Last week I was fortunate enough to have attended KosherFest 2009. This was my second year in row at the convention, and I learned from my mistakes last year: don’t eat too much or you’ll get majorly nauseous, and only eat meat in the last 3 hours of your day otherwise you’ll miss out on some great dairy food.
While at KosherFest I was discussing the production of our upcoming program: Jewish Travel TV, I was also able to find 3 unique products that are worth mentioning for kosher travelers.
1) Luck Chen – a prepackaged bowl of steamed noodles, that just needs water and 2 minutes in the microwave. It requires no refrigeration and comes in 5 flavors: Spicy Kung Pao, Soy Ginger, Sweet & Sour, Sesame Teriyaki, and Spicy Szechwan. What makes this product different from “Tradition’s” noodle soups is that Luck Chen is a noodle meal AND it has Zero MSG, no articial colors or preservatives, and is low in sodium – much healthier than those chemical noodle soups.
All 5 flavors are Pareve, comes in easy to carry plastic bowls, and are certified by the OU. You can check them out at LuckChen.com.
2) La Briute – kosher travel meals that heat themselves. I know this is not a new product. It’s been on the market for a few years, and has endured mixed results, but for the kosher traveler it is worth mentioning.
I used La Briute meals when traveling to Iceland last year. Iceland has no Jews, thus no kosher food, so these meals came in handy. However, the meals themselves are a mixed bag. One of the meals I had was tasty – not 100% filling, but tasty, the other meal was less so and left me seeking something from a Reykjavik style 7-11.
The self heating mechanism is definitely unique and comes in handy when you’re without a microwave or hot water, but they do need to improve their flavors. One warning is that when you heat up the meal, smoke does emit from the packaging. Do not be alarmed by this, but use discretion when heating up your La Briute meals, I.e. Not on public transportation.
People have complained that the meals do not look like the packaging, and for the most part I agree, that it is a bit deceptive.
3) HolyCow Kosher – a fun brand that produces a line of kosher beef jerky. The great thing about this product for travelers is that beef jerky doesn’t go bad for a long time. It doesn’t need refrigeration and HolyCow has included a zip lock plastic bag to keep the meat fresh in it’s original packaging.
The meat is quite good and comes in 4 flavors: Original, Hickory, Sweet & Spicy, and Teriyaki.
You can read more about HolyCow Kosher and see wheat stores in the USA carry them at: HolyCowKosher.com.- Both HolyCow Kosher and La Briute products are sold online at Kosher.com. Luck Chen is too new of a product and isn’t sold online yet.
If you have comments to add about Luck Chen, La Briute, or HolyCow Kosher please use the comments sections below. If you know about other “kosher travel” products that you think I should feature here, please comment below so I can look into it.
Take care and happy travels.
~Dani
Actually, Luck Chen is available online at koshergourmetmart.com. I found a couple of flavors in Teaneck last week but I haven’t tried them yet. Definitely agree that La Briute is a mixed bag but a step in the right direction for sure. Never heard of Holy Cow but I’m excited to try it!
Those LaBriute meals are the reason I can travel so much. They are simply awesome and I’d love for them to keep making more meal options.