Unless you’ve got one of them portable Coleman Roadtrip grills, camping food will most likely mean some thing like an MRE, or Meal, Ready-to-Eat. Originally developed for the U.S. military, MREs are self-contained lightweight rations available in a wide variety of flavors. They’re also made by other nations for their militaries, with all of the familiar flavors a local would expect!
For example, MREs for South Korean troops feature such regional delicacies as kimchi, while Italians enjoy beef tortellini; Swedes and Norwegians get cod stew with sour cream and potato, and Poles make do with bogracz (beef goulash). And though soldiers in the field can’t use camping grills for obvious security reasons, thanks to the marvels of modern science MREs now offer hot food flamelessly!
Modern day MREs contain a Flameless Ration Heater, or FRH, which will raise the temperature of an eight-ounce entree by a hundred degrees Fahrenheit in no more than twelve minutes. FRHs use a simple chemical reaction to provide heat sufficient to warm up the precooked contents of an MRE.
The idea is to use the natural oxidation of a metal to produce heat. MREs now reach boiling point within seconds, steaming and bubbling! In ten minutes or so, dinner is ready. As may be imagined, they are not anywhere near the power of your least expensive Coleman Roadtrip grills, but they ain’t any person spending the night outdoors.
No, combat cuisine doesn’t compare to camping fare, but it’s not actually that bad, and, frankly, isn’t roughing it part of the overall experience, regardless of whether in the military or living out of doors?
Of course, you could just opt to go totally authentic and hunt game and roast it over a campfire spit! But an MRE is a nice compromise between that and a Coleman grill.
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