When you're racing - whether as an amateur or a professional - there's rarely any time to enjoy a good meal. But food is important both for physical fitness and for morale. So there is a quick way to eat well, both in terms of taste and calories: the ready-made meals sold by the company, for example, are a great way to get a good meal Lyophilise&Co which specializes in freeze-dried meals and supplies most sailors. Do not hesitate to consult us on food in ocean racing .
When sailing - especially on racing boats - the kitchen equipment is fairly rudimentary and the skippers only have a kettle or jetboil to warm their food. They therefore prefer two types of food that are already cooked, which only need to be reheated and which we have tested for you: freeze-dried food and canned food.
Freeze-drying and canning are two methods of food preservation, used for freeze-dried and canned dishes. Discover their different manufacturing methods .
Our two dishes
We chose a Lentil and Lime Chicken from the Norwegian brand Réal Turmat for the freeze-dried dish and a Tandoori Chicken, Cashew and Potatoes for the canned dish from the Bocaux & Petits plats brand.
The caloric aspect
The first offers a 500 g serving for 439 calories and the second offers a 400 g serving for 489 calories. The nutritional intake offered by the previewed dish is therefore greater in this case.
What matériel??
To prepare freeze-dried food, it must be rehydrated with water. Therefore, a desalinator to convert sea water into fresh water or a number of water bottles must be carried on board.
For the canned pouch, it will simply be necessary to heat the pouch in a water bath or in a self-heating system. It is therefore necessary to have a stove or a means of heating the dish on the edge.
Preparation
Although it is indicated in English on the sachet of the freeze-dried dish, there is nevertheless a preparation method, unlike the canned dish.
For freeze-dried, simply boil water and fill the sachet as indicated. Do not hesitate to add more water than indicated to have a better consistency and a spoonful of olive oil for better digestion.
It is then necessary to wait between ten and fifteen minutes for the food to hydrate and cook. Remember to mix well so that the water penetrates everywhere. Be careful to hold the bag at the top so as not to burn yourself.
To appertise it, first boil some water in a pan for example and immerse the closed bag in boiling water to heat it up. Count between fifteen and twenty minutes to enjoy a hot dish.
Visual consistency and taste
If the visual consistency of the freeze-dried dish is not particularly attractive, the smell is rather pleasant. For the canned dish, it is the opposite, one distinguishes pieces of meat and cashews, but the smell is neutral.
To taste, there's no picture. The freeze-dried dish is not bad (far from it), but the texture is similar to a kind of boiled. There is no lamb's lettuce and it is quite difficult to find the texture and taste of the food.
The lamb's lettuce is consistent, the food tasty and melting.
And you, what is your avis??
