I love food shows! I could spend hours watching programs where people travel the world tasting exotic delicacies. I like to imagine the flavors of those dishes and take it as a personal challenge to evoke them on my palate. I search my memory for similar tastes and textures and conjure, even for a few milliseconds, the possible flavor of what I see on the screen. That's why I enjoy the YouTube channel Steve1989 MREinfo so much. Steve1989 doesn't just travel the world; even better... he travels through space-time! He achieves this feat by opening and tasting military rations of all types, eras, and countries, always with warmth, humor, and great knowledge about what he presents.
I'm not from the YouTube generation, I'm almost 40 and have very little patience for nonsense. That's why it's very, very strange that I get hooked on a YouTuber. I find most of them, to say the least, unbearable. However, when I find channels like Steve1989 MREinfo, so original and well-run, I don't hesitate for a second to give my subscription and admiration. Steve, who should be about 27 if we trust his nickname, is a dedicated collector (and taster) of military MRE rations (meals ready to eat). The guy searches, collects, and tastes every single military ration pack that comes his way, sometimes even risking his health...
Because when it comes to MRE rations, there are all eras, all nationalities, and for soldiers stationed in all kinds of climates. There are even MRE packs for specific conflicts (like those eaten by American soldiers in Vietnam, British airmen in World War II, rations for soldiers during the American Civil War, among a very long etcetera). The good thing about Steve is that the focus of his videos is always these beautiful rations. He rarely shows his face and the focus is always on the object of his devotion, which he clearly loves with passion. I say this because it's worth noting that Steve doesn't use his popular channel of military delicacies as a bastion of his ego, but truly to share what he loves with others.
Steve1989 MREinfo videos always begin in the same way. First with a bit of history about the ration in question. Then, with what the Internet has come to call "unboxing" (that is, taking out the different rations from the box, can, or wrapper in which they were originally preserved). This is great because it's in this step-by-step process that we can see how the tiny space that a soldier's ration must occupy has been used to provide the greatest amount of nutritional and caloric resources possible. After the "unboxing", comes my favorite part: the tasting!
And this is where it gets very interesting: some packs, the newer ones, hold true delicacies worthy of any gourmand's table. Others... well, they only contain spoiled food, often even mummified! For example, that's how those of us who follow him got to see Steve taste the "oldest biscuit in the world eaten today" from a ration pack from the 19th century. The host's narration is serene and full of information, always behind the camera with the focus on the food, trying to bring his experience to the viewer in an enjoyable way with very candid humor. When he bites and tastes something, Steve always brings it close to the camera to share textures and details, then expands on what each bite causes him.
If you're passionate about food, if you're drawn to history, if you're interested in military things, or if you're just looking for another curiosity to check off your list, the Steve1989 MREinfo channel might please you as much as it does me. Along with Primitive Technology, two of my (few) favorite channels on YouTube. Bon appétit!
