I needed a quick dinner during a shift at the fire station last week, so I grabbed an MRE out of my locker. This was my first time trying the ratatouille entree, and I was pleased with it. I was a little curious as to the American take on this French dish, which dates back to the mid-to-late 1700's. Traditionally, ratatouille is simply a stew, consisting of vegetables (commonly squash, onion, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, etc), so the American twist to this dish appears to be the addition of the penne pasta.
Here is the unopened ration. . .
- Package Unopened
In true Ameriqual fashion, here is the inner wrapping that they like to do. . .
- Ameriqual Signature Inner Wrap
Let's get started. . .
- Contents
Accessory packet contents. . .
- Accessory Pack
Plated. . .
- Dinner Time!
I was a little displeased to find no beverage other than the chocolate dairyshake powder. That makes a nice desert, but a regular beverage to go with the meal would've been nice. Because of this, I grabbed a fruit beverage that I had leftover from a Russian IRP and had it. I love these beverage powders!
- Alternative Beverage
The ratatouille was very well seasoned and flavorful. The pasta was overcooked, but that's not the end of the world. They give you a packet of salt-free seasoning (aka. Mrs. Dash) with this MRE, but the entree was very good without it. A little more vegetable-to-penne ratio would improve it a little, but I liked it. Here is a close-up of the entree. . .
- Entree Close-Up
I would've rather had crackers with this, but the tortilla did just fine. I didn't use the peanut butter, as pieces of folded-over tortilla worked well for scooping-up the ratatouille, and tasted good with it, kind of like using naan bread with Indian food.
The almond poppy seed pound cake was very good. It was still plenty moist and not crumbly, with a little bit of sugar "crusting" on the exterior. The flavor was mild, with a good almond essence to it.
All in all, this was a good ration, and I'm looking forward to having it again, though I'll pack a loose pack of crackers and a beverage powder to go with it.
Thanks for reading!
