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Several months ago Ruleryak was kind enough to send me a Spanish ration in exchange for a commitment to review it here, so today I am pleased to bring you that review for your reading pleasure.

A quick review of Spanish rations for those who may be new to (I'm still learning myself, so more experienced rationauts please correct me if I'm wrong). Spain, like the US MRE, packages an individual meal, rather than one ration meant to last for 24 hrs like many other countries utilize. They are NATO approved (which are requirements relating to calorie and nutritional content), but as for additional NATO recommendations, they require separately-issued supplemental items. The ration packs lack a bread / cracker / biscuit component, which are issued separately, as well as a hot beverage like coffee or tea. Spain has five different menus available.

The components come in a cardboard box with a thin plastic wrap as an outer barrier. This ration weighed in at 1.79 pounds (0.81 kg).
Upon opening, the contents were laid out for inspection.
The ration pack included a paper with contents list and instructions that was printed in Spanish, English and French.
First, the main attraction, which was Pote Gallego, or "galacian style stew". This is a traditional soup made with potatoes, white beans, cabbage, chorizo, and fatty pork. The entree was a decent amount, 300 g. I heated it in the microwave since I was home, and found the dish to be quite good. The soup base was mild and unremarkable (closely resembling a typical canned soup, but the ingredients were very good. The beans weren't hard or overly soft, they were just right. There was a good quantity of meat too. I was a little worried initially when looking at the components that a soldier in the field would still be hungry after this ration, but this main dish was quite filling, and I enjoyed it.
Next was the chicken and pasta instant soup. The soup was mediocre, with very small pasta pieces, and a few very tiny pieces of dark meat chicken here and there. Overall, the soup wasn't too bad though, especially when thought of as more of a hot beverage. It wasn't too salty as some instant soups can be.
The second tin (which I neglected to have facing the correct way in the contents photo, oops ) was "squid in it's ink". I like to think of myself as fairly adventurous with food, but I couldn't bring myself to try it

, so I passed on the side dish.
Though not containing bread or crackers / biscuits, it did contain some quince cream, which was really more of a pate. I found it very good, and not unlike the fruit pates' from the Dutch rations, except in a better quantity. It was very flavorful, and would be quite good on crackers or bread.
While no coffee, tea, or other typical beverage powder was included, it did include four packs of "defatigant isotonic powder with vitamin C". The instructions said to take 2 doses daily, and that the four bags comprises one dose. There was also a warning not to exceed the recommended daily dose. I mixed two of the packets in a small amount of water to see how it tasted. I was kind of expecting a citrus / vitamin flavor kind of like those "emergenC" type vitamin drink mixes on the market. I found this to be very bland and strange tasting though, with no apparent attempt to add any flavor to the mix. It would take some motivation to want to down a tall glass of this stuff. Maybe they mix the four pouches in a very small amount of water and down it quick like a shot of liquor.
The included piece of gum wasn't bad. It was one piece, and while it's kind of hard to tell by the photo, it was probably double or triple the size of the MRE gum. It tasted exactly like the MRE gum, but seemed to hold it's flavor longer.
In summary, not a bad ration. The main entree was quite good, though I would have to ding a few points for lacking the bread / biscuit component in the ration, as well as lacking coffee or tea. I can't comment on the squid side dish since I wasn't daring enough to try it.

Thanks for reading!

Nice review, thx for sharing.
How much water did you use to prepare the soup?

Cool review! I actually had a few of these while back, I found them to be lacking in taste and not containing enough food... The Spanish Soldier I got them from said that they issue two types of bread separately (Sweet bread and regular type bread) with these rations. I also did end up trying the Squid in Ink Sauce and keep in mind that normally I really like squid - but this one was dry and not good, the ink sauce tasted like crap too. The ink sauce is also filled up to the top of the can, so no doubt when you open that sucker up its going to make a mess on you, or something else!

Woohoo! Glad you did the review, and sorry you still ended up with some squid. I found menus through eBay auctions and google translate only a few weeks ago and hadn't known there were two menu's with squid. Heated up and over pasta it might not be that bad - assuming it's not gritty that is. One of these days I'll post the B5 review I did almost a year ago. I didn't post it because I didn't like the photos, but honestly they're fine so I'll get that up soon!

One correction I wanted to mention - there are 5 Lunch A menus, as well as 5 Lunch B menus - so at least 10 of them. Great review!

great review.

too bad you didn't have any pan gallette, they are actually pretty good for a ration cracker.

The Spanish rations always put me in mind of the MCI's, or C-Rats.

I agree about the vitamin powder. I tried it dry, and I think your idea of a little water and shooting it to be a good one.

You should have tried the squid. If you didn't toss it out use some rice and chicken stock and a little mixed veg on the side...good as schnikies! Then again, I lived in Europe for 5 years so I don't have all the "eww factor" most people in the states have.

Cheers!

Thanks for looking everyone.

gundog4314 wrote:If you didn't toss it out use some rice and chicken stock and a little mixed veg on the side

Good suggestion gundog. I certainly didn't toss it, but since I was unlikely to try it regardless of preparation method, I sent it to our fearless Steve1989 for him to try.

housil wrote:How much water did you use to prepare the soup?

I wish I could remember Housil. Since many of the fluid suggestions seem to water things down too much, I just started with a little bit of water and kept adding a little bit until I found it just right.

Ruleryak wrote:One correction I wanted to mention - there are 5 Lunch A menus, as well as 5 Lunch B menus - so at least 10 of them

Thank you for that correction! That makes more sense with the numbering system than. I thought it was odd that they used numbering like "A2, B5" etc. That makes a lot more sense now that they have five menus for each meal of the day. Thanks for the info!

Great review and I enjoyed your good descriptions of the Pote Gallego, or "galacian style stew"

This looks like a great winter evening meal (For me at least, I could see this being eaten by a campfire)
But I would have to have some bread. I have been to Spain and they indeed do like Octopus and Squid. I ate the squid fried sort of like onion rings.
They were very good with beer.
Also I tried Mainland Chinese canned squid and could not eat it. It was a strong flavor. I would try the Spanish Military canned squid ration if it were not in Ink.
When you read, 'in Ink" It does not seem appetizing. If it just said in natural juice or slat brine I would try it

The drink component of this Spanish meal is interesting, I guess it is to keep the troop healthy.
Why no coffee ? I though Spanish loved coffee

Interesting! Overall looks pretty palatable.

Paul Buikema wrote:Interesting! Overall looks pretty palatable

Thanks Paul! It really was pretty good. The stew was very good. My only issue with this ration, as issued, is that it might leave a person hungry if they are doing a lot of physical exertion. Overall, not bad though!