Prepackaged meal
Ready meals are mostly generated by companies in the food industry meals to be eaten hot, the meat components ( if included ) are pre-cooked in the rule. Ready meals are distinguished in that it is capable of consuming meals that only need to be heated. In general, there is main dish and side dishes or to one-component meals such as pizza, stew, soup, etc.
- 5.1 sources
- 5.2 See also
- 5.3 External links
History
A pioneer of ready meals was Gerry Thomas, who invented in the U.S. in 1954 for the company Swanson a frozen three-component menu. It needed to be to prepare only heated in the oven. It had to be added to anything. This ready meal the first generation was packed until the introduction of microwave in their characteristic aluminum trays. Under the name of TV dinners, the product was a resounding success in its first year. Instead of the expected 5,000 copies 10 million units were sold. In 1955 the company was C. A. Swanson & Sons taken over by the Campbell Soup Company.
Demarcation
General to convenience foods to the consumer the preparation complete - apart from the process of heating - Remove. Here, all ingredients (typically water must be added at most ) already mixed at the manufacturer. This comes to quality and taste limits: While frozen products must be frozen quickly merely carries out the joint storage - for example, pasta with sauce in a tin can - to undesirable reactions of the ingredients together.
Half or partial convenience food, however, the ingredients are already chopped and portioned packaged. The consumer must mix the ingredients according to the instructions and, if necessary, add further ingredients that are not provided for practical reasons (such as butter) or not suitable for long-term storage are (eg, ground beef ). This results on the one hand, a significantly higher claim of taste than pure convenience foods, but the consumer must procure themselves and bring at least basic kitchen ingredients more technical skills.
Partially prepared meals
Partially prepared meals still require the addition of components such as water. The individual components of meals ready for consumption are among the portion ready meals. Early examples of partially prepared meals were Justus von Liebig's meat extract of 1852 or the Erbswurst the Berlin chef Johann Heinrich Grüneberg from the year 1867. In England, there were already some 100 years earlier, a dried meat extract in cube form for travelers, the " portable soup " (portable soup ) was called. However, he was not commercially produced, but in private households. A cookbook by Hannah Glasse from 1747 contains two recipes for this.
Convenience
To be distinguished from ready meals (English: ready to eat meal ) is now also in German conventional term convenience or convenience food. Convenience ( German: convenience ) denotes associated with food only a general trend to ease the workload in the food preparation, whether at home or in the dining area. Depending on the manufacturer very different processing and preparation grades are referred to as convenience. A common understanding does not exist. Depending on the position of both the finished dish, as well as a crude but filleted fish fillet or a pre- sliced cheese are referred to by providers as convenient.
Reasons for the demand for ready meals
With ready-made meals that only need to be heated, the consumer will be taken substantial and time-consuming parts in preparation steps. The time saved by "fix " products and other finished products, however, the result may significantly lower than often assumed, since time-consuming steps such as frying of minced meat or peeling onions continue to be additionally required.
Reasons for increasing demand for finished products are mainly societal changes:
- Socio-demographic trends: for example, increasing employment of both parents, single-parent activity and dissolution of solid meals in family structures
- Lack of cooking skills, the use of the convenience food manufacturer, to build a relationship of dependency
- Changing values, eg higher leisure orientation
- Lack of time, for example, by the increasing pressure of having to be "flexible" in working hours
- Convenience pursuit
The food is a convenience food primarily for cost reasons:
- Rationalization, the use of finished products reduces labor and material costs
- Standardization makes processes and thus the (labor) costs can be planned
- Diversity: by the decrease of essential processing steps caterers can offer a wider range of food
Criticism of ready meals
From the medical standpoint, especially the high salt content of ready meals is criticized. This would contribute significantly to the development of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease especially.