French 24 hour RCIR Menu 10

Reviews of rations from abroad - British ration packs, EPA, IMP, RCIR, etc.
Post Reply
HeinrichFuchs
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 11:07 am

French 24 hour RCIR Menu 10

Post by HeinrichFuchs » Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:27 pm

Back with another review, this time of a French RCIR, Ration de Combat Individuelle Rechauffable/French Individual Reheatable Combat Ration, Menu 10, Expiry of March, 2022, Manufacturing date of November 2018.

Image

I had originally planned to hold off on trying this menu, though given they seem to be fairly abundant in the European market, I figured it wouldn't be too much of an loss to try it now; Even more so given it will free up some space to order new ones ;) As it mentions on the package, this is a Menu 10, Duck and Italian salad, with chocolate muesli as a breakfast, if one would choose to enjoy it as such, and a starter of pork pate.

As this is a 24 hour ration, I will be updating it as I go along with each meal, this first one being the opening and general overview of the contents, along with a light "breakfast", even though it is quite late over here. I figured a late evening snack might as well substitute a breakfast, as I rarely bother with one nowadays.

Image
Image

All contents of this 24 hour ration laid ou, along with the main star of this first post, the Muesli with chocolate.

Image

Quite a lovely mixture of muesli, along with bits of chocolate and what I can only assume is either powdered milk and/or sugar, as it appears on my go to spoon from a US MRE. Certainly hope it doesn't detract from the general feel of the meal :?

Image

After adding a few hundred ML of boiling water, I gave it a quick stirr and let it sit for a bit to cool down. Looks like the heated water was likewise enough to melt the chocolate bits included, helping to make the "breakfast" far more sweeter and enjoyable than if it was just pure water added as is with a Latvian breakfast meal, for example. It gives it a bit more of depth and flavour. Granted, it did mainly taste of chocolate and muesli, with a fairly basic taste of both, no hidden surprises, but no full stop pulled out for the flavour, either. In the context of a army ration though, no doubt this is a great pick up in the morning, or even for lunch, as would be my preferred way of enjoying this one. It certainly beats most of the other breakfast options I have tried, perhaps falling short of achieving the flavour of what a Danish/Swedish 24 hour ration offers, though.

Image

Now, then, one thing I will admit far and few other rations hold a candle to, is the French biscuits that come with the 24 hour rations. These are by far the best ones I have ever tried, even though I do quite enjoy the dark rye bread hard biscuits provided in, again, Danish and Swedish rations, the sheer variety of biscuits and amount in the French one far outweighs the other two, at least in my opinion. Three types of biscuits, suited for each and everyones particular taste; Cereal/Plain, Chocolate and Salted, can hardly be beat even by my own food options I cook for myself. Picture included has one of the Cereal/Plain crackers, paired quite well with the breakfast muesli, though I have little doubt the other two options would fit just like a glove, in particular the salted ones. Sweet and salty rarely goes wrong. Using the chocolate biscuit with the breakfast option might just make it a bit too sweet though, but each to his own.

Image
Image

Decided to mix up a drink to go along with the evening meal and the side snacks, Mango flavoured electrolyte powdered drink. 50g of powder for 500ml of water, though I do not believe I managed to quite fill up 500ml so it came out a bit more stronger than instructions said, but still felt a bit bland. Perhaps a hint of mango, but no particular sweetness nor any taste that really stood out, at least when compared to OrifO powdered drinks, or, and I hate to pull this comparison again, Danish/Swedish 500ml electrolyte/energy powder drinks. Regardless, it went down easy enough and was quite thirst quenching, perhaps a bit too much.

Image
Image

Finally, a little sweet pick me up to go along with the drink, a Commando bar with Fruites Rouges/Red fruits and a Pate de Fruits/Fruit pate bar. Commando bar being more of a chewy nougat and quite sweet, though lacking any real flavour of the advertised red fruits. Granted it did have a bit of sour notes, and it by was no stretch of the imagination a bad snack.

Pate de Fruits was quite sweet, quite chewy and had a consistency similiar to jello, but far more firm. Very sweet, sugar coated outer coating, unfortunately my critcism of this one would be the same as the Commando bar, it had no particular flavour besides being very sweet and having a bit of a hint of something fruity.. though the sugar far overtook any savoury taste it might have had. Granted, I can only imagine this is more a pick me up to keep the energy level up and is made to taste just like that, and not to be savoured for a long time in the middle of a march or quick stop for a snack. No doubt both of these do their jobs well enough to still be included in the ration!

And with that, I will end part one of my review for this ration. I can only hope posting a review in multiple parts, in one thread, is allowed? If not, I do apologize and will either update OP with what I find with the mains, or re-post this thread once I have gone through all contents of this box. Unfortunately imgur does still not quite agree with one in regards to picture size, so the pictures included are of varying size, yet again.

I will most likely go through the remainder of this meal tomorrow, and will post updates in regards to the other two main meals and drinks, including the beverage package in picture 2. As usual, if anyone have any particular requests for pictures, information about this one in particular or such, let me know and I will see what I can do.
Last edited by HeinrichFuchs on Fri Oct 09, 2020 8:28 am, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
Sailswish
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:47 pm
Location: Towson, MD

Re: French 24 hour RCIR Menu 10

Post by Sailswish » Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:10 pm

Looking forward to the Duck entree.

HeinrichFuchs
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 11:07 am

Re: French 24 hour RCIR Menu 10

Post by HeinrichFuchs » Fri Oct 09, 2020 6:52 am

Back again, this time with a more sturdy lunch meal. Decided to give the duck meal a try, as I do not believe I have ever tried it before. Decided to include some biscuits and dates as dessert, along with the cocoa beverage to drink.

Image

All contents of todays lunch, quite looking forwards to the duck and dates.

Image

Main tin opened, greeted by a hefty layer of mashed potatoes with some vegetables showing. Smell is quite sweet, but still subdued, not overpowering in any way and quite mild. Definitely a good smell, and certainly hit the spot to get the appetite going. Mashing up the meal a bit while heating also gave off some very lovely smells, quite reminiscent of the smell of home cooked meals as you walk into a kitchen.

The included esbit/hexamine fuel and stove was not used to warm it up, as I do not quite trust it enough to light it indoors, instead a simple portable gas stove/kitchen was used. I suspect it may have helped in not burning the food too much, as I have seen can happen when using the included fuel. Being able to adjust the heat and move the meal around a bit also helped, I am sure.

Image

All items prepared, decided to try and mix the main dish around a bit so as to try and cook it through thoroughly, which worked alright. Digging into the main, first thing I noticed was that the potato is quite solid, and easily breaks into chunks. Not that I mind, as it certainly helps getting a full bite of all the contents of the dish at once, though it may simply not have been warmed up and/or mixed enough. Surprisingly enough, the meat, mashed potatoes and vegetables are layered almost exactly as shown on the can, something I didn't quite expect.

Taste is quite sweet, with hints of some deeper flavour within the meat, but still a far more gentle taste than I expected. Very tender and easy to chew down on. Vegetables in the mashed potatoes feel quite thoroughly cooked as they offer no real difference in texture, but do offer some additional flavour, which certainly helps the meal but doesn't overpower it. Both the meat and mashed potatoes taste quite lightly seasoned, though I can imagine it is made to be as inoffensive as possible.

Though, again, the flavour is very gentle, nothing that truly pops out, but nothing that is hidden either. After a few more scoops of the mashed potatoes and duck I can start to also get some hints of something more gamey, but not quite on par with deer or suchlike, again a very subtle hint of a more complex flavour to the meal. It is by no means a bad meal, though one may want to add a bit more seasoning to it, to fit personal preference.

In the end, it is a very filling meal, but doesn't quite make you feel weighted down or bloated, and it goes down quite easily, texture is a bit bland though, but the flavour is quite something.Unfortunately I suspect I used a bit too much water for the chocolate drink, as it didn't taste of much and felt quite watered down. Still had a hint of dark chocolate though, and not overtly sweet. I decided to drop in a coffee packet as well as some sugar, which helped give the drink some more depth and flavour. Though I definitely think the chocolate drink shouldn't have more than 2 - 250ml of water, as opposed to the 350 - 400ml I had in the glass.

Image

Moving onto the rest of the meal..

Image
Image
Image
Image

Jam is quite sweet, and has a very definitive strawberry taste. Goes well with the biscuits, as one would expect, though I also have a feeling it may help sweeten the breakfast meal if used together with the muesli. At least, it certainly does in more bland flavoured breakfasts. Quite a sweet taste though, but doesn't taste artificial at all.

Moving onto the dates, they have some sweetness to them, but also a slight tartness. Quite juicy, and a very tasty snack or dessert! Infact still snacking on these as I am typing up this review. Though I am not sure how well these would work as a on the go snack, given the container they come in.

Commando bar and the nougat fruit bar were quite tasty as well. Commando bar with coffee flavour was a bit hard to bite into, but had a very mild taste of coffee and other dark notes. Washed down far easier with some drink to go with it, as it otherwise was slightly dry and crumbly. Nougat fruit bar had pieces of what looked like fruit throughout it, though may have been jelly or otherwise proccessed bits. Quite chewy, very sweet, not very thirst provoking as the Commando bar, and was a nice way to round off the meal, in my opinion.

Will be posting the third meal later today.

HeinrichFuchs
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 11:07 am

Re: French 24 hour RCIR Menu 10

Post by HeinrichFuchs » Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:51 am

And as promised, the finale to this ration review, as well as some final thoughts on the whole of it.

Image

Given that most of the ration went to lunch, scraping together something to make a more light dinner meal wasn't all too hard. Much like my breakfasts I prefer to keep my dinners light, so this is almost bordering on being a bit much for me.

Image

Everything prepped and ready to go! Added a few hundred ml's to the soup, though I suspect I should have used slightly more, as it came out quite thick. Though it definitely hit the spot, it may have been suited better for a even later evening snack. Tea was also a bit of an interesting experience, as it smelled a lot like toothpaste with the mint-y flavour that toothpaste usually comes in. Flavour was quite a bit more mellow though, definitely a good drink to stop a few minutes with and just relax.

Image

The Italian salad, served cold as per instructions. Quite a variety of vegetables, large cuts of meat and other goodness inside, a very hearthy meal, though I felt it may have been better served warm. Texture was generally all around better than the warm food. Giving a bit more resistance when biting into it; meat, vegetables and what I can only assume is something akin to peas. Though I didn't quite feel the flavour was really all there, I suspect it is due to it being served cold. Meat had a nice, clean flavour of meat, while the vegetables also gave some more flavour to it, while not taking over any other flavour.

Image

While the meat chunks alone felt a bit salted, I decided to add in some extra flavouring, which helped the meal a lot. Though it seems in this ration, the French prefer to keep the flavours quite a bit toned down, it's been a while since I had the last RCIR, so I can't quite compare whether it is a running theme, or just something this ration suffers from. Well, using the term "suffers" very lightly, as the ration is in no way bad. Perhaps I am just too used to very spicy food.

Image

Army issue pate is, as usual, one of the best around. Lightly flavoured with what feels like pepper, smooth texture but still a bit fibrous, and goes excellent with more or less anything. Not overtly sweet nor too strong on the pepper seasoning. Very delicious!

Image

Last but not least, the soup and chocolate, and tea. As mentioned, the tea had a quite strong smell of toothpaste, owing to the mint flavour I would wager. By far less flavour when actually drinking, just a hint of mint which feels quite calming and hits the spot during these colder months. The soup turned out a bit thick, but was quite hearthy and, along with the tea, certainly hit a spot to warm me up a bit. Though it mainly tastes like leek has been added to the soup, it should have the flavour of more vegetables. As I mentioned, this may just sit well on its own as a very late, light evening meal after dinner.

The chocolate bar is 70% cocoa and you can definitely feel it. Not particularly sweet, but has a lot of taste of dark chocolate, glad this one hasn't managed to bloom yet. A quick little snack and pick me up, nothing to complain about.

So, my final thoughts with this ration is that it is one of the better ones you can get your hands on. While the flavour is generally subdued and doesn't really stick out in any particular way, I suspect it is the closest to proper gourmet food you can get in a army ration. It also comes complete with a Esbit stove and solid fuel, a garbage bag, toothpicks and matches, as well as purifcation tablets for water. The only thing you will need to find in order to properly enjoy this ration is water, though given the lack of cold drinks, it probably wont require as much water to mix drinks as other rations can tend to do.

It is quite bulky though, at least when stored in it's original box, and a lot of the tins that store food could probably be replaced with retort pouches to save up on space, even if the box is discarded, it can be a bit tricky to fit everything into a bag. Though, if you can get your hands on one, I would definitely recommend giving it a shot! It's definitely more top of the line food than compared to most other rations. Just don't expect a explosion of flavour, though you may have a more refined palate than I do. If not, you can probably expect a very good eating experience for 24 hours, but I would advice bringing some seasoning with you to spice it up a bit.

If there are any questions or more info anyone would like to get on this ration, feel free to post and i'll see what I can do :)

User avatar
Ren
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:29 am
Location: Des Moines, IA
Contact:

Re: French 24 hour RCIR Menu 10

Post by Ren » Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:17 am

Menu 10 is great, but I recommend heating it up fully so it doesn't look like it's still cold.

It's best when it's all bubbly and hot! Best bet: I heat it in a barely boiling water bath on the stove until the whole dish is hot.

Esbit stove also works well for these mains.

HeinrichFuchs
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 11:07 am

Re: French 24 hour RCIR Menu 10

Post by HeinrichFuchs » Tue Oct 27, 2020 8:54 am

Ren wrote:
Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:17 am
Menu 10 is great, but I recommend heating it up fully so it doesn't look like it's still cold.

It's best when it's all bubbly and hot! Best bet: I heat it in a barely boiling water bath on the stove until the whole dish is hot.

Esbit stove also works well for these mains.
I will be sure to give it a shot if/when I get another Menu 10, I can definitely agree they usually taste better warmed up :)

Post Reply