Curry

Curry is a type of spiced dish that is derived from India or other South Asian countries.

History
Originally an Indian dish, it was prepared with meat, vegetables, and other ingredients cooked in spices. It made its way into Great Britain around the 16th century. It was later adopted into the British Navy due to its nutritious nature as well as being capable of being preserved. During World War II in the early 20th century, Japan developed curry as rations for its Navy. Upon returning, it eventually found its way to Japanese homes and was formally adopted into the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

Curry was Kazuhira Miller's favorite food.

During the Peace Walker Incident in 1974, the mercenary group Militaires Sans Frontières procured various curry recipes. The MSF then developed a spicy curry dish for its soldiers, which was sealed in specially manufactured retort pouches. The development of the retort pouches were not easy, as their only reference during development were the vacuum-sealed sausage rations used by the United States military at the time of the mission, with the temperature and the pressure adjustments also requiring a lot of trial of error before successful development. The result was a type of ration using retort pouches comparable to those used to store space-food, and required three minutes to boil it in water before eating. Big Boss, when learning of this from Miller, was impressed at how they were able to develop it. The group's R&D Team later added more spice to the dish to create "Great Curry," which had a flavor more closely related to freshly cooked curry. They later made the curry 95% fat free and made it even more spicy to create "Future Curry," which as the name implies, went "far beyond" freshly cooked curry.

Behind the scenes
Curry appears in one of Iroquois Pliskin's VR Missions, Variety Level 01, featured in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. The mission requires the player to take down seven enemy soldiers with the PSG-1, to stop them from approaching a curry dish that has been left in the open. Should the player fail, the soldier who reaches the dish will react in an identical manner to encountering a Book, and the mission will result in a Game Over.

The Yellow Genome Soldier in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus is mentioned to enjoy curry.

In the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the various levels of curry were actually Bon Curry, Bon Curry Gold 21, and Bon Curry Neo, added in by Hideo Kojima as a joke in regards to product placement. There was also a briefing file where Big Boss and Kaz talked about the Bon Curry, but it was removed in the overseas versions, presumably due to copyright issues. The briefing file implied that the name "Bon Curry" was named by Miller after Cecile Cosima Caminandes regarding her French nationality, due to "Bon" being the French word for "good." A similar tape, relating to Retort Pouched curries in itself, and likewise occurring before the Bon Curry tape, was also deleted, presumably for the same reason as the Bon Curry tape itself.

Gameplay
Each of the three Curry items in the game restores LIFE when used, and if equipped, will automatically be used should the LIFE gauge become depleted.

Hints
When preparing to face the most difficult enemies in battle such as Custom AIs or Gear Rex, it is recommended to place Curry (preferably Future Curry) in an Items slot, in addition to standard Rations, for prolonged survival.

In-game descriptions
"Ready-to-eat, instant curry developed by the lab boys at MSF's research section. Prepared with meat, vegetables and other ingredients cooked in spices, curry dishes are originally an Indian cuisine that made its way to the U.K. With its spices acting as preservatives and ingreedients that provide balanced nutrition, curry was adopted by the British Navy as military food. In the early 20th century, Japan developed curry as rations for their navy. When the soldiers returned home from war, curry gradually found its way into Japanese households. Currently, curry is adopted by Japan's Self Defence Force and is Kaz Miller's favorite dish. MSF has developed curry as a ration that can be easily carried, preserved in specially manufactured retort pouches."

- Spicy Curry description in the English version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

"Ready-to-eat, instant curry developed by the lab boys at MSF's research section. Prepared with meat, vegetables and other ingredients cooked in spices, curry dishes are originally an Indian cuisine that made its way to the U.K. With its spices acting as preservatives and ingreedients that provide balanced nutrition, curry was adopted by the British Navy as military food. In the early 20th century, Japan developed curry as rations for their navy. When the soldiers returned home from war, curry gradually found its way into Japanese households. Currently, curry is adopted by Japan's Self Defence Force and is Kaz Miller's favorite dish. MSF has developed curry as a ration that can be easily carried, preserved in specially manufactured retort pouches. Improved version with a flavor that is much closer to freshly cooked curry."

- Great Curry description in the English version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

"Ready-to-eat, instant curry developed by the lab boys at MSF's research section. Prepared with meat, vegetables and other ingredients cooked in spices, curry dishes are originally an Indian cuisine that made its way to the U.K. With its spices acting as preservatives and ingreedients that provide balanced nutrition, curry was adopted by the British Navy as military food. In the early 20th century, Japan developed curry as rations for their navy. When the soldiers returned home from war, curry gradually found its way into Japanese households. Currently, curry is adopted by Japan's Self Defence Force and is Kaz Miller's favorite dish. MSF has developed curry as a ration that can be easily carried, preserved in specially manufactured retort pouches. Improved to the point that the flavor goes beyond that of freshly cooked curry. Most likely to change the future of cuisine as we know it!"

- Future Curry description in the English version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker