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Pete
02-25-2014, 06:18
Peanut butter for GIs and a 40% shot of cordiale for the Italians: Can you guess the army's nationality by its ration pack?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2566893/Tabasco-British-40-proof-shot-cordiale-Italians-Can-guess-armys-nationality-ration-pack.html#ixzz2uKrhOZ9y
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"Napoleon famously said that 'an army marches on its stomach', but who knew that soldiers from across the world would be powered by such a diverse range of foodstuffs including Tabasco sauce for the British and a shot of alcohol for the Italian troops?

Operational ration packs including canned, freeze-dried or pre-cooked food are dished out to many servicemen and women on the front line, providing enough food to get them through 24 hours and millions of pounds have been spent on making them as appetising as possible, with gadgets including heaters to warm the meals also included in the packs......"

Food for thought on this Tuesday morning.

BryanK
02-25-2014, 07:00
Wow, the Brit's and Aussies have a lot of variety. I saw the Vegemite and immediately heard "Land Down Under" :D

I was watching "Bizarre Foods" on the travel channel last night and the host Andrew Zimmern was eating MRE's as a bizarre food. He described them as disgusting, but he must be insane. I personally love MRE's, and especially that New England clam chowder he thought to be so gross. It must have been because the guy's feeding it to him mixed it with Mexican style corn :confused: :p

Here is a clip from that show if interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jka-g9YC-Z8

Max_Tab
02-25-2014, 08:39
I was in the infantry when i first had an Australian ration. We were all like, "this is awesome there is so much food". It wasn't till later we realized that one ration was for a whole day, not one Meal. :D

The Reaper
02-25-2014, 08:42
The Aussies, and Brits too, as I recall, issue the ration pack for the entire day.

They look big, but I lost 25 pounds in 30 days eating their ration packs.

TR

Toaster
02-25-2014, 08:58
In airborne school they had a lot of foriegn students, Poles, A Greek, one from Singapore, Macedonia, there were others but I can't recall where... They absolutely loved our MRE's. The Greek was in their equivalent of Ranger Regiment and was telling me how they still had food in cans and how much lighter ours were.

We have it pretty good.

Trapper John
02-25-2014, 09:05
I remember back in the day before the Shah of Iran was deposed that the Iranian troops had the very best egg plant, peppers, and tomatoes in oil that I have ever tasted. Put that on some Pita bread and it was pure heaven. We traded our chilli and beans for their egg plant. Well, actually only once, they hated the chilli and thought we had set them up. I don't think they ever really trusted us after that - possibly was the nexus of the decline in US/Iranian relations. :D

MR2
02-25-2014, 09:33
I remember back in the day before the Shah of Iran was deposed that the Iranian troops had the very best egg plant, peppers, and tomatoes in oil that I have ever tasted. Put that on some Pita bread and it was pure heaven. We traded our chilli and beans for their egg plant. Well, actually only once, they hated the chilli and thought we had set them up. I don't think they ever really trusted us after that - possibly was the nexus of the decline in US/Iranian relations. :D

That's darn funny Kermit.

Scimitar
02-25-2014, 12:30
I distinctly recall my first MRE.

Fort hunter Ligget, CA. After a day / night Land Nav FTX, with an ROTC group.

They allowed my wife to tag along, and I gave her a crash course on Land Nav the night before.

After all the bad press I had heard, I couldn't believe how frekin delicious it was.

Chicken Cordon bleu, if I recall correctly.

Oh...and pound cake..... Yum. :)

I secretly wondered how I could score a supply of these to...ahem....supplement my wife's developing cooking skills. ;)

S

Trapper John
02-25-2014, 12:33
That's darn funny Kermit.

Thanks Gonzo. It's not easy being green. :D

Flagg
02-25-2014, 13:02
The Aussies, and Brits too, as I recall, issue the ration pack for the entire day.

They look big, but I lost 25 pounds in 30 days eating their ration packs.

TR

Yep.......same with the Kiwis.

If you ever have the chance to try ours, they're actually pretty good(same with the Aussie Rat packs).

Just avoid the vegetable tangine at all costs. ;)

Box
02-25-2014, 13:13
The Belgians had pretty decent rations as I remember...

At the end of the day, I'll continue to hump an MRE and flameless ration heater.

mojaveman
02-25-2014, 13:36
Anybody ever seen one of these before? It's not for fuel either it's actually for booze.

It's a French Army wine ration can. Yep, it's steel and even lined. Saw a few of then at a military surplus store in Europe once.

The Reaper
02-25-2014, 13:56
Anybody ever seen one of these before? It's not for fuel either it's actually for booze.

It's a French Army wine ration can. Yep, it's steel and even lined. Saw a few of then at a military surplus store in Europe once.

That would explain the label on the can. :D

TR