Flavor Is On the Menu for Military Meals
http://www.kren.com/Global/Story.asp?S=8616552 [2008-7-4]
Tag : Food Flavor
By Tom A. Peter
Provided by
Like any chef, Jeanette Kennedy's pallet has become so refined overthe years that, given any dish, she can single out virtually everyingredient -- the pinch of black pepper, the hint of oregano, orthe vegetable oil subbing for olive oil.
On a recent morning she was testing a slab of pound cake, her faceblank as she silenced her other senses and focused on taste andtexture.
After a good long chew, Ms. Kennedy spit the cake into a paper cup-- an indelicacy that was not a comment on the cake (which shedeemed pretty good), but the result of a high calorie occupationalhazard. This pound cake is no tea party trifle; it's combat cuisine- part of an MRE, Meal Ready to Eat - designed to fuel soldierslugging 100-pound packs all day.
A food technologist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center(NSSC) west of Boston, Kennedy faces creative challenges unlikethose before any other chef. Meals can't just taste good; they'vegot to last ... for three years stored at 80 degrees F., be capableof withstanding chemical or biological attacks, and survive a10-story free fall (when packed in a crate of 12).
In this world, making something as seemingly simple as a sandwichearns a food technologist rock star status, even if only within theconfines of the lab. ⬢⬢⬢
Ask anyone who has worn a U.S. military uniform and they'll have anopinion about rations. MREs - the name given to the rations firstserved in the 1980s when canned fare gave way to meals packed insturdy beige pouches - have nicknames that pretty much sum up whatmany troops think: Meals Rejected by the Enemy, Meals RarelyEdible, and Meals Refusing to Exit (a name that continues to stickdespite the addition of more fiber).
"You go into [your first MRE] with a preconceived notion, just fromwhat you've heard from either your instructors or other people thatyou're in training with, that they're not good," says JeremyWhitsitt, a former Army soldier and now program outreachcoordinator at NSSC. "But I think a lot of that has to do with theearly days of the MRE, and just with military rations in general.Over time they've kind of developed a bad reputation, because for along period of time we weren't customer focused."
Considering the difficulties of the durability requirements, it'seasy to see how taste and customer satisfaction were lowpriorities. The only reason MREs aren't supposed to be consumedafter three years is because science hasn't found a way to stop thedeterioration of taste. But technically - if not gustatorially -they're still edible long after the expiration date.
But, Jill St. Jean, who ate a 6- or 7-year-old MRE beef pattyduring her training to become a certified MRE taste test evaluatorat NSSC, admits, "That one pretty much tasted like dog foodsmells."
In years past, the canned C-rations that served the military fromWorld War II through Vietnam actually looked a lot like wet dogfood, which is also how many soldiers remember the taste. But theserations came from a very different time, an era when cigaretteswere still standard issue.
Today, troop acceptance of the meals, which cost the military $7.13each, has taken center stage. Back in 1982 when MREs debuted,designers assumed they could hang up their aprons. But when thefirst Gulf War broke out, the new ration moved from limitedtraining use to the only food soldiers ate for months on end. Angryletters flooded in from the trenches, and the military realizedthat rations had to be a work in progress.
Now food technologists conduct focus groups with troops across thecountry, follow restaurant fads, and even attend culinary school tomake sure their approach isn't entirely scientific.
"[MREs] really go along with the trends," says Kennedy. "As newthings come out at restaurants, new flavors like chipotle orbuffalo [get popular], they get incorporated into the MRE.... Thetrend [now is] going to more comfort foods like Salisbury steak,beef briquette, but it's not just macaroni and cheese, it's Mexicanmacaroni and cheese."
Just as in the first Gulf War, when NSSC misses the mark today,soldiers in the field let them know. After living off nothing butMREs for 45 days in Afghanistan, Spc. Colin Hankinson wrote aletter that included samples of packaging from Canadian rationsthat offered troops customer feedback cards with every meal
He also suggested that MRE designers "expunge" Cinnamon Imperialcandies from the ration. "They are not satisfying to eat or usefulto trade," explains Specialist Hankinson. "During the past 45-daymission, the primary consumers of Cinnamon Imperials were Afghanchildren and the burn pit."
Since 1993, NSSC has tried to avoid letters like Hankinson's bycreating more than 189 new MRE menu items, almost 12 per year. ⬢⬢⬢
The kitchen lab where Kennedy and a number of other foodtechnologists whip up the latest MRE dishes resembles a crossbetween a school cafeteria kitchen and a third world operatingroom. There are walk-in freezers, multiple meat slicers, aretorting machine bigger than a mid-size car, and lab coats andhair nets (for both head and facial hair) are required.
It was in this kitchen that Kennedy dreamed up what she considersher tastiest creation: a spicy vegetarian penne pasta. Mixed with asoy-based, non-meat sausage crumble, the pasta is covered with azesty sauce that Kennedy says has "kick."
Asked to describe the inspiration for the penne platoon-pleaser,she ponders a moment before responding, "Well, I can't really saythere was an inspiration."
Quite simply, she was under military orders to create a newvegetarian dinner with a protein source. Beyond that, she was likeMichelangelo with a chisel and a slab of marble, limited only byher imagination.
The new emphasis on customer satisfaction has made it an excitingtime to be a food technologist. In many ways, it's even led torethinking the MRE.
Take the new First Strike Ration (FSR) for example. It's meant toprovide service men and women with snacks throughout the day thatadd up to the equivalent of three square MREs. Since the FSR isintended for soldiers on the march, and not in a position to easilyprepare food, it was what ultimately inspired the creation of thethree-year sandwich - currently barbecue beef or chicken andItalian sausage, among others.
Though it might seem a minor innovation, for food technologists itwas a breakthrough. Previously, finding a way to stop wetingredients like BBQ sauce smothered chicken from seeping into thebread was impossible. But through tinkering with chemicals in thewet center. they managed a a long-life rendition of a sandwichresembling a Pop-Tart).
After clearing the sandwich hurdle, Michelle Richardson, a foodtechnologist for 19 years, looks forward to overcoming the next MREconquest: eggs.
"Now I'm trying to give [troops] a breakfast burrito, the samething you can get at McDonald's but doesn't require anyrefrigeration and is shelf stable for two years," she says. "Egg isreally kind of difficult [to preserve], but that's OK. I like achallenge and I don't get bored."
By Tom A. Peter
Provided by
Like any chef, Jeanette Kennedy's pallet has become so refined overthe years that, given any dish, she can single out virtually everyingredient -- the pinch of black pepper, the hint of oregano, orthe vegetable oil subbing for olive oil.
On a recent morning she was testing a slab of pound cake, her faceblank as she silenced her other senses and focused on taste andtexture.
After a good long chew, Ms. Kennedy spit the cake into a paper cup-- an indelicacy that was not a comment on the cake (which shedeemed pretty good), but the result of a high calorie occupationalhazard. This pound cake is no tea party trifle; it's combat cuisine- part of an MRE, Meal Ready to Eat - designed to fuel soldierslugging 100-pound packs all day.
A food technologist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center(NSSC) west of Boston, Kennedy faces creative challenges unlikethose before any other chef. Meals can't just taste good; they'vegot to last ... for three years stored at 80 degrees F., be capableof withstanding chemical or biological attacks, and survive a10-story free fall (when packed in a crate of 12).
In this world, making something as seemingly simple as a sandwichearns a food technologist rock star status, even if only within theconfines of the lab. ⬢⬢⬢
Ask anyone who has worn a U.S. military uniform and they'll have anopinion about rations. MREs - the name given to the rations firstserved in the 1980s when canned fare gave way to meals packed insturdy beige pouches - have nicknames that pretty much sum up whatmany troops think: Meals Rejected by the Enemy, Meals RarelyEdible, and Meals Refusing to Exit (a name that continues to stickdespite the addition of more fiber).
"You go into [your first MRE] with a preconceived notion, just fromwhat you've heard from either your instructors or other people thatyou're in training with, that they're not good," says JeremyWhitsitt, a former Army soldier and now program outreachcoordinator at NSSC. "But I think a lot of that has to do with theearly days of the MRE, and just with military rations in general.Over time they've kind of developed a bad reputation, because for along period of time we weren't customer focused."
Considering the difficulties of the durability requirements, it'seasy to see how taste and customer satisfaction were lowpriorities. The only reason MREs aren't supposed to be consumedafter three years is because science hasn't found a way to stop thedeterioration of taste. But technically - if not gustatorially -they're still edible long after the expiration date.
But, Jill St. Jean, who ate a 6- or 7-year-old MRE beef pattyduring her training to become a certified MRE taste test evaluatorat NSSC, admits, "That one pretty much tasted like dog foodsmells."
In years past, the canned C-rations that served the military fromWorld War II through Vietnam actually looked a lot like wet dogfood, which is also how many soldiers remember the taste. But theserations came from a very different time, an era when cigaretteswere still standard issue.
Today, troop acceptance of the meals, which cost the military $7.13each, has taken center stage. Back in 1982 when MREs debuted,designers assumed they could hang up their aprons. But when thefirst Gulf War broke out, the new ration moved from limitedtraining use to the only food soldiers ate for months on end. Angryletters flooded in from the trenches, and the military realizedthat rations had to be a work in progress.
Now food technologists conduct focus groups with troops across thecountry, follow restaurant fads, and even attend culinary school tomake sure their approach isn't entirely scientific.
"[MREs] really go along with the trends," says Kennedy. "As newthings come out at restaurants, new flavors like chipotle orbuffalo [get popular], they get incorporated into the MRE.... Thetrend [now is] going to more comfort foods like Salisbury steak,beef briquette, but it's not just macaroni and cheese, it's Mexicanmacaroni and cheese."
Just as in the first Gulf War, when NSSC misses the mark today,soldiers in the field let them know. After living off nothing butMREs for 45 days in Afghanistan, Spc. Colin Hankinson wrote aletter that included samples of packaging from Canadian rationsthat offered troops customer feedback cards with every meal
He also suggested that MRE designers "expunge" Cinnamon Imperialcandies from the ration. "They are not satisfying to eat or usefulto trade," explains Specialist Hankinson. "During the past 45-daymission, the primary consumers of Cinnamon Imperials were Afghanchildren and the burn pit."
Since 1993, NSSC has tried to avoid letters like Hankinson's bycreating more than 189 new MRE menu items, almost 12 per year. ⬢⬢⬢
The kitchen lab where Kennedy and a number of other foodtechnologists whip up the latest MRE dishes resembles a crossbetween a school cafeteria kitchen and a third world operatingroom. There are walk-in freezers, multiple meat slicers, aretorting machine bigger than a mid-size car, and lab coats andhair nets (for both head and facial hair) are required.
It was in this kitchen that Kennedy dreamed up what she considersher tastiest creation: a spicy vegetarian penne pasta. Mixed with asoy-based, non-meat sausage crumble, the pasta is covered with azesty sauce that Kennedy says has "kick."
Asked to describe the inspiration for the penne platoon-pleaser,she ponders a moment before responding, "Well, I can't really saythere was an inspiration."
Quite simply, she was under military orders to create a newvegetarian dinner with a protein source. Beyond that, she was likeMichelangelo with a chisel and a slab of marble, limited only byher imagination.
The new emphasis on customer satisfaction has made it an excitingtime to be a food technologist. In many ways, it's even led torethinking the MRE.
Take the new First Strike Ration (FSR) for example. It's meant toprovide service men and women with snacks throughout the day thatadd up to the equivalent of three square MREs. Since the FSR isintended for soldiers on the march, and not in a position to easilyprepare food, it was what ultimately inspired the creation of thethree-year sandwich - currently barbecue beef or chicken andItalian sausage, among others.
Though it might seem a minor innovation, for food technologists itwas a breakthrough. Previously, finding a way to stop wetingredients like BBQ sauce smothered chicken from seeping into thebread was impossible. But through tinkering with chemicals in thewet center. they managed a a long-life rendition of a sandwichresembling a Pop-Tart).
After clearing the sandwich hurdle, Michelle Richardson, a foodtechnologist for 19 years, looks forward to overcoming the next MREconquest: eggs.
"Now I'm trying to give [troops] a breakfast burrito, the samething you can get at McDonald's but doesn't require anyrefrigeration and is shelf stable for two years," she says. "Egg isreally kind of difficult [to preserve], but that's OK. I like achallenge and I don't get bored."
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