR Ethyl Vanillin
Plus "sufficient thiamine hydrochloride to give not less than 0.45 milligrams per 4-ounce bar."

Per 4-oz bar, using modern ingredients, the math works out to be:

1 & 1/3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 & 1/3 oz powdered (confectioners') sugar
2/3 oz nonfat dry milk powder (the fine, powdery stuff)
1/4 oz cocoa butter OR canning paraffin (Gulf wax)
1/5 oz oat flour
1 drop vanilla extract

For the thiamine hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), I pulverized a thiamine vitamin capsule (available from most health food stores) and added a bare pinch.

First, cut chocolate coarsely into chunks or chips, and shave wax with vegetable grater

1. In a nonstick pan over VERY LOW heat, melt the chocolate
2. Whirl the sugar, oat flour and dry milk in a blender until it turns into a fine talcum-like powder
3. Shave the wax, measure out 1/4 oz, and stir into melted chocolate, along with drop of vanilla & pinch of thiamine
4. Add about half the melted chocolate to about half the sugar/oat flour/dry milk powder, mix well, and add back to pan; blend thoroughly over VERY LOW heat and then add in rest of sugar/oat flour/milk powder
5. Cook about 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently, then pour into mold (I used an Altoid tin) and place in freezer. The stuff was so thick, I had to press it into the mold with a heavy spoon. That's OK; Sam Hinkle, chief chemist for Hershey's Chocolate Company, recalled that the thick, gooey paste had to be kneaded, weighed & pressed into the molds by hand.
6. After about an hour, remove from freezer and allow to come to room temperature. Run knife along edges, and tap bottom of tin to remove block of chocolate
7. For authenticity, use serrated knife or hacksaw to cut a longitudinal groove and 3 cross-grooves, about 1/8 inch deep, in top of bar.

JacquelineDempsey
Aug 6, 2008

Women's Circuit Bender Union Local 34



Love the recipe cards! I can't wait to show my roommate, who's a cook at the DFAC I work for. We always joke about mil-spec peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.

This sounded... kinda spooky:

chitoryu12 posted:

1/4 oz cocoa butter OR canning paraffin (Gulf wax)

I never heard of eating paraffin, and just looked it up.

quote:

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved "food-grade" paraffin, even though it is a derivative of the production of crude oil. Mostly it is used to coat fruits and cheeses. While food-grade paraffin is technically edible, it is not digestible; it passes through the body without being absorbed. Beyond that, after hours of searching, we have not been able to turn up any sources of food-grade paraffin. Do not assume the paraffin for sale (for canning purposes) in your supermarket is food-grade; it is not.

Go with the cocoa butter, my friend, unless you want to be poopin' out candles.

Moosepickle
Nov 29, 2015

I was cured, all right!

frankenfreak posted:

Great. I got hooked by his mangling of Rindfleischschinkenwurst and now I've been watching his videos on my second monitor the whole evening.

Me too!

Danann
Aug 4, 2013

I found this article while browsing on another forum. US submarines seem to have it well when it comes to food:
http://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine/Issues/Archives/issue_46/pig_boats.html

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


Danann posted:

I found this article while browsing on another forum. US submarines seem to have it well when it comes to food:
http://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine/Issues/Archives/issue_46/pig_boats.html

Yeah, being on a submarine is a tough assignment so they supposedly get the best food in the military as a morale thing.

Plinkey
Aug 4, 2004

by Fluffdaddy

MrYenko posted:

Ukrainian Rations Are Worse Than Artillery Fire - The Military Food Thread

Or:

War Crimes in a Can - The Military Food Thread

The Conflict in Canmia, the Russians are Canning

AnonSpore
Jan 19, 2012

"I didn't see the part where he develops as a character so I guess he never developed as a character"

Danann posted:

I found this article while browsing on another forum. US submarines seem to have it well when it comes to food:
http://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine/Issues/Archives/issue_46/pig_boats.html

This is an extremely pro click, read it

quote:

Compton-Hall recounts the story of one submarine commander who insisted that every cup of coffee served to him on the bridge be full to the brim. Only one crewman, a steward, could make the long, difficult climb up the conning tower ladder without spilling a drop. Eventually, with the boat about to be decommissioned, the executive officer asked the steward his secret. With a broad grin, he confessed that he took a good mouthful of coffee at the bottom and spat it back in just as he reached the top. Compton-Hall calls this "a good example of sound submarine common sense!"

Scientastic
Mar 1, 2010

TRULY scientastic.
🔬🍒


I don't know why you're punishing yourself with this food, but I'm really glad you are: this is a really interesting thread.

:five:

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Scientastic posted:

I don't know why you're punishing yourself with this food, but I'm really glad you are: this is a really interesting thread.

:five:

Thanks! I think the cooking stuff will be more traditionally GWS, as we'll actually be taking pictures of a cooking process instead of just me opening up canned foods and talking about how nasty they are. I'll admit, it's hard for me to gather up the stomach to speed through the Russian ration knowing what I already know about its contents. So far the items I've opened:

1. Crackers which are almost identical in taste to the Ukrainian, but not stale.

2. A can similar to the "Tourist's Breakfast" from Ukraine and just as hideous and unpalatable.

3. A bar of actually kinda nice dark chocolate.

4. A container of applesauce that's no different from the Mott's you buy at Walmart.

Siivola
Dec 23, 2012

I don't think anyone would mind if you boiled a couple of potatoes or some porridge to go with all that grease and offal.

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

chitoryu12 posted:


2. A can similar to the "Tourist's Breakfast" from Ukraine and just as hideous and unpalatable.

All we need is a loaf of bread, some 'diet sausage', a can of S.T.A.L.K.E.R energy drink, and a bottle of vodka, then you're set for the apocalypse!

Illinois Smith
Nov 15, 2003

Ninety-one? There are ninety other "Tiger Drivers"? Do any involve actual tigers, or driving?

AnonSpore posted:

This is an extremely pro click, read it

quote:

Bad cooks could certainly decimate a potential meal. Battle could do the same. Whenever Bullhead's deck guns fired, Piatt's muffins and cakes invariably collapsed into lifeless deflation.A maritime cooking disaster occurred on USS Harder (SS 257) in 1942 when torpedomen flooded the forward tubes with far too much water. Result: an unexpected nosedive of many fathoms. The crew quickly regained control, and the boat leveled off. A safety inspection revealed no injuries or damage — until it got to the galley. There stood Ship's Cook and Acting Commissary Steward Thomason, "ankle-deep in mashed potatoes garnished with a glittering sea of what had been steaks, gravy and fried eggs."In all probability, the meal that eventually got served was a mixture of tinned ham, sugar, salt, water, and modified potato starch, with a little dash of sodium nitrate to preserve its rosy color.

quote:

Submariner sneakiness naturally extended into the murky waters of onboard moonshining. "When sailors got their hands on rice or raisins," historian Gregory Michno claims, "they didn't think of rice pudding, but rather a powerful homemade whiskey called 'tuba.'"Another booze source was always close at hand: torpedo fuel. This denatured alcohol bio-fuel was not potable as-is, but it could be distilled into what submariners called "torpedo juice." The engine room crew of Pampanito worked in shifts tending a still made from a Silex hotplate, a coffee maker, and a length of 3/8-inch copper tubing spiraled through a tin can filled with water. The end-product was a nearly 200-proof concoction known as "pink lady," named, Michno says, for its "faint hue caused by denaturing agents added for the express purpose of making it undrinkable." He adds that "it was extremely harsh without enough fruit juice to dilute it, but it worked just fine."On Barb, commander-approved whiskey regularly accompanied Vogelei's and Dougherty's celebration cakes. These became larger and more elaborate as time passed. The bakers outdid themselves on the last New Year's Day of the war. The monster cake showed "the Barb shooting maraschino cherries, with whole strawberries for hits." The victim "was depicted sinking stern first, with crisp bacon colored with saffron for the flames."

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


"Drinking torpedo fuel" has to be somewhere on a list of signs you have a problem.

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug

Grand Fromage posted:

"Drinking torpedo fuel" has to be somewhere on a list of signs you have a problem.

Yeah, problems that there's nothing else to drink. Drinking everything that's even slightly alcoholic has been a thing with enlisted men since probably forever.

pookel
Oct 27, 2011

Ultra Carp

Grand Fromage posted:

"Drinking torpedo fuel" has to be somewhere on a list of signs you have a problem.
I think the problem is that you're on a submarine.

MrYenko
Jun 18, 2012

#2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

When "drinking partially distilled torpedo fuel" doesn't even rate in the top five most dangerous aspects of your life, it's time to drink some loving torpedo fuel.

But Not Tonight
May 22, 2006

I could show you around the sights.

Grand Fromage posted:

"Drinking torpedo fuel" has to be somewhere on a list of signs you have a problem.

post/av made me choke on my lunch, thanks a lot

Prophecy120
Feb 4, 2003

God Bless the Enclave! God Bless America!

chitoryu12 posted:

Okay, here's the 2010 MRE I ate on Saturday. This was after a full day of airsoft lasting from 9:00 AM till 5:00 PM with only short breaks, and no food eaten during the day except two hot dogs for a light lunch. I had no utensils not provided by the MRE except a 1 quart canteen and its matching cup.

This is Southwest Beef & Black Beans, with a side dish of "Mexican Rice". It was only Menu 15 in 2010 and 2011 and examination of the (barely legible) date stamp suggests 2010.




Tanks Paintball outside of Houston?

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Prophecy120 posted:

Tanks Paintball outside of Houston?

Not even close. Wayne's World of Paintball in Ocala, FL.

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chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Grand Fromage posted:

Yeah, being on a submarine is a tough assignment so they supposedly get the best food in the military as a morale thing.

I forgot to respond to this, but Naval food in general was the best of the lot due to the ease with which ingredients and cooking facilities could be carried.

I mentioned before that I was at the Intrepid museum in NYC. Because it's set on an actual aircraft carrier (which served from 1943 till 1974), you can tour many parts of the ship that were left preserved in their Vietnam War state. The galley for an Essex-class aircraft carrier is like a restaurant kitchen quadrupled or quintupled in size (I can post pictures later). The galley was responsible for preparing thousands of meals a day, and consequently had huge storerooms with freezers and refrigerators. Combine that with not being an impromptu setup in the field and rarely under threat of direct attack after World War II, and you've basically got a floating garrison mess hall.

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