The thing I love about Priya’s reporting is that it’s not pretentious. Her commentary is informed but without that superiority that can be easily prevalent in these types of videos.
Very cool to see how MREs have evolved. When I joined the Army (1982) We received C Rations (the canned meals) they weren’t bad, but heavy, and no way to heat. The smoked cheese spread was the best, despite the occasional shard of metal from cranking them open with a P-38 can opener.Then they were testing LRPs (Long Range Patrol) all dehydrated- and frankly, godawful. MREs were great. The square hotdogs were always a favorite. I’m dismayed to see the pork patty is still around. No one ever wanted pork patty. But it was dehydrated back in the day. Hopefully it’s improved. The freeze-dried fruit cocktail was better if you didn’t rehydrate it. Love to see all the new choices, and they’ve improved the packaging. Thanks for a trip down memory lane!
While in S. Korea on a field op. We had locals collecting up the brass and some out there that would trade MRE's for soup and soda. We had a young kid maybe 8 years old hanging around and he was clearly hungry. Someone gave him a pouch of potted pork meat product, he opened it, smelled it and dropped it on the ground and ran away. I think that says it all right there.
My dad was in the army in the 80s and 90s and he used to get us MREs for camping trips and we had tried the new MREs about 5 years ago to see if they were the same and I must say they were definitely better. Although I do miss the chicken ala king entree and the mini Tabasco bottles. I can attest that the freeze dried fruit cocktail was worth it to eat straight out of the package without rehydrating it, like a cracker.
And M&Ms were developed to mimic British Smarties that were being eating by soldiers in Europe in the mid-1930s, and were then the perfect candy to include in US soldier rations for WWII. And during the war, they were exclusively sold to the US military, because of rationing, the Army being the first big customer after their debut.
I loved this, and I am so happy to have Priya doing more video! As a follow up I would love to see an interview with members of the military talk about their MRE "Recipes" where they trade and barter items with each other to come up with the best combinations. There is a definite ranking among the military, like trading baseball cards.
Glad Priya is back! She should definitely do more reportages, she's great! I'm happy she found a place where she's appreciated and free to work on things she's passionate or curious about (and not necessarily Indian food). Keep up the good work! You're so inspiring
I love that Priya seems to just love food and will go into any challenge with an open mind. There's nothing pretentious about her and she's down for whatever.
When l was in the military, we used to take the MREs and create recipes from different parts of the MREs. We would make “Chocolate Brownies” with Cocoa powder, Creamer, Crackers, and water. My favorite MREs were most of the Vegetarian ones, Cheese Spread, Cheese Spread with Jalapeños, Peanut Butter, Pound cake, M&Ms, Crackers, Cocoa and Fruit power drink. The meals aren’t meant to be consumed in one go. You eat a bit here and there until the next hot meal is available. Plus, they only give us a maximum of two MREs per day since they are high in caloric value and after a few days, the Soldiers don’t move around as much and the MREs end up packing on the pounds if you aren’t careful.
as a production tester, i made and held 3 year old cake mre.s. at 3 yrs old, it still tasted fresh. it was a pound cake texture. at 5 yrs old, it was still pretty good. on the verge of getting dry, but not dry.
This video made me miss my Dad, who passed in 2000. He was career USMC. He'd bring home for us the old, long gone C-Rations - each with a tiny pack of four cigarettes - when we were kids. Glad to see the food has improved since the 70's. Semper Fi Dad!
So glad to see Priya back, I would honestly watch her do anything she is so wholesome, also great to learn something new, as a Brit I didn't know what an MRE was and the technology is fascinating
an FRH (flameless ration heater) may not need a plug or electricity, but you forgot the second most important part after the water. it needs (and i'm quoting the military here) a "rock or something"
Lol I read the title as she was trying to make pizza last for three years like an MRE 😅 But also love the history and explanation that MRE’s tasters don’t usually talk about, which is expected also from them.
@@thegamingpigeon3216 I haven’t watched his but I meant more about explaining the history and use behind MRE’s, the one’s that I’ve watched are more just about eating.
@@rollercoaster24 Maybe you're just missing them then, he goes into a lot of history about the items, why the kept and didn't keep certain things, why they switched packaging, when they switched, all that stuff.
Wish you showed more of natick food labs tour, haven't ever seen a modern video of their production process. Though they're probably a bit secretive since it's a military operation
Welcome back to video! 🙌🏼 You have such an accessible way of presenting and I love that you now get to do choose topics that interest you other than being squeezed into the indian-ish box! 👍🏼
So many thoughts and feels here. As a person that transitioned from sea rations (the stuff in cans) to MRE's I can see that the technology has progressed miles from 1980 something. Sea rats were great they tasted like food but were bulky and required preparation, MRE's back then not so much, easy to get "food" into you, lightweight but nowhere near as satisfying. The heating packs for MRE's were almost never given out back then. We did have a few sea rat/mre transition things that were canned, hot coco, soup, coffee, the cans had a heater built in you activated it, turned it upside down, waited a couple minutes, you opened it, and hot liquids. Those were fantastic but they disappeared after a couple field ops never to be seen again. The MRE's that followed were challenging, potted pork meat patty (spam), spaghetti and meatballs was the you wanted, beef patty, dehydrated, was an over processed slice of meatloaf that had every bit of flavor, fat and texture removed, dried to a cracker like thing and vaccu sealed, they were eatable barely but it was never pleasant. Most of your MRE trades revolved around one of four things, cheese spread, peanut butter, apple sauce, or toilet paper. The cheese and peanut butter would remove any need for toilet paper. The apple sauce would undo all the cheese and peanut butter and would require way more toilet paper. You were always planning around your next apple sauce. We called the TP "John Wayne" because it's rough and tough and don't take s**t from no one. There's a very special way you have to use the JW (because you only get a few squares) detailed in this vid ua-cam.com/video/-dad7MvaBjU/v-deo.html After this vid I almost want to source me some MRE's but a moments thought reminds me that Costco has tri-tip and life is just too damn short to eat another MRE.
The pork sausage patty was one of my favorites along with the bbq pork patty. I eat them for months in Iraq during COVID last year. I always searched the pile of bags for them.
Great video, some things that were touched on but not really expressed are the fact that for grunts food tasting like chef boyardee or other pre-packaged food is sort of a reminder of home as well. Also I was really hoping Priya would do some mixing of stuff as it does help with the taste to mix things like crumbling the cookie into the cobbler to add additional crunch. The other thing about MREs is you can in a pinch eat the main without heating it first, not the best way to consume it but when you are on the move and don't have time to setup your FRH and are hungry enough you can deal with the lack of temperature.
The crazy part if you think about the military budget, these foods with everything that is involved to come up with them, are probably contracted out and have essentially costed like $50 a pack.
please do a video where you make stuff with the different ingredients! my stepdad whose in the military would save up and trade with people to make special desserts (pudding and cookies in particular) and i’d love to see you do something like that
Emmy has been making MRE videos since way before the pandemic. And that's not exactly how she gained her following either. Still really enjoyed the video, I've missed Priya's videos !
Great idea. Fun to see a real chef investigating MREs. Cool they let you visit Natick Labs. I've been watching the MRE reviewers for years. They review MREs from around the world. Some are amazing like the French, or Eastern European MREs. Steve Thomas has opened up and eaten MREs, and emergency rations from the past that are fascinating. Fans are always amazed that Steve will eat them. ( He only had one incident of being hospitalized years ago ) You should look more into the freeze dried food. It's impressive what they do with that. That can make food edible for decades if properly stored. But freeze drying can just be used for preserving fresh fruit to eat later in the season. Good one, Priya. Thanks.
gotta check out Steve1989MREInfo. he does international rations, as well as vintage rations, and is the most satisfying calming person to watch eat MRE's
When I was in grad school we had access to surplus military rations from the Viet Nam time frame. My personal favorite was the canned fruit cake and pound cake especially after soaking them with Yukon Jack.
I went with a volunteer group to do relief after Hurricane Katrina, and we had MREs for lunch while we were out in the field. I’m sure if I had just eaten it for no reason it would have been terrible, but after hours of mucking out houses knee deep in mud and mold... it was amazing to have Chicken Cacciatore! The science that goes into making these things is crazy.
The NERVE of YT adds! trying to make me watch a 30 min cooking show while I'm enjoying a 13 min video of MY FAVORITE food related personality from the past 10 years!!! Shame on you YT Priya, is so nice to see more of you!
Spam did not come from military rations. It was developed independently of military rations and was found to fit the role very well. Spam was made as a way to use pork shoulder which was at the time an undesirable and cheap cut.
My dad used to get MRE while he worked on base,and for the longest time I noticed that some make my tongue numb,my dad says so it stop your body from using the bathroom while your out in the field
I grew up on base & my mom also grew up on base idolising her dad so I ate a lot of MRE. Now they are kind of like comfort food for me. But I did cry when my mom threw out the lucky charms.
MREs have come a long way. I remember the first pouch MRes in the 80s which were a significant step up from the old canned foods for soldiers. Some of the 80s MREs were actually not half bad, especially the freeze-dried fruits. I think it's so cool they now have a heater included. If you consider these need to be self-contained for a soldier who is on patrol and nowhere near the base, they're phenominal.
The thing I love about Priya’s reporting is that it’s not pretentious. Her commentary is informed but without that superiority that can be easily prevalent in these types of videos.
This!!
Yes! Burping is totally unpretentious-- and honest.
*Call me a purist, I liked Priya's cans more than the retort pouch!*
Very cool to see how MREs have evolved. When I joined the Army (1982) We received C Rations (the canned meals) they weren’t bad, but heavy, and no way to heat. The smoked cheese spread was the best, despite the occasional shard of metal from cranking them open with a P-38 can opener.Then they were testing LRPs (Long Range Patrol) all dehydrated- and frankly, godawful. MREs were great. The square hotdogs were always a favorite. I’m dismayed to see the pork patty is still around. No one ever wanted pork patty. But it was dehydrated back in the day. Hopefully it’s improved. The freeze-dried fruit cocktail was better if you didn’t rehydrate it. Love to see all the new choices, and they’ve improved the packaging. Thanks for a trip down memory lane!
While in S. Korea on a field op. We had locals collecting up the brass and some out there that would trade MRE's for soup and soda. We had a young kid maybe 8 years old hanging around and he was clearly hungry. Someone gave him a pouch of potted pork meat product, he opened it, smelled it and dropped it on the ground and ran away. I think that says it all right there.
My dad was in the army in the 80s and 90s and he used to get us MREs for camping trips and we had tried the new MREs about 5 years ago to see if they were the same and I must say they were definitely better. Although I do miss the chicken ala king entree and the mini Tabasco bottles. I can attest that the freeze dried fruit cocktail was worth it to eat straight out of the package without rehydrating it, like a cracker.
Priya mentions that the ravioli reminds her of Chef Boyardee, which is funny because his canned food was originally made for troops during WW2
And M&Ms were developed to mimic British Smarties that were being eating by soldiers in Europe in the mid-1930s, and were then the perfect candy to include in US soldier rations for WWII. And during the war, they were exclusively sold to the US military, because of rationing, the Army being the first big customer after their debut.
Priya AND MREs? Didn’t expect this, but it’s the best thing to show up in my subscriptions 😃
Strangely, MRE also stands for Multi Resistent Enterococcus which you deffinitely don't want in your food.
@@reuterlu why?
I'm always here to listen to Priya's food stories. I've seriously missed her! 😭
Same!! Small tip: her episodes on the recipe club podcast with Dave Chang are awesome as well (but perhaps you already knew)
@@anoukertje thanks for the recommendation :)
PRIYA AND SETH SHOULD HAVE THEIR OWN COUPLES COOKING SEGMENT. HE BAKES SHE COOKS ITS A MATCH MADE IN CULINARY HEAVEN
of course, but they're not gonna waste that on the new york times...
YES
they're not a couple they're partners. Like "Howdy Partner!" or "Top of the Morning to Ya Partner!"
Love you Priya!!! Thank you NYT for valuing and appreciating her as much as the fans do!
I loved this, and I am so happy to have Priya doing more video!
As a follow up I would love to see an interview with members of the military talk about their MRE "Recipes" where they trade and barter items with each other to come up with the best combinations. There is a definite ranking among the military, like trading baseball cards.
Glad Priya is back! She should definitely do more reportages, she's great! I'm happy she found a place where she's appreciated and free to work on things she's passionate or curious about (and not necessarily Indian food). Keep up the good work! You're so inspiring
I love that Priya seems to just love food and will go into any challenge with an open mind. There's nothing pretentious about her and she's down for whatever.
When l was in the military, we used to take the MREs and create recipes from different parts of the MREs. We would make “Chocolate Brownies” with Cocoa powder, Creamer, Crackers, and water. My favorite MREs were most of the Vegetarian ones, Cheese Spread, Cheese Spread with Jalapeños, Peanut Butter, Pound cake, M&Ms, Crackers, Cocoa and Fruit power drink. The meals aren’t meant to be consumed in one go. You eat a bit here and there until the next hot meal is available. Plus, they only give us a maximum of two MREs per day since they are high in caloric value and after a few days, the Soldiers don’t move around as much and the MREs end up packing on the pounds if you aren’t careful.
as a production tester, i made and held 3 year old cake mre.s. at 3 yrs old, it still tasted fresh. it was a pound cake texture. at 5 yrs old, it was still pretty good. on the verge of getting dry, but not dry.
FINALLY Priya is back, and not restricted to indian kitchen only, I love this!!!
Let’s get this out onto a tray…. Nice!
*taps a water glass with a spork*
I knew there would be other Steve fans here
Nice hiss
PRIYA!!! FINALLY!!!
Where are Mom and Dad???
In Texas
Her relationship with her folks is so wholesome :-D
This video made me miss my Dad, who passed in 2000. He was career USMC. He'd bring home for us the old, long gone C-Rations - each with a tiny pack of four cigarettes - when we were kids. Glad to see the food has improved since the 70's. Semper Fi Dad!
Ok, im happy Steve got a shoutout.
Don’t forget Emmy (who normally doesn’t do MRE videos, but the rest of the stuff she does is just as good)!
He got a shout out (or rather a reference) on a Walking Dead episode a few months back
Alright, nice!
Steve is one of my favorite channels. Once you listen to that spoon clink you are doomed.
So glad to see Priya back, I would honestly watch her do anything she is so wholesome, also great to learn something new, as a Brit I didn't know what an MRE was and the technology is fascinating
"This one sounds interesting, creamy spinach and fettucine"
Oh Priya, oh dear sweet Priya, you could not be more wrong lol
this is so good! i feel like it should have been pulsed out into a series! where she recaps all the tasting notes!!
I wish this was a multi-part series! For her to go through them one by one!
an FRH (flameless ration heater) may not need a plug or electricity, but you forgot the second most important part after the water. it needs (and i'm quoting the military here) a "rock or something"
Yes. As an Army veteran, I agree 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
So glad Priya's back
Lol I read the title as she was trying to make pizza last for three years like an MRE 😅
But also love the history and explanation that MRE’s tasters don’t usually talk about, which is expected also from them.
Steve1989 is probably the most famous MRE reviewer and he's eaten canned meat from 1899. That IS history, I don't know how much more you want.
@@thegamingpigeon3216 I haven’t watched his but I meant more about explaining the history and use behind MRE’s, the one’s that I’ve watched are more just about eating.
@@rollercoaster24 Maybe you're just missing them then, he goes into a lot of history about the items, why the kept and didn't keep certain things, why they switched packaging, when they switched, all that stuff.
@@thegamingpigeon3216 Damn I missed out, surprised I haven’t seen him recommended to me.
love how much research and dedication priya puts into everything. can't wait to see more
While I understand the importance of these meals, I am Seth at 7:20 the entire video.
Wish you showed more of natick food labs tour, haven't ever seen a modern video of their production process. Though they're probably a bit secretive since it's a military operation
I love seeing Priya back and doing something she wants to do. This was a really good video!
As someone who had to eat these when in service it is always baffling seeing people do this willingly! Lol
I like the respect you give for the thought that went into this stuff. You are great to watch.
Priya Krishna on the case!!!!!! WOooOOOoo we love to see it!!
Welcome back to video! 🙌🏼 You have such an accessible way of presenting and I love that you now get to do choose topics that interest you other than being squeezed into the indian-ish box! 👍🏼
Yayyy!!! Missed seeing Priya on the tube ❤️
Priya, we love you and are so glad to see you back online! Do whatever you feel inspired to do - we are here for YOU (and Seth lol).
Love the background research she did. I did not expect that. I love Priya content! More please.
Seth’s reaction to the cheese stuff being spread on the tortillas is amazing
So many thoughts and feels here. As a person that transitioned from sea rations (the stuff in cans) to MRE's I can see that the technology has progressed miles from 1980 something. Sea rats were great they tasted like food but were bulky and required preparation, MRE's back then not so much, easy to get "food" into you, lightweight but nowhere near as satisfying. The heating packs for MRE's were almost never given out back then. We did have a few sea rat/mre transition things that were canned, hot coco, soup, coffee, the cans had a heater built in you activated it, turned it upside down, waited a couple minutes, you opened it, and hot liquids. Those were fantastic but they disappeared after a couple field ops never to be seen again. The MRE's that followed were challenging, potted pork meat patty (spam), spaghetti and meatballs was the you wanted, beef patty, dehydrated, was an over processed slice of meatloaf that had every bit of flavor, fat and texture removed, dried to a cracker like thing and vaccu sealed, they were eatable barely but it was never pleasant. Most of your MRE trades revolved around one of four things, cheese spread, peanut butter, apple sauce, or toilet paper. The cheese and peanut butter would remove any need for toilet paper. The apple sauce would undo all the cheese and peanut butter and would require way more toilet paper. You were always planning around your next apple sauce. We called the TP "John Wayne" because it's rough and tough and don't take s**t from no one. There's a very special way you have to use the JW (because you only get a few squares) detailed in this vid ua-cam.com/video/-dad7MvaBjU/v-deo.html
After this vid I almost want to source me some MRE's but a moments thought reminds me that Costco has tri-tip and life is just too damn short to eat another MRE.
this video is super cool! please make more food videos with research!! (the others are awesome too, the research just makes it especially cool!)
The pork sausage patty was one of my favorites along with the bbq pork patty. I eat them for months in Iraq during COVID last year. I always searched the pile of bags for them.
Great reporting Priya, this was a great segment.
NOW BRING OUT THE HAM SLICE, FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH, AND THE VEGGIE OMELET!
Yay Priya's back!! 😍
So glad to have Priya content again!! ❤️❤️❤️
So glad to see Priya back!!!!!
Who TF would “dislike” a video with priya in it!!??!!??
So excited to see Priya back on video doing what SHE WANTS instead of what people stereotype/shoehorn her into. Keep it up and we will all watch!
Could you please add captions to this video?
SO HAPPY TO SEE PRIYA ON VIDEO AGAIN!!
I love Priya reviewing these MREs!
Great video, some things that were touched on but not really expressed are the fact that for grunts food tasting like chef boyardee or other pre-packaged food is sort of a reminder of home as well. Also I was really hoping Priya would do some mixing of stuff as it does help with the taste to mix things like crumbling the cookie into the cobbler to add additional crunch. The other thing about MREs is you can in a pinch eat the main without heating it first, not the best way to consume it but when you are on the move and don't have time to setup your FRH and are hungry enough you can deal with the lack of temperature.
She is SO charismatic and talented and gorgeous!
So happy to see Priya back and this cool idea for a video!
I’m so glad Priya is back!!!
I love Priya’s vids so much. Very entertaining.
The crazy part if you think about the military budget, these foods with everything that is involved to come up with them, are probably contracted out and have essentially costed like $50 a pack.
'Meal refuses to exit' is what I was told they're called.
Excited to see Priya back, not really wild about the content, but she could sell any story!
Yesss I'm glad we get to see Priya making videos here too =D!!
Natick Labs is normally open to the public. They don't just do MREs but also help design combat gear.
please do a video where you make stuff with the different ingredients! my stepdad whose in the military would save up and trade with people to make special desserts (pudding and cookies in particular) and i’d love to see you do something like that
Great videos. We used to eat them on the Appalachian Trail with my son's Boy Scout troop.
Emmy has been making MRE videos since way before the pandemic. And that's not exactly how she gained her following either. Still really enjoyed the video, I've missed Priya's videos !
Back here after watching Priya’s recent series. She is the best.
Am I the only one who watched the stove to see how long something like this takes to shoot? I like how informative this was as a shoot and as content
Alright, let's get this out on a tray. Nice!
...1989
I love Priya Krishna, she is an absolute joy to watch 🙂
Great idea. Fun to see a real chef investigating MREs. Cool they let you visit Natick Labs.
I've been watching the MRE reviewers for years. They review MREs from around the world. Some are amazing like the French, or Eastern European MREs.
Steve Thomas has opened up and eaten MREs, and emergency rations from the past that are fascinating. Fans are always amazed that Steve will eat them.
( He only had one incident of being hospitalized years ago )
You should look more into the freeze dried food. It's impressive what they do with that. That can make food edible for decades if properly stored.
But freeze drying can just be used for preserving fresh fruit to eat later in the season.
Good one, Priya.
Thanks.
Priya, if you read this, I miss seeing ur mom and dad!!!
Seth's expression at 7:20. The best!
Steve is the GOAT of MRE videos. Nice!
Really insightful video, it's good to see you again on youtube 😁😁
Aw I love Priya! Her speaking voice is so soothing lol
Loved it! More videos with priya please !
This was so interesting. It got me thinking what other countries have in their M.R.E's?
Emmy, that's shown in the beginning of the video, has done a lot of rations and MREs in her channel, from many many countries
Check out Emmymadeinjapan she used to do A LOT of different MRE taste tests
gotta check out Steve1989MREInfo. he does international rations, as well as vintage rations, and is the most satisfying calming person to watch eat MRE's
This was SO cool! More Priya, please!
I grew up not liking beef stew. The first beef stew I could stand was in an MRE. Confused by this now that I can make a serviceable beef stew myself.
When I was in grad school we had access to surplus military rations from the Viet Nam time frame. My personal favorite was the canned fruit cake and pound cake especially after soaking them with Yukon Jack.
I went with a volunteer group to do relief after Hurricane Katrina, and we had MREs for lunch while we were out in the field. I’m sure if I had just eaten it for no reason it would have been terrible, but after hours of mucking out houses knee deep in mud and mold... it was amazing to have Chicken Cacciatore! The science that goes into making these things is crazy.
YESSSS PRIYA!!! Here for the Priya content 🥰
More Priya please! Smart, Honest, relatable, and funny!
The NERVE of YT adds!
trying to make me watch a 30 min cooking show while I'm enjoying a 13 min video of MY FAVORITE food related personality from the past 10 years!!!
Shame on you YT
Priya, is so nice to see more of you!
Nice to see she's landed on her feet after the whole BA thing
Boy have they improved! You struck gold with so many of those!
excellent and informative. thank you
Good to see you back Krishna!
did you guys consult steve mre? feel like he could have added so much to the convo!
Spam did not come from military rations. It was developed independently of military rations and was found to fit the role very well. Spam was made as a way to use pork shoulder which was at the time an undesirable and cheap cut.
Yesss more Priya videos please!!!
I was just thinking the other day that out of the ex-BATK crew I hadn’t seen Priya for a while! Serendipity!
My dad used to get MRE while he worked on base,and for the longest time I noticed that some make my tongue numb,my dad says so it stop your body from using the bathroom while your out in the field
I enjoyed this. Thanks for the video!
Love you Priya, hopeful for more! They sent you way low this time, you’re way better!
I grew up on base & my mom also grew up on base idolising her dad so I ate a lot of MRE. Now they are kind of like comfort food for me. But I did cry when my mom threw out the lucky charms.
Welcome back Priya!! We missed you
Love the shoutout to Emmy!! Love you Priya, so happy to see you in my subs again
Was looking for this comment!
MREs have come a long way. I remember the first pouch MRes in the 80s which were a significant step up from the old canned foods for soldiers. Some of the 80s MREs were actually not half bad, especially the freeze-dried fruits. I think it's so cool they now have a heater included. If you consider these need to be self-contained for a soldier who is on patrol and nowhere near the base, they're phenominal.
This is outstanding. Thanks NYT and Priya! I hope Seth gets to eat leftover MRE now haha
So happy to see Priya!
Wanted to watch it but there's no subtitles :(
Very happy to see Emmy acknowledged!! You guys should get her on!!!
Can you please add captions to your videos?