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Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:33 pm
by kman
I recently received some Dutch ration entree from housil via a trade and just gave one a try. I see that Garron did a review of the same entree here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2506 but I thought I'd add in my own review, too.

Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

This is a review of a "Rijst Ratatouille Met Kip" (Rice Ratatouille with Chicken) entree from a Dutch military ration. The entree was produced in July 2004 and is best by November 2006. I was eating it almost 3 years past its "best by" date but it was still perfectly good. At the time this entree was produced, the Dutch used cans like these for their ration meals. Sometime after 2004, the cans were replaced by the same type of retort pouches now used in the US and British rations.

The entree itself is pretty hefty at 400 grams and 450 calories. In comparison, a typical US MRE entree is usually 227 grams and around 325 calories.
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To heat the entree, I placed the whole unopened container in a pot of boiling water and let it heat it up for 15-20 minutes. I really should have let it heat for 30 minutes because when I opened it, the food was hot around the edges but only mildly warm in the middle.

Here's what it looked like opened up and then after I stirred the contents:
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If you're asking (as I did), "What is Ratatouille?", here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject:
Wikipedia wrote:Ratatouille (rat-a-too-ee) is a traditional French stewed vegetable dish. Tomatoes are a key ingredient, with garlic, onions, zucchini (courgettes), eggplant (aubergine), bell peppers (poivron), marjoram and basil.
You can definitely make out the zucchini, eggplant, and bell peppers in the entree. Personally, I'm not a big fan of bell peppers so at first, I didn't much like the entree and considered not eating it. But Mrs. Kman took a taste and said it was good - in fact, one of the better ones she's tasted - so I gave it another try and after a few more bites, the taste grew on me and I really started to like it. I eventually added some Texas Pete (hot sauce) to the entree and that really improved the taste.

All gone!
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This review is also listed in the main website's Review section here:
http://www.mreinfo.com/reviews/internat ... icken.html

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:40 pm
by Garron
Glad you liked it, that was the first Dutch Ration I ate, not a bad way to start. I've got 2 other menus at home I'm tempted to try them one day next week (I'll be at home on holidays from University)

Gaz

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:52 pm
by Stef
Hey, that entree doesn't look Dutch at all, it could even be French :mrgreen:

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:03 pm
by kman
"Ratatouille"?? I dont' know...doesn't sound very French. :-)

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:24 pm
by housil
Stef wrote:Hey, that entree doesn't look Dutch at all, it could even be French :mrgreen:
The French entrees came from the same manufacturer, but just in 300g cans.

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:42 pm
by Bypah
kman wrote:"Ratatouille"?? I dont' know...doesn't sound very French. :-)
Is a french peasant veggie dish....also check Disney's "Ratatouille", the movie..... :D
Peace!
8)

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:09 am
by dirtbag
Good movie, but I didn't care for the dish... :(

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:38 am
by housil
A "Ratatouille" is very common over here. :D

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:51 pm
by Bypah
is a simple dish,easy to prepare from scratch..... :wink:
...and a good one too...yummm!!1 :mrgreen:
peace!
8)

Re: Dutch Ration Entree - Rice Ratatouille with Chicken

Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:36 pm
by Cracker
It's Dutch alright..

But the cans are not replaced, the bags are just added (but are probably going again)

The Dutch army still uses the cans (never stopped), aluminiumlike bags like in MREs, and US MREs from Sopakco (US Department of Defense... right.. property of US Goverment... right..)

The alu bags are very inconvenient when you don't have any flameless heaters.. Especially infantry still uses the "oldschool" cans.