artists plate military rations as michelin-starred meals

a chef, a videographer, and a photographer teamed up to transform military combat rations into magnificent dishes mimicking michelin-starred meals. chuck george, jimmy pham, and henry hargreaves sought to elevate service members’ MRE (meals ready to eat) into dishes fit for the world’s most revered restaurants. due to their unsavory taste and pre-packaged ‘flavors’, MRE have earned the nickname ‘meals rejected by everyone’. the team aimed to take the worst food, provided to the bravest people, and give it the kind of reverence granted to the ingredients from the finest kitchens.

behind the scenes making-of ‘from MRE to michelin’
video courtesy of jimmy pham

the series ‘from MRE to michelin’ has seen new york chef chuck george, videographer jimmy pham and photographer henry hargreaves scour the grey market to find military rations from different armies across the globe. ‘we wanted to see how different armies go about feeding their troops,’ the team explains. ‘you can tell a lot about how valued someone is by the food they are given. in respect to servicemen and woman across the globe we wanted to take these meals and elevate them to michelin star quality meals. in essence taking some of the most unappetizing food, that’s given to the bravest people, and making it look fit for the nation’s leader.’

securely packaged food wrapped in plastic and tightly packed in tins is turned into scrumptious snacks and delicious dishes. plates from the USA include a diced pear, an energy bar, and dry roasted nut desert topped with peanut butter and a chili lime hot sauce. from russia, pork brain with potato stew is perfectly plated alongside a beef with red sauce. meanwhile, noodles with tuna and sweet chili lime sauce sounds like an appealing appetizer for chinese soldiers.  

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