Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Chicago Tribune
March 25, 2007
By Phil Vettel, Tribune restaurant critic
After forcing down just a few spoonfuls of the food they're expected to eat every day, I have an even deeper appreciation and concern for our men and women in uniform.
Small wonder our servicemen are having trouble maintaining weight, if what I tasted is representative of what they're fed in the field. This dreck could (and perhaps should) be repackaged as diet food, because, despite its high caloric content, I can't imagine anyone finishing this stuff. The MRE Diet could sweep the nation, although there might be landfill issues down the road.
I sampled two main courses and a dessert, and here are my reactions:
*Beef roast with vegetables: Absolutely awful. The meat is soggy, the vegetables have been ground into indecipherable bits (apart from the tell-tale orange of the carrot fragments) and the gravy is reminiscent of something from a can. With a wagging dog on the label.
*Penne pasta with spicy vegetable sausage: At first blush, acceptable. The pasta is predictably limp (canned supermarket pasta suffers the same fate), but the tomato sauce isn't horrendous, and some vaguely fennel-like substance has been applied to the vegetarian sausage. But the seasoning has a chemical aftertaste and, 15 minutes later, the tip of my tongue was still tingling suspiciously. Not a good sign.
*Crunchy toffee cookie: Actually good! It comes out of its protective pouch looking like an actual cookie, has a pleasantly crunchy texture and imparts discernible butter and caramel flavors. Among our troops, these crunchy treats must be worth their weight in gold.
March 25, 2007
By Phil Vettel, Tribune restaurant critic
After forcing down just a few spoonfuls of the food they're expected to eat every day, I have an even deeper appreciation and concern for our men and women in uniform.
Small wonder our servicemen are having trouble maintaining weight, if what I tasted is representative of what they're fed in the field. This dreck could (and perhaps should) be repackaged as diet food, because, despite its high caloric content, I can't imagine anyone finishing this stuff. The MRE Diet could sweep the nation, although there might be landfill issues down the road.
I sampled two main courses and a dessert, and here are my reactions:
*Beef roast with vegetables: Absolutely awful. The meat is soggy, the vegetables have been ground into indecipherable bits (apart from the tell-tale orange of the carrot fragments) and the gravy is reminiscent of something from a can. With a wagging dog on the label.
*Penne pasta with spicy vegetable sausage: At first blush, acceptable. The pasta is predictably limp (canned supermarket pasta suffers the same fate), but the tomato sauce isn't horrendous, and some vaguely fennel-like substance has been applied to the vegetarian sausage. But the seasoning has a chemical aftertaste and, 15 minutes later, the tip of my tongue was still tingling suspiciously. Not a good sign.
*Crunchy toffee cookie: Actually good! It comes out of its protective pouch looking like an actual cookie, has a pleasantly crunchy texture and imparts discernible butter and caramel flavors. Among our troops, these crunchy treats must be worth their weight in gold.