French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020

Reviews of rations from abroad - British ration packs, EPA, IMP, RCIR, etc.
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Kays1968
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French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020

Post by Kays1968 » Sat Jan 04, 2020 2:09 pm

I've been having trouble getting my full reviews to go through, so I decided to break them up into parts. Please let me know if this method is frowned upon and I will work on a different method.
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So today, I decided to pull out a French single meal ration. From what I understand, these are used when individuals go out on exercises that do not require a 24-hour ration. I have tried a few of these, and I have a number of them left, but this one is close to its expiration date so I wanted to get it out of the way. The menu is one that I've had in the 24 hour versions, and happens to be one of my favorites.
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A few observations I had while unpacking this:
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- All of the French single meal rations that I have eaten to this point have had 2021 dates. This box was significantly different from those. The 2021 meals all had a paper label on the face of the box. This one was printed directly on the box. It had less print overall. The only additional print I found on the box was on one side.
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- This meal contained a packet of coffee. In my experience, I have not seen beverages of any kind included in the later single meals. While they give you a sachet of coffee, they do not provide any sweetener or creamer.

- I could tell by feeling the components as they came out that this meal had suffered some heat damage. Specifically, the chocolate bar had clearly melted at some point and slumped to one side of the wrapper and the jelly bar was noticably hardened.

- In addition to the heat damaged, there was a slight amount of physical damage, as both the stove and biscuit boxes were somewhat crushed.

- Stove? Did you say stove? Yes. In the later meals, there is no stove provided. This ration had a smaller version of the esbit type stove that is a standard addition in the 24-hour French rations. A review of the stove will follow. That would explain the RIER designation, rather than the later meals' RIE labeling, indicating, in this case, a reheatable meal. Later single meal rations are limited to mains that are expected to be eaten cold.

There were no accessory packs, spices, cold drinks, or utensils that you might find in the 24-hour rations.

Reviews of individual components, as I consume them, will be forthcoming.
Last edited by Kays1968 on Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Sailswish
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Re: French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020 Unboxing

Post by Sailswish » Sat Jan 04, 2020 2:20 pm

Can't wait for the eatin' part.

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Smitty
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Re: French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020 Unboxing

Post by Smitty » Sat Jan 04, 2020 9:12 pm

Excellent!
All the best, Gents.

- I'm also making videos mainly for my own enjoyment, but hey, maybe you might want to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-9gp ... C1dSyPX0w/

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Kays1968
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Re: French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020 Main review

Post by Kays1968 » Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:29 pm

So today I decided to eat the main. This is one that I have had a few times, and it's one of my favorites. The French really do it right.
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When I tried this main a year or so ago, it was the first time in my life that I have had duck. Not that I have not wanted to try it before, but this is the first opportunity I have had. Which is actually kind of strange, considering I grew up on a farm, hunting waterfowl and venison. I only ever took Canada geese, though, so this was a new thing for me. What a glorious introduction it was.
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This main is a cassoulet. Basically, a bean dish with meats. The beans were tender, the sausage was firm, and the seasoning was spot-on. I added a little pepper, because that's my preference, but it really didn't need anything. The dish consists of white beans, duck meat, and sausages in a lovely gravy.
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There were a bunch of lovely chunks of duck meat. A little dark, and a little firm, just as duck is expected to be. The taste was not overpowering, not gamy at all. There are two kinds of sausages. One or two pieces of a sliced, firm, spiced sausage.
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Also, a whole sausage that is milder, and slightly more uniform in texture.
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Overall, this is a delicious main. Very hearty, well seasoned, and appealing to almost anyone. A perfect choice for feeding the troops.

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Smitty
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Re: French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020 Unboxing

Post by Smitty » Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:32 pm

Dang. son! looks great.

You owe it to yourself to make up some duck breasts. I swear, it's better than steak.

https://honest-food.net/how-to-cook-duck-breasts/
All the best, Gents.

- I'm also making videos mainly for my own enjoyment, but hey, maybe you might want to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-9gp ... C1dSyPX0w/

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Kays1968
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Re: French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020 Stove

Post by Kays1968 » Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:45 pm

Just a small note on the stove. In the standard French 24-hour RCIR's, there is a larger Esbit-type stove. These come with six fuel tabs, enough to heat what you need for three meals. In this meal however, there was a smaller stove included with three fuel tabs for the one meal. The 12-hour exercise meals produced after this date do not come with a stove. The current production meals include mains that are intended to be eaten cold, and no stove is provided.
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The stove kit included the smaller type stove, a handle that you can modify to pick up your tins, a trash bag, three fuel tabs, and a smaller box of standard matches.

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Kays1968
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Re: French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020 Unboxing

Post by Kays1968 » Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:18 am

Last installment, I promise. :wink: So, I woke up this morning wanting to finish this one up. I think I was dreaming about that chocolate cake.

First, the cake:
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I opened the tin to a deep, dark chocolate smell. Turned the cake out onto the tray, and found a good quantity of "frosting" in the bottom of the tin.
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What appeared to be the frosting was more like a pudding. Very dark, very rich and not too sweet. The cake itself was reminiscent of a flourless torte. It was dense, smooth and very rich. The whole desert was surprisingly less sweet than I expected. It was a decadent dessert and altogether chocolate perfection. There was a very slight grittiness to it that I could not identify. I have a feeling it might have something to do with the age, given the condition of other components in the meal.

After enjoying the bite of cake, I decided to finish off the ration.
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The coffee was lovely. It was very smooth, and did not identify as instant coffee. I normally drink my coffee with cream, and sometimes sweetened, but this one was smooth enough that those additions were unnecessary. The coffee was the perfect foil to the crackers and jam. Yes, I added a non-ration component. The biscuits would have worked perfectly with the pate, but I have another idea for that, so I added some Italian lemon marmalade to my breakfast which raised the salted biscuits from delicious to extraordinary. The biscuits themselves were tender, with just the right amount of snap. The light, but distinctive saltiness is baked in, not added to the top the way a saltine might be. There is also just a touch of sweetness to the biscuits that gives them the flexibility to be used with either sweet or savory additions.

Back to that pate. I'm not all that crazy about pates, but I can eat them, and I do appreciate the experience of tasting and comparing new foods. Seriously, don't we all? So rather than review the pate here, I added it to a stash that I am planning to use in a special review......
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Kays1968
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Re: French RIER Menu #5 B/B April 2020 Unboxing

Post by Kays1968 » Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:25 am

And, finally, thank you all for watching me stumble my way through my first review. I appreciate the feedback, and I'm looking forward to doing this again.

Have a great day everyone!

-Kristen (Pittsburgh, PA)

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