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Comment by jimmygrapes | Hacker News Reader

Can't read due to pay wall but I'm kind of offended by the headline. MREs have gotten better over the years, give or take a few missteps, and haven't been anywhere near bad (yes, even veggie omelet can be salvaged) for decades. The current lineup[0] is downright decadent, at least in the US, and has been for longer than any writer at NYT has been alive.

[0]: https://www.mreinfo.com/mre-menus-2021/

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Don’t worry. The article is broadly complimentary to the scientific wonder which is the MRE, but does dutifully report several of the many less than complimentary nicknames they have acquired from their primary user base over the years.

In the 90's they had the "Dehydrated Pork Patty". I am not surprised this set them back for the next 30 years.

Though the British troops near us had some kind of canned cod fish in tomato sauce that was worse.

Yeah, but how was that patty on a bun, dripping with barbecue sauce and maybe with some sliced onions on it?

Ah, you're saying that's now the McRib?

Unironically yeah, if you heat the pork rib, put it on the hardtack style bread, and pretend you have onion (take a deep whiff of your battle buddy for the pure essence) it's pretty close

I haven't tasted the delights of the veggie omelet yet. But the dried pork patty we had in the mid 1980's was horrific. This was before the flameless ration heaters, so your choice was to hydrate it with cold water, or break pieces off and place it in your mouth & allow your saliva to reconstitute it. It smelled like cat food, IIRC.

Cat food is a good sedative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSyqWbrxcG4

You gotta huff glue too

I had one recently, IMO once you get past the sentimental aspect it tastes like a bunch of snacks you'd buy from a gas station. I think anything is good when you're hungry enough and at war...

Looks tastier and more varied than most school lunches I recall. Not a ton of vegetables unfortunately.

Some view that as a feature!

I would only eat the veggie one except the dreaded veggie omelet. That thing was awful.

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