What Exactly Was This Stuff and What Did It Taste Like?

We remember the scene in Empire Strikes Back when Luke met Yoda. Luke was about to have his dinner, or something approximating one. We may wonder about the stuff he was eating and what it tasted like. Although nutritious enough for space travel, Luke’s food items were not the most appetizing. 

Luke on Dagobah

After Luke landed on Dagobah, or crashed, he made his way onshore and eventually took a break for some food. R2 and he looked around uneasily and wondered what they were doing there. Luke took out a small rectangular container with various snack-like food items from his backpack. 

In this scene from A New Hope, we see him take a bite from what appears to be a snack bar. Then, Yoda humbly appears, and we are left wondering what really was that stuff that Luke ate?

What Was the Stuff that Luke Ate?

Fans have responded with several possibilities about what Luke ate, including Tic Tacs, candy bars, and trail mix. These remarks speak to the actual items that were placed in the kit for filming. 

This article confirms those ideas by relaying Mark Hamill’s comments about the actual food items in Empire. He said they were “mixed nuts, sesame sticks and crackers.” And, the container did have mint and orange Tic Tacs too. Hamill indicated it was “basically airline food.” 

As for the in-universe answer, Luke ate rations. As Wookieepedia explains, Luke brought “boxes of rations” and had “settled down to eat” before Yoda interrupted him. Rations were common items for Rebels and Imperials alike. Stormtrooper rations were a “canned, self-warming” variety or a “grayish, gooey substance.” 

In the scene where Luke and Yoda meet, we also see Yoda pick up and nibble on what looks like a ration bar. Luke exclaims that the ration bar or stick was supposed to be his dinner. They came in “multiple forms, textures, and flavors” to help feed someone quickly and seem comparable to a snack or protein bar today. Luke most likely had a few of these in his ration box. 

As Luke closes the lid, we see an assortment of smaller items. His ration box most likely included protein cubes, ration cubes, and maybe nutrient paste. This repertoire focused on packing protein into small servings to provide energy. We could assume Luke had a few sweeter items to mix up the offerings, but most of it was not geared for taste.

What Did These Items Taste Like?

Based on Luke’s and Yoda’s reactions to the ration bar, we can assume it was bland and poor tasting. Yoda commented, “How you get so big eating food of this kind?” This remark provides a clue, as does Luke tossing it aside. 

Ration sticks or bars ranged from “disgusting” to “very pleasing,” with most probably in the unappealing category. Since the idea was to get nutrients quickly, the taste element was not a priority. Survival was the task at hand. 

Rey provides some sense of what Luke’s items tasted like. In her survival guide, Rey specified how New Republic rations tasted better than the Imperial ones. Yet, that may not be saying much. The stormtrooper rations from above were “horribly bland.” Rebel to New Republic rations may have been better, but not by leaps and bounds. 

Luke’s in-universe food thus had a bland, unappealing, get-the-job-done quality to them. The same could be said for many of the prop items, except for the Tic Tacs and maybe the mixed nuts. 

Luke’s Food Items

As he met Yoda, Luke ate from a ration box. A ration stick or bar was the main item we saw him start to eat. He most likely had other small, protein-packed items in his case. Most probably tasted bland or worse.