Ration packs.

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Graham_Wright

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I've been thinking of stocking up the galley with food to eat during cruises unintentionally extended.

I had experience of compo rations in the past and they were generally very good.

What is the best recommended today?
 
Tins if sardines. Jars of hot dogs, Fray Bentos pies, rice, pasta, jars of pasta sauce, tinned sweetcorn, etc.
 
I have a lot of freeze dried porridge from Mountain House. I also have Custard and Wild Berries. The porridge is amazing. I gave away all the main meals because I got sick of them. And I do not regret that decision! I would rather eat Parmasan and Tomatoes.

Chickpeas are a good one because you do not need to cook them. Drizzle in olive oil. Mix with tin fish. Boiled egg. Chopped onion (onion lasts for ages) and chickpeas with olive oil and italian seasoning.
 
Bobc said:
Tins if sardines. Jars of hot dogs, Fray Bentos pies, rice, pasta, jars of pasta sauce, tinned sweetcorn, etc.
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Hot dogs and Sauerkraut is a favourite. Always keep that in ships supplies. Easy to heat. Easy to clean (just wipe pan).
 
Tins of Creamed Rice and Custard are great comfort foods. Cheese is a must! Parmesan keeps well, also these individually portioned cheese portions are expensive but being individually packed last well.
A lot depends on what cooking facilities you have, we only have a two ring Origo stove and the thing we craved for on a long(16 day passage) was Toast.
Found a great thing in Ireland, it's made by Knorr but seems to be made for the Irish market.. a dehydrated mashed potato and bacon pot, just add hot water, great on a long cruise.
As for Compo rations, my memories of British Army compo rations was that you seemed to end up with constipation for 2-3 days then it all comes at once and you feel as if the World is dropping out of your bottom.
 
Star-Lord said:
Hot dogs and Sauerkraut is a favourite. Always keep that in ships supplies. Easy to heat. Easy to clean (just wipe pan).
Click to expand...
I have a locker full of stuff like that - Choucroute Royale it's called - from Carrefour or any French supermarket.
Plus cassoulet, boef bourguinon, cuisses de canard, pommes dauphinoise etc. You can like a king on French tinned food.

But I do sometimes hanker for Biscuits AB and cheese or pate. Along with the immovable whiff of hexamine...
 
Graham_Wright said:
I've been thinking of stocking up the galley with food to eat during cruises unintentionally extended.

I had experience of compo rations in the past and they were generally very good.

What is the best recommended today?
Click to expand...
It seems to be generally believed that French army ration packs are the best available. They were £20 each before the current brouhaha - God knows what they are going for now. Otherwise you're probably stuck with Fray Bentos.
 
Old Bumbulum said:
I have a locker full of stuff like that - Choucroute Royale it's called - from Carrefour or any French supermarket.
Plus cassoulet, boef bourguinon, cuisses de canard, pommes dauphinoise etc. You can like a king on French tinned food.

But I do sometimes hanker for Biscuits AB and cheese or pate. Along with the immovable whiff of hexamine...
Click to expand...
I reckon a sail to south of France in the summer to stock up like a King sounds like a very good idea! When I was in Baiona (before Brexit I summered in Galicia for a couple of years) the Galicians do an amazing tin of sausage, pork, turnip tops and boiled potato. It's the national dish for the region. They came in single serving and double. The quality was amazing. It was like fresh. I got one and the next day went back and got a lot more. All gone now.
 
JumbleDuck said:
It seems to be generally believed that French army ration packs are the best available. They were £20 each before the current brouhaha - God knows what they are going for now. Otherwise you're probably stuck with Fray Bentos.
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I was told US army rations were the best by a special soldier. He said they could order rations from any armed forces they wanted.
Fray Bentos and baked beans used to be a go to hangover meal.
 
US MREs (Meals Ready to Eat, aka three lies for the price of one) are simply revolting. Your soldier would have to be 'special' in the medical sense to believe they were even remotely edible, leave alone best!
Avoid!
I can well believe the French ones are good. I daresay the German ones are too. I wonder if they are available to the public.

Praxinoscope, I too have craved bread on passage. The ingredients are easy to carry and bread simple to make, but nowadays supermarket part-cooked baguettes make this almost redundant. They are easy to pack and store on board, seem pretty much undated (ie last ages) even at ambient temps and 10-12 mins in the oven turns out a hot, fresh-baked baguette. Toast is but one step further but you won't have any left to toast, I promise. They are also very easy to pack and store on board.

Now, whatever happened to tinned butter?

Starlord's "Chickpeas are a good one because you do not need to cook them. Drizzle in olive oil. Mix with tin fish. Boiled egg. Chopped onion (onion lasts for ages) and chickpeas with olive oil and italian seasoning." is a great meal.
My version merely adds some macaroni and perhaps a splash of vinegar. A regular favourite.
 
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In Brazil we met a Wharram which had been support boat for the "Swim the Atlantic" attempt by a Brit, name Ben: leave from Dakar and swim the whole Ocean till New World. Unfortunately a few days on he was stung by Portuguese man of war and almost died, so attempt aborted the boat crossed straight to Brazil.
They were 5-6 on board, and had provisions for the expected 3-4 months of the crossing which instead lasted a lot less. The provisions were Russian Army emergency rations, thankfully all written in cyrillic alphabet so no one knew what was inside.
They gave them away to a local church, we fully loaded two cars.
 
Old Bumbulum, you mis-read my post slightly, our problem is we don't have an oven on board, so yes the part baked breads are great if you have access to an oven.
Talking of tinned butter, years ago I think it was Harris used to do tinned sausages, tin was a bit like a corned beef tin and there was plenty of fat in the tin in which to fry the sausages.
 
Humblebee said:
Parsley Box - Homepage

I've just ordered some of these folks meals, apparently keep 6 months without refrigeration. Don't have a microwave on board but reckon many, if not all, could be gently heated in a pan on the cooker.
Looking forward to trying them and will report back in due course.
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I saw these & ordered some, but do not rely on one making a meal. They are 270 grams prior to cooking . You might be better plucking the budgerigar & having that with chips. At least you will not get bird flue when it has gone :D
 
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