Authentic Army meal a big seller in Saugus

SAUGUS – Eight-year-old Zach Berkowitch dipped his spoon into the steaming hot bag of soup in front of him, pulled out a piece of chicken and popped it in his mouth. Then he grimaced.”It’s good. It’s really good,” he said unenthusiastically to his mom and dad.The Berkowitch family was among the many people who kept an open mind while eating a ready-to-eat, army-issued meal, known as an MRE, Saturday evening in Saugus.View a photo galleryThe Saugus Veterans Council, which hosted the event at its Taylor Street legion post, sold more than 200 tickets and raised $3,000 to go towards the town’s Veterans Day and Memorial Day parades.”I think it speaks loud and clear about how much the people of Saugus support the veterans,” said Board of Selectman member Steve Castinetti, a retired U.S. Navy Captain and president of the Saugus Veterans Council.Right down to the unappetizing food, Castinetti said he wanted the meal to be as authentic as possible.Rows of camouflage canvas hung from the ceiling. Tables were decked out in netting and topped with army helmets, old grenade shells and banana clips, all donated from the local Army Barracks store.”Do you feel like you’re in Afghanistan having dinner or what?” Castinetti asked the crowd.After singing the national anthem and watching an introductory video on how to eat an MRE (pour cold water onto a special paper that causes a reaction that boils the food), guests pulled out their meals from ammunition cans in the center of their tables.Zach and his family chose chicken with noodles, a maple-syrup flavored pork sausage patty and chicken with tomatoes and feta cheese.They unwrapped each MRE only to find more packages inside – a chocolate toaster pastry, mini bottles of Tobasco Sauce, M&M’s for desert.Some finds were better than others.”This is good,” said Corey Berkowitch said as he took a bite of a cranberry-apple granola bar and passed it onto his son. “I’d eat that every day.”His wife, Lynda Berkowitch, didn’t have as much luck as she tried to spread cheese the consistency of a thick paste onto a large, salted cracker.”This doesn’t smell very good,” she said as she sniffed it and also handed it to her son.As he munched, Zach said the less-than-appetizing meal didn’t give him any second thoughts about wanting to serve in the armed forces one day.His mom beamed at her son’s answer.”You got to do what you got to do for your country,” she said – as she declined to have a bite of her husband’s chicken.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].