The chicken A La King had code 6084C. Is that 1986 or 1984?
Can this meal's date be verified by the experts on date codes?
I decided not to heat the main entree, but I did make the coffee and cocoa powder.
I remember this meal as not being popular and sometimes referred to as 'The Cat Food'. One of the reasons I personally did not like it, was not a taste issue.
Rather this had a messy main entree. The chicken juice got on your hands and the fruit cake was sticky.
So down the garage I went, got out G.I. mess kit and canteen cup with stove.
- Brown bag and gear
- laid out
- Chicken A la King bag
when I opened it up it smelled like a Made in USA Banquet brand chicken pot pie, but cold.
No funny smell, just a strong smell of processed chicken stock. Like opening a can of Campbell's Creme of Chicken soup
- inside
- main course
- cheese
The smell was just like a new fruit cake with plenty of Cinnamon
- fruit cake
They crumbled very easy.
The other remaining components such as coffee and creamer were opened
Coffee Type I smelled like Maxwell House Instant from a old jar. Slightly nutty, but mainly the normal Instant coffee smell you have in a glass jar that has been opened for at least a year. Creamer smelled normal and did not leave an oily film on the top of the water when I poured it in the Canteen cup.
The cocoa powder smelled like the original Army cocoa. But with the slight smell of chemicals.. Just slightly off.
- coffee with cream, sugar and cocoa
The Chicken A La King tasted much like commercial frozen pot pie filling. Salty with mushy peas and a paste like texture. Much like Campbell Cream of Chicken soup right out of the can before you mix the water. I think the salt content was very high. I ate only one bite, but it seemed edible to me. I did not want to push my luck.
On a simple taste bud, and nose detector test. Just a guess I would say you could have eaten this and not thrown up. But what do I know?
The fruit cake tasted just about the same. I did not taste anything not normal. The nuts were tasteless and the only thing you really picked up was cinnamon and sugar.
Fruit cakes were made for ultra long storage in the civilian world. I would guess the packing and processing methods in the mid 1980's were good. So it survived.
If it were not for the candied nuts fruit it would be OK for breakfast if you had the coffee and cocoa mixed together
The cheese was horrible, I took a tiny bite and right away, I knew it was rancid. Horrible horrible taste. I had to wash my mouth out with beer. Eev thinking about it as I type. I can now smell it again. You cannot eat processed Cheese from the mid 1980's
The crackers were very bland and were less salty than I thought they would taste. The snap was gone and they had a crumbly texture. But still totally edible. No funny taste at all.
The coffee tasted weak before I added the cocoa. With the Cocoa it tasted better but had a metallic taste. I took two sips and then a drink. No problem. It did not seem to have a real off flavor.
The gum was nearly impossible to chew. It was truly hard as a rock. But I persisted and finally was able break one down and chew it. It tasted like chemicals and a slight bit of spearmint. Like Wrigley's gum that was very old.
Packed by Southern Packaging Co Mullins SC
Chicken Ala King TS 5 oz
Packed by Del Monte Frozen food San Francisco CA (code 6084C)
Fruit Cake
Packed by Southern Packaging Co Mullins SC (code 619615D4L1)
Cheese spread
unknown maker and no code
Crackers
Southern Packaging Co
Cocoa
Stellar Foods Chicago IL (code 6163N)
Spoon
Acc Pkt A
Coffee Type I
General Foods White Plains NY
Sugar
Amstar inc New York, New York
Creamer and gum and salt unmarked
All in all it held up well. It did not run you out of the room when opened, Only the cheese seemed to be really rancid
