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The combat food ration of the French military has earned an excellent reputation among armies of the world. It contains sophisticated dishes that guarantee both health and morale of the troops. We went to the kitchen.
What is this "art of being French" invoked by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron in his speech of 25 April? How to define "this very particular way of being who we are"? The answer to these questions can be found in writers, from Rabelais to Hugo, among historians, from Michelet to Pierre Nora, among sociologists, from Durkheim to Edgar Morin ...
One can also analyze the content of the RICR, the "Individual Warming Battle Ration" of the French military. It's a real digest of French creativity and gastronomy. From Afghanistan to Estonia, from Mali to Iraq, the "rasquette" of France, as the soldiers of the army call it, has acquired a solid reputation in all theaters of operation. In this rectangular 1.5 kg cardboard box that allows you to prepare three meals, nothing is missing to revive the patriotic feeling, even if it is thousands of kilometers from the country. "These bloody French and their food", says a British soldier while feasting on a French ration, during a tasting posted on YouTube.
Cannelé with rum, fruit pasta ...
Among the novelties in 2019, far from the "monkey", the nickname given to corned beef brought by the Americans, we find a salad of red quinoa gizzards, sausage with pistachio, tuna with coconut milk and fragrant rice , a gratin of macaroni with beef ... duck, a risotto of pork with mushrooms, a cassoulet superior ... Nothing is too good to satiate the forces deployed far from their base. In the "world" of military rations, the French is largely racing in the lead. The proof by the secondary market: it is said that in Afghanistan, it is exchanged five American rations for a French.
In the MRE ("Meals ready to eat") of Americans, long nicknamed "Meals refused by everyone", all the ingredients are presented in sad pouches color poo goose. The RICR is, conversely, a variegated farandole, with 99% historical marks. The chocolate bar comes from Klaus, chocolatier since 1856 in Franche-Comté, the rum cannelé arrives from Bordeaux, the plums are from Agen, and the fruit pastes have not changed since the days of our grandmothers.
Feeding an army in operation has always been a logistical challenge. "The art of conquering is lost without the art of subsistence," said Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1220-1245). Centuries later, another emperor, Napoleon, lost his last battles for having favored the speed of movement of the troops to their supply. Since the disastrous Russian retreat, no fight would have been lost by France for food reasons.
During the First World War, the "rolling" (rolling kitchen) accompanies the troops with soup and spinach; 1914-18 announces the rise of canned foods in households. Many legendary brands, Saupiquet, Hénaff, or Kub broths, were born for the trenches. During the Second World War, the novelty comes from America, which introduces Nescafe and especially the ration K for airborne allied troops. Designed by Dr. Ancel Keys, topped with crackers, chewing gum tablets and three cans of meat, cheese and pâté, not to mention the famous Chesterfield cigarettes, it is the ancestor of current rations.
The strategy is also in the plate
Since then, it has become considerably sophisticated. Especially in the country, which differs from the majority of its neighbors by the care it gives. In the French military doctrine, strategic autonomy also passes through the belly. Especially since the end of the conscription and the resumption in the 90s of the external operations, in Kosovo, in Iraq, then in Afghanistan. "We sent more troops to the front and we realized the need to modernize the rations," says Commander Georges Lefebvre at the Angers Battle Ration Conditioning Center.
He recalled that during Operation Daguet in 1991, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, France sent 12,000 combatants for four days of continuous offensive. Everything was not ready yet. The army colonel remembers eating the same chicken dish for three months: "I could not take it anymore," he recalls. But the worst thing is that my wife thought I'd do well by celebrating my return with ... a good roast chicken! "
Variety, balanced diet, traceability, sustainability, everything has been methodically re-studied. Nothing is worse for the morale of the troops than the monotony. So there are fourteen different versions, which must allow to hold a week without eating the same dish once for those who do not consume pork, and even two weeks for others - numbers 1 to 7, menus are with pork, from 8 to 14, they do not contain any.
Recently, two halal versions have completed the panoply. Every third year, one third of the receipts are renewed, while the pallets sent to the theaters of operation are composed so as to ensure the diversity of the menus. "To design a dish, the criteria related to taste weigh 70% when price arguments are only 30%, promises Eric Henry, head of the operational food section at the Office of the Armed Forces. We are far from the cabbage soup. Our cooked dishes are worked to take into account the traditions of all the French regions. We have thus developed sausage rougail inspired by Reunion Island, like Strasbourg sausage. "
In perpetual research, Eric Henry tries to stick to the tastes of young people: the muesli was thus introduced for breakfast. "One of the dishes claimed and whose result is not satisfactory are, curiously, the classic spaghetti bolognese," he grieves. It is true that it took twenty years of research to the US military to create a "pizza ready for combat", which earned him the New York Times in September 2018, so much the event was expected.
3,600 kilocalories a day
Because the ration is not just a story of recipes, but the sum of constraints difficult to reconcile. The dishes must be consumed for four years, while withstanding extreme temperatures of 40 to 50 ° C. From Gao to Tessalit, Mali, convoys of soldiers can take three weeks. No question of risking intoxication under the hot sun of the Sahel desert.
In the trade, a tin can is designed to be stored at around 20 ° C. Beyond that, bacteria can grow. That's why, "from the fork to the fork", the Commissariat des Armées controls everything. "We do not buy anything directly in the trade. Each product is husked, analyzed, tested before being admitted to the service, "insists Eric Henry.
For example, a call for tenders was launched to produce a campaign bread. After much research, La Boulangère has managed to create rolls that can be kept for nine months! Everything is calculated to obtain a daily intake of 3,600 kilocalories - the effort of a walk of 30 km - providing a good balance of fat, carbohydrates, proteins, etc. In theory therefore, the continuous consumption of rations would lead to no deficiency, with a few vitamins.
No return possible
But lassitude remains. "In Central Africa, I ate rations for four months. Even if they are very correct, in the end, I would have given anything for fresh local goat and it took me a year to find a normal digestion, "says a young colonel.
To guard against all forms of food terrorism, local consumption is forbidden. The sanitary obsession has pushed the army to invest in a traceability system worthy of NASA. "On the ground, there is no return possible, as on the international space station," says Eric Henry. In Angers, where nearly 2 million rations a year are controlled and shipped, Aurélie Chesnay oversees the 80,000 or so tests performed each year in state-of-the-art laboratories.
One million rations in stock
Despite all these efforts, its cost price is unbeatable: 10.30 euros. Some allied armies buy it a bit more expensive: 13.12 euros a box. The French do not know much, but the army keeps in stock about 1 million rations on the national territory.
At any moment, a prefect can claim for a hard blow, for example in case of floods. After Hurricane Irma, 100,000 rations were rushed to St. Martin. Embassies must also be reserves, according to a risk analysis conducted at the Quai d'Orsay, to feed the French community in a crisis.
In Angers, it is said that the production record occurred during the political-military crisis of Côte d'Ivoire in 2004, with the sending of one million rations in six months. During Operation Serval in Mali in 2011, the production rate rose to 30,000 rations per day. Today, kitchens have settled in most camps, from Gao to Niamey. But as the operation Barkhane lasts, "holiday ration" were created for Christmas and July 14 with duck, prawns, tapenade and wine mignonnette.
If those who did their military service remember the brandy and Gauloises distributed to conscripts, it was a long time ago that alcohol and tobacco were banned. Now rations are popular on eBay or Amazon by sportsmen or hikers.
https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-s...e-francaise-connait-un-succes-mondial-1028853
@waz @Indus Pakistan @Dubious @Path-Finder @UKBengali @vostok @nahtanbob @Vortex @Nilgiri
@Hamartia Antidote It is said on the international combat ration exchange rates that one French ration can be exchanged for five US ones.
What is this "art of being French" invoked by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron in his speech of 25 April? How to define "this very particular way of being who we are"? The answer to these questions can be found in writers, from Rabelais to Hugo, among historians, from Michelet to Pierre Nora, among sociologists, from Durkheim to Edgar Morin ...
One can also analyze the content of the RICR, the "Individual Warming Battle Ration" of the French military. It's a real digest of French creativity and gastronomy. From Afghanistan to Estonia, from Mali to Iraq, the "rasquette" of France, as the soldiers of the army call it, has acquired a solid reputation in all theaters of operation. In this rectangular 1.5 kg cardboard box that allows you to prepare three meals, nothing is missing to revive the patriotic feeling, even if it is thousands of kilometers from the country. "These bloody French and their food", says a British soldier while feasting on a French ration, during a tasting posted on YouTube.
Cannelé with rum, fruit pasta ...
Among the novelties in 2019, far from the "monkey", the nickname given to corned beef brought by the Americans, we find a salad of red quinoa gizzards, sausage with pistachio, tuna with coconut milk and fragrant rice , a gratin of macaroni with beef ... duck, a risotto of pork with mushrooms, a cassoulet superior ... Nothing is too good to satiate the forces deployed far from their base. In the "world" of military rations, the French is largely racing in the lead. The proof by the secondary market: it is said that in Afghanistan, it is exchanged five American rations for a French.
In the MRE ("Meals ready to eat") of Americans, long nicknamed "Meals refused by everyone", all the ingredients are presented in sad pouches color poo goose. The RICR is, conversely, a variegated farandole, with 99% historical marks. The chocolate bar comes from Klaus, chocolatier since 1856 in Franche-Comté, the rum cannelé arrives from Bordeaux, the plums are from Agen, and the fruit pastes have not changed since the days of our grandmothers.
Feeding an army in operation has always been a logistical challenge. "The art of conquering is lost without the art of subsistence," said Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1220-1245). Centuries later, another emperor, Napoleon, lost his last battles for having favored the speed of movement of the troops to their supply. Since the disastrous Russian retreat, no fight would have been lost by France for food reasons.
During the First World War, the "rolling" (rolling kitchen) accompanies the troops with soup and spinach; 1914-18 announces the rise of canned foods in households. Many legendary brands, Saupiquet, Hénaff, or Kub broths, were born for the trenches. During the Second World War, the novelty comes from America, which introduces Nescafe and especially the ration K for airborne allied troops. Designed by Dr. Ancel Keys, topped with crackers, chewing gum tablets and three cans of meat, cheese and pâté, not to mention the famous Chesterfield cigarettes, it is the ancestor of current rations.
The strategy is also in the plate
Since then, it has become considerably sophisticated. Especially in the country, which differs from the majority of its neighbors by the care it gives. In the French military doctrine, strategic autonomy also passes through the belly. Especially since the end of the conscription and the resumption in the 90s of the external operations, in Kosovo, in Iraq, then in Afghanistan. "We sent more troops to the front and we realized the need to modernize the rations," says Commander Georges Lefebvre at the Angers Battle Ration Conditioning Center.
He recalled that during Operation Daguet in 1991, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, France sent 12,000 combatants for four days of continuous offensive. Everything was not ready yet. The army colonel remembers eating the same chicken dish for three months: "I could not take it anymore," he recalls. But the worst thing is that my wife thought I'd do well by celebrating my return with ... a good roast chicken! "
Variety, balanced diet, traceability, sustainability, everything has been methodically re-studied. Nothing is worse for the morale of the troops than the monotony. So there are fourteen different versions, which must allow to hold a week without eating the same dish once for those who do not consume pork, and even two weeks for others - numbers 1 to 7, menus are with pork, from 8 to 14, they do not contain any.
Recently, two halal versions have completed the panoply. Every third year, one third of the receipts are renewed, while the pallets sent to the theaters of operation are composed so as to ensure the diversity of the menus. "To design a dish, the criteria related to taste weigh 70% when price arguments are only 30%, promises Eric Henry, head of the operational food section at the Office of the Armed Forces. We are far from the cabbage soup. Our cooked dishes are worked to take into account the traditions of all the French regions. We have thus developed sausage rougail inspired by Reunion Island, like Strasbourg sausage. "
In perpetual research, Eric Henry tries to stick to the tastes of young people: the muesli was thus introduced for breakfast. "One of the dishes claimed and whose result is not satisfactory are, curiously, the classic spaghetti bolognese," he grieves. It is true that it took twenty years of research to the US military to create a "pizza ready for combat", which earned him the New York Times in September 2018, so much the event was expected.
3,600 kilocalories a day
Because the ration is not just a story of recipes, but the sum of constraints difficult to reconcile. The dishes must be consumed for four years, while withstanding extreme temperatures of 40 to 50 ° C. From Gao to Tessalit, Mali, convoys of soldiers can take three weeks. No question of risking intoxication under the hot sun of the Sahel desert.
In the trade, a tin can is designed to be stored at around 20 ° C. Beyond that, bacteria can grow. That's why, "from the fork to the fork", the Commissariat des Armées controls everything. "We do not buy anything directly in the trade. Each product is husked, analyzed, tested before being admitted to the service, "insists Eric Henry.
For example, a call for tenders was launched to produce a campaign bread. After much research, La Boulangère has managed to create rolls that can be kept for nine months! Everything is calculated to obtain a daily intake of 3,600 kilocalories - the effort of a walk of 30 km - providing a good balance of fat, carbohydrates, proteins, etc. In theory therefore, the continuous consumption of rations would lead to no deficiency, with a few vitamins.
No return possible
But lassitude remains. "In Central Africa, I ate rations for four months. Even if they are very correct, in the end, I would have given anything for fresh local goat and it took me a year to find a normal digestion, "says a young colonel.
To guard against all forms of food terrorism, local consumption is forbidden. The sanitary obsession has pushed the army to invest in a traceability system worthy of NASA. "On the ground, there is no return possible, as on the international space station," says Eric Henry. In Angers, where nearly 2 million rations a year are controlled and shipped, Aurélie Chesnay oversees the 80,000 or so tests performed each year in state-of-the-art laboratories.
One million rations in stock
Despite all these efforts, its cost price is unbeatable: 10.30 euros. Some allied armies buy it a bit more expensive: 13.12 euros a box. The French do not know much, but the army keeps in stock about 1 million rations on the national territory.
At any moment, a prefect can claim for a hard blow, for example in case of floods. After Hurricane Irma, 100,000 rations were rushed to St. Martin. Embassies must also be reserves, according to a risk analysis conducted at the Quai d'Orsay, to feed the French community in a crisis.
In Angers, it is said that the production record occurred during the political-military crisis of Côte d'Ivoire in 2004, with the sending of one million rations in six months. During Operation Serval in Mali in 2011, the production rate rose to 30,000 rations per day. Today, kitchens have settled in most camps, from Gao to Niamey. But as the operation Barkhane lasts, "holiday ration" were created for Christmas and July 14 with duck, prawns, tapenade and wine mignonnette.
If those who did their military service remember the brandy and Gauloises distributed to conscripts, it was a long time ago that alcohol and tobacco were banned. Now rations are popular on eBay or Amazon by sportsmen or hikers.
https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-s...e-francaise-connait-un-succes-mondial-1028853
@waz @Indus Pakistan @Dubious @Path-Finder @UKBengali @vostok @nahtanbob @Vortex @Nilgiri
@Hamartia Antidote It is said on the international combat ration exchange rates that one French ration can be exchanged for five US ones.
