What's on the menu?

When British polar explorer Felicity Aston MBE spoke on The Great British Menu TV show about the freeze-dried meals that kept her going as she skied alone across Antarctica and into the Guinness Book of Records, Team Britannia crew member Steve Mason's ears pricked up.

She was talking about Fuizion, the same food that we will be living on during the world circumnavigation record attempt next year. Steve has previously worked 12 hour days for a week at a time fuelled by Fuizion, finding the meals both satisfying and tasty. And in the sailing world, Fuizion has already proved a hit with Dee Caffari and Mike Golding.

Four years ago I sampled two or three of their meals for Camping magazine, resulting in this review:

I've not tried any freeze dried food for a while, and I have to say I still have memories of some reconstituting into something akin to soggy cardboard, not forgetting the added delight of that powdery taste spike where your spoon finds the bit in the corner of the packet the hot water didn't get to! Fuizion freeze dried meals come in modern plastic pouches with a tear-off top revealing a reseal strip. So once you've added boiling water and given the contents a stir, you can seal it up for 10 minutes or so to allow the food to rehydrate.

What’s immediately apparent is that what you end up with isn't a pouch of sloppy gunk swimming with anonymous bits. Modern freeze drying techniques means it looks, smells and tastes like real food, so you’ll identify the vegetables, including complete florets of broccoli. The first meal I tried – Kung Po Chicken with Noodles – even included real cashew nuts! And I really enjoyed the Lamb Stew with Pearl Barley. Fuizion do a pretty wide range of ready meals, from an All Day Breakfast to Beef and Ale Stew, Seafood Tagliatelle and Lamb Tagine. Some rather splendid desserts, too – Chocolate and Orange Rice Pudding, or Rice Pudding with Fruit. Where possible, Fuizion use locally-sourced ingredients, and meals average out at around 650 calories per 110 gram serving.

CT