Navy Tales: Life and Food Aboard an Aircraft Carrier, Part 2

Welcome back! We will stay on breakfast for a while longer.

In part one, there was a picture of a serving line. You will notice that the people in line were civillians, and all the stuff was very fancy, and decorated. In this part, I'll have some pictures of a more realistic sort. That one was apparently staged for the photo. On this blog I will have a view (except that the servers are dummies) ( no, not dumb people, but stuffed fake people) this is a museum exhibit, but is a view from the "customer" side, and is more plain. You can also see one of the metal trays.

I also have a picture of a new type of plastic tray with breakfast food. I recognize the scrambled eggs, toast, butter, fried potatoes, and what  'might' be oatmeal. And as for the red thing...I have no clue. This was obviously made to be very photogenic, not real, because when the chow line is moving briskly, and the servers are stressed, the food does not land so neatly...anything juicy is usually spread across the tray.

I'll also put up a picture of a typical "mess deck" that as you can see gets rather crowded, and busy. On the right side is the self service area to get coffee, milk, juice, and condiments.

In general, the food is usually edible, and is often very good, and besides, if you didn't like it where would you eat? You are hundreds, or thousands of miles from anywhere. There are some unusual items that I will cover in a bit. I will talk about some of the drinks, that are normally served at all meals later on. (You did read my early blog about "bug juice" didn't you?)

Now for the last two items for today. These are served at breakfast only, as far as I know, and have been on the Navy (and a few other services) menu for many, many years. (I know all the Navy veterans already know what these are, but I will try to explain them.)

The first is 'Minced beef in tomato gravy on toast'.

This is made with finely ground beef, with tomato sauce, and seasonings, and is somewhat thick, and kind of a brownish red color. It is scooped onto a piece of toast. It is almost always good.

Nobody calls it by the name above, but uses a shorter nickname: SOS. I can't use the real name here, but I can give you an idea. In polite society it might be called 'Stew on a shingle'. Now the "on a shingle" is correct, but the first word is a different one that starts with an S and also has four letters. 

The second is 'Creamed chipped beef on toast'.

This is made with a white flour and milk mixture with dried chipped beef in it. It looks a bit like cream gravy with thin pepperoni pieces in it. It is also scooped onto a piece of toast.

About all I can think of to tell you about the name used, is that the "on toast" is the last part.

Well, on that note, I'll end this part for today, and try to post part 3 tomorrow.

Bon appétit!