Veggie Burger - Threat or menace?

[Big Galloot]

Up until this point, all of the MRE entrees that I have tried I have been pretty darn good but that just changed. I tried a “Veggie Burger in Barbeque Sauce” packed by Sopakco in March 2007.

The patty itself is a generic veggie-patty, nothing inspiring but edible. The texture is as expected, standard TVP, shredded and then pressed together to form a textured patty. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to judge whether the patty has any flavor because of the overpowering sugary tomato paste sauce.

Let me be perfectly clear on this point, it is inconceivable to me that anyone could taste that “sauce” and ever make a connection with “barbeque sauce!” I understand that BBQ sauce doesn’t start and end with KP Masterpiece, but this sauce came straight out of a can of Spaghetti-Os®. What were they thinking?

I am so sorry… I meant,

“What the BLOODY @*&%$# HELL were they thinking?”

The situation is not hopeless, wipe off the Spaghetti-O® sauce and add a touch of a something that most people might recognize as BBQ sauce and/or a healthy dose of Tabasco. That will mostly disable the effects of the sauce and render the patty edible but still the taste of the unfortunate sauce lingers like the smell of a dead rat in an air conditioning duct. What the hell were they thinking?

[kman]

I'm afraid I have to chime in with a thumbs-up for the Veggie Burger w/ BBQ Sauce. I actually really like this entree. Sure, the BBQ sauce isn't anything to write home about, but keep in mind we're talking about an MRE...the same MREs where they have to paint on the "charbroiled" stripes on an MRE beef patty.

Given the choice between an MRE Beef Patty/Mystery Meat Patty and a Veggie Burger, I'd probably choose the Veggie Burger - and I'm no veggie lover. But at least it has some sauce to cover the actual taste of whatever vegetable waste-matter they use to make the veggie burger. As opposed to the beef patty...where they make no attempt to cover the taste. :-)

[Big Galloot]

Yes, but what the hell were they thinking?

It's not the burger I object to, it's the sauce. Is regular barbecue sauce somehow shelf unstable?

Thank God for Tabasco!!!!!!!

[kman]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "Spaghetti-O" - that's probably the taste they were looking for - something familiar and comfort-food'ish.

[bl00k]

Since we don't have the kind of BBQ-sauce you have in the US, i thought the Veggie Burger w/ BBQ-sauce was pretty good, actually one of the best MRE entrees i've tasted. BBQ-sauce in holland tastes more like ketchup

[C-rats]

The situation is not hopeless......(just) add a healthy dose of Tabasco. That will ......render the patty edible.

Now you're talking!

[bishopmarine]

veggie burger is not my favorite. but i do like it. i would rather have it than the beef patty. i dont love the "bbq" sauce but i dont hate it either. i can say the only food in an mre that i really dont like is the clam chowder. i am happy to see it go. but i would not like clam chowder made by julia child so its expected that i not like the mre version.

[Richard w.]

Yet another MRE menu which would benefit from the inclusion of a big pouch of plain ketchup.

Honestly, when you make a burger at home or get one at Fuddruckers, do you ever consider putting BBQ sauce on it?

[Big Galloot]

Ketchup??!!!????

I would swear that you guys are trying to goad me into saying something unworthy.

First off, I never, ever put ketchup on beef. I happen to like the taste of beef and want to taste it and not some overpowering condiment. Ketchup belongs on scrawny little overcooked cardboard-flavored fast food patties.

On the surface that may seem to support your blatantly socialistic support of ketchup and the heathen, Godless lifestyle it suggests, TVP has no flavor so why not douse it ketchup? I suppose that if you have a problem with flavor that would be an answer. After all, McDonald’s has made a fortune selling ketchup slathered cardboard. Who needs flavor? We got ketchup!

I respectfully submit that there is a higher ground that can be taken, one that rightly expresses our gratitude and respect for our fighting men and women. We must use a sauce that will extenuate the delicate flavoring of the veggie patty by enhancing the flavor rather than destroying it.

This does not mean that I cannot and do not respect the fact that taste is subjective. It is reasonably possible to disagree with me. However, in this case, I am willing to overlook that inconvenient reality.

There is nothing that would make Osama Bin Laden happier than seeing us use more ketchup!

[dirtbag]

I rather like the 'Soyburger', but I scrape off most of the sauce. The first time I tried the veggie burger, I was quite prepared to dislike it, very surprised by the flavor. Very tasty ! It doesn't work very well with the so called bread, tho