Hello Everyone!
Please forgive any mistakes I may make, this is my first ration review.
I managed to get my hands on a few Spanish rations, figured this might be a good place to post my "2 cents"
For this particular narrative, I'll be discussing a lunch ration, Menu B4
Menu Information: Lunch B, Menu No. 4
- 1 Bag of vegetable instant soup (20g)
-
1 Tin of beef with peas (200g)
- 1 Tin of white tuna fish in vegetable oil (115g)
- 1 Tin of fruit cocktail in syrup (190g)
- 1 Tin of pate (70g)
- Miscellaneous sundries (water purification tabs, fuel tabs, isotonic drink mix, gum, matches, stove, tissues, toothpaste, hand sanitizer)
I admittedly opened this ration before I took the pictures, I know, I commited a faux pas. I'll consider this a learning experience
I heated the rations using the enclosed metal heater and fuel tabs.
As it arrived:
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Very happy with everything, love the presentation of these rations. Bag feels considerably thinner than US MRE issue, comparable to a thicker plastic bag that you'd get from a store. There's a caveat here... I noticed, upon opening, that something had been compromised. There was a slightly odd odor coming from the bag, along with fine granules. At first, I thought it was one of the fuel tabs. Upon further investigation, I discovered this it was a fuel tab AND the soup packet had been slightly punctured.
The box:
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So I decided to only eat a few things from this ration, had a long day at work and my appetite isn't enough to consume the whole thing. I opted for the soup, which upon further inspection, smelled fine and upon opening, did not seem affected by the slight hole in the bag. I also decided to try the beef and peas, which happen to be a few of my favorite things.
Soup:
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You may be able to see the puncture in the middle of the pack where the granules were coming from
Finished product:
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The soup itself tasted quite nice. It required 200mls of hot water, and once stirred, thickened up quite a bit. It was slightly reminiscent of a pot pie filling, but not too salty or heavy with flavor. I really enjoyed it. I also had some spare crackers that I sprinkled in, they really added a nice touch. I noticed that the soup had small dehydrated chunks of bread in it that plumped up nicely once heated. A nice touch!
Next onto the heater went the Beef with Peas:
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Please excuse the dirty tins. The entree heated up nicely, did a nice little bubble and foam action. I was surprised to find that none of the contents stuck to the bottom of the tin.
The finished product:
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Very happy with this dish. The chunks of beef were firm but tasty. They seem to lack the usual preserved meat taste that you find in US MREs, which I was thankful for. I don't mind the taste, but I don't prefer it
The peas were exactly what you'd expect coming from a tin. I found the sauce/broth to be quite watery, which was a nice surprise. It mixed very well with the soup and provided a light meat flavor.
Overall, I was very pleased with this ration sampling. I'm really looking forward to trying the rest of the box!
Has anyone else tried this menu? I'd be curious to compare opinions. Thanks!
