Dehydrated Meal Review: Part 4. Fuizion Spaghetti Bolognaise

Cooked by a chef with over 20 years experience. Using, where possible, the best locally produced ingredients. High levels of nutrition with an aim for an average of 650 calories per 110g of product. Using a freeze drying process aimed at creating a high quality meal when re-hydrated. Starts out as a description for a restaurant and transforms into something that sounds like a science project. What ever they say, the proof of the pudding is still in the eating..........Fuizion Freeze Dried Meals.

I will review the following:

• The packaging, ease of access etc.
• Ease of preparation.
• Texture.
• Flavour.
• After the meal.
• Nutrition.

The packaging for the Fuizion meals is very plain other than the purple product sticker. The packaging design is again the taller, narrower type that usually requires either a long spoon or the top of the packaging cutting off with a knife or scissors. I found that access was very easy, the tear off opening with relative ease.

On opening the package the contents were seen and can only be described as lumps. This texture was also seen in the Real Turmat meal I reviewed and you get the feeling that the two products are pretty comparable at this point.

The instructions for preparing the meal, situated on the front of the pack, were easy to follow. 310ml were added to the pack, as instructed, and stirred well. Then the only problem occurred during the whole process. The zip seal for the package was, to simply put it, not up to the job. Other packs have better seals than this. The seal on this particular Fuizion meal didn't want to seal properly and there was no sign of foreign bodies in the zip blocking the seal. This may be an issue with this specific pack, trying others will demonstrate one way or the other if it is the case or not. The meal was left sealed, after a good stir, for 12 minutes, as instructed.

After the allotted time the meal was opened to try. Texture wise, there were lumps of beef visible along with small pieces of vegetable. All the water had been absorbed and the sauce had a nice thickness to it. On trying it was found that not all the mince had fully re-hydrated, but this only affected a few pieces. The pasta was slightly Al Dente, generally the preferred way, and had a similar texture to egg noodles.

The taste was excellent, I could taste the beef, onions, garlic, peppers, and basil. This contributed to a nice depth to the meal. It actually tasted like a proper home made Spaghetti Bolognaise.

After eating the meal I didn't feel full, but I did feel satisfied. I felt like I had eaten enough without feeling like the meal might restrict any activities.

Nutritionally the meal is one of the better products. The calorific content is good with more of it coming from proteins and carbohydrates unlike other meals that depend on a substantial fat content.

TYPICAL NUTRITIONAL VALUES (Sourced from Fuizion website)
                              Per 100g Dry      Per Meal
Energy                    570 kcal             627 kcal
                              2395 kj              2636 kj 

Protein                    29.3g                32.2g

Carbohydrates          45.6g                50.1g

- of which sugar       12.9g                14.2g

Total Fats                 20.6g                22.6g

- of which saturates  7.5g                  8.3g

Fibre                       4.6g                  5.1g

Sodium                    0.5g                  0.6g

Would I eat this one again, very much so. It was extremely tasty and I could well imagine sitting down to it after a long day walking in the fells.