Man eats Beef Enchilada, pictures at eleven.
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:48 pm
Having tried MRE manicotti and being left with the lingering suspicion that I had actually stumbled upon a Beef Enchilada by mistake, I figured it was time to try the enchilada and find out. I sampled a Wornick “Beef Enchilada in Sauce” from January of 2004. Enchilda, by the way, is not a Spanish word. It is Indian for, “I bet you can’t get the American to eat this!” You don’t want to know what burrito means.
The primary difficulty with sampling MREs is determining the correct wine to enhance the ambiance of the dining experience. The complexity of Mexican foods and the lack of an indigenous Mexican wine make this particularly difficult. Unfortunately, Ripple is no longer available so I settled for an Argentinean malbec. The malbec is a fruit-forward red wine that did little for the actual enchilada, but went very well with hot sauce.
Despite my fears, the enchilada did not prove to be a cleverly disguised manicotti and was in fact very much a Mexican meal, but clearly one originating on the north side of the Rio Grande. If you have ever experienced Hormel’s Beef Tamales in the can you will get a distinct sense of déjà vu eating the MRE Beef Enchilada. The beef was very finely ground and well spiced, although lacking in beefy flavor and the tortilla was recognizable. The major difference between the MRE and Hormel is the lack of the cumin that dominates the taste of the Hormel product.
One thing that I am beginning to notice is that Natick is apparently recycling the same “sauce” in a number of these entrees. The Country Captain Chicken, the Manicotti and the Beef Enchilada all appear to have the same sauce with curry, oregano, or chili powder tossed in to match it to the entrée.
As with all of the MRE entrees that I have tried this meal was tasty and definitely not something that could only be considered edible in the case of dire emergency. You may think of it as the “frozen pizza” of Mexican food. The surprise came when I threw in some hot sauce; this entrée immediately went from “good” to “fan-fucking-tasic.”
The primary difficulty with sampling MREs is determining the correct wine to enhance the ambiance of the dining experience. The complexity of Mexican foods and the lack of an indigenous Mexican wine make this particularly difficult. Unfortunately, Ripple is no longer available so I settled for an Argentinean malbec. The malbec is a fruit-forward red wine that did little for the actual enchilada, but went very well with hot sauce.
Despite my fears, the enchilada did not prove to be a cleverly disguised manicotti and was in fact very much a Mexican meal, but clearly one originating on the north side of the Rio Grande. If you have ever experienced Hormel’s Beef Tamales in the can you will get a distinct sense of déjà vu eating the MRE Beef Enchilada. The beef was very finely ground and well spiced, although lacking in beefy flavor and the tortilla was recognizable. The major difference between the MRE and Hormel is the lack of the cumin that dominates the taste of the Hormel product.
One thing that I am beginning to notice is that Natick is apparently recycling the same “sauce” in a number of these entrees. The Country Captain Chicken, the Manicotti and the Beef Enchilada all appear to have the same sauce with curry, oregano, or chili powder tossed in to match it to the entrée.
As with all of the MRE entrees that I have tried this meal was tasty and definitely not something that could only be considered edible in the case of dire emergency. You may think of it as the “frozen pizza” of Mexican food. The surprise came when I threw in some hot sauce; this entrée immediately went from “good” to “fan-fucking-tasic.”
