nosh nook #165 - friday, october 30, 2009

victory for afghanistan troops as full ration snack noodles arrive (link)
10.29.09 - wandsworth guardian - by harry miller

i've never been to war myself, but i can only imagine that when you're a soldier stuck in a war zone, there are a lot of things that you long for. as a soldier in that situation, war's not only your job but it's your life, as you're usually living in the theater, away from your family, friends & home. you're not only away from everyday life but you're also far away from everyday comforts like video games, a comfortable bed & sexy sexy loving. with so much missing from your life, sometimes it's the little things that count.

the wandsworth guardian reports that victory has finally come for u.k. troops serving in afghanistan. thank god, because that war's been taking forever. i just hope it's not one of those "mission accomplished" sort of things. hopefully not, because that victory comes in the form of pot noodles, the beloved british snack. according to the guardian, u.k. soldiers were being short-changed with their rations of pot noodles, which had arrived only half-full. as corporal dale 'windy' miller notes "pot noodles are a staple diet in afghanistan, everyone gets sent them by loved ones and well wishers but when you've been out all day and you get back, open one up and it's half full, it can be a bit disappointing." as such, soldiers started complaining.

those complaints reached the ears of the folks at pot noodle, who were "outraged that servicemen and women were going without their daily intake of noodles" & responded by sending an enormous care package of noodles to afghanistan, including "bombay badboys, chicken and mushroom and doner kabob flavoured noodle treats." fusiler scott clarke welcomes the noodles. "we all really like pot noodles so when we found out they were sending us a load of them we were all really chuffed." you hear that? the soldiers are chuffed about the pot noodles. nuff said.

nosh nook #7 - tuesday, march 24, 2009

pot noodle brings out doner kebab flavour (link)
03.23.09 - the daily telegraph - by harry wallop

british people eat some weird ass, exotic-sounding snacks & desserts. blood pudding? spotted dick? pot noodle? while the third one actually sounds rather tempting, it's actually just the name of a company that makes the british equivalent of ramen--a cheap, quick, salty snack for the lazy or broke.

now there's another crazy addition to the british food fold--doner kebab flavoured pot noodle. as harry wallop mentions, with this new creation, pot noodle has created a dish that combines the awesomeness of cheap, salty noodles with the flavour of "a late-night trip to the kebab shop." i can pretty much guarantee that you won't find lamb-kebab flavored anything in the u.s., but apparently lamb-kebab is much more prevalent in the u.k. anyway, the reviews in the article aren't very positive, so if you're in the u.k., eat at your own risk.

in the article, a representative for pot noodles describes their new creation as "the ultimate man food snack." if by that, he means that men are too lazy to cook anything substantial & would instead rather consume heated up noodles & dried meat pieces over an actual kebab, then they've accomplished their goal. crazy brits.