“ You don ’ t need a silver fork to eat good food ,” once suggested some celebrity chef , as they nit-picked through a meal served up in some overpriced Michelin Star restaurant .
Celebrity and chef , really ? I ’ m rolling my eyes . Is this real food ? What about the stuff we , as bike riders , or even hikers or cyclists , often must force into a pack and then worse , force into our mouths ? We all need sustenance , but what are the options for healthy meals that pack light , consume little water and , well , taste good ? We looked at seven brands and the multitude of meal options available to give our verdict of what could be best suited to motorcycle travelling , and awarded our Traverse Stars .
Comparing seven brands wasn ’ t easy , many had various products that covered everything from breakfast to dinner , and even dessert . Many offer gluten free , allergy aware , vegan respected products and although we did try some of these , we concentrated on the most common of the products to compare , price , package weight and size , water usage , cook time , and nutritional value .
Many of the products follow the same vain , you boil water , add it to a bag , let it stand then eat . The beauty is the simplicity and lack of need for a plate or bowl , the downside is many require vast amounts of water to rehydrate and cook , yes many are dehydrated to reduce packing space and improve self-life . In that regard they work yet surprisingly , the product that is not freeze dried was the one that required the most water .
We tested Mi Goreng noodles by Indomie , an Indonesian company that produces tasty , simple products that cost as little as AU $ 2.00 for a pack of five packages although , two packages constitute a single serve .
The Mi Goreng noodles were easily the most cost effective of the products we tried , yet that was the best they were able to give . The package weight was easily the highest and given they required around 300 millilitres of water for one serve they were starting to come in as the worst of the products . It ’ s not surprising that the nutritional value also rates amongst
NEWS MAGAZINE
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TRAVERSE 109