Chilli Mice, Ketchup Hooch and Nutraloaf: Inmates Reveal Most Disgusting Prison Meals

Boiled chilli mice are on the menu at HMS Preston, according to one inmate.

The latest dish competing for the "Most Disgusting Recipe" in Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners, consists of boiled mouse with chilli and chocolate. The concoction is then spread on a cracker.

The prisoner, whose identity remains unknown, wrote: "I don't really like eating mice but we do what we can to stay fed."

According to the inmate, other recipes include boil-in-the-bag pigeon and cockroach kebabs.

Here are some of the most disgusting meals and recipes recorded by inmates, from prison hooch to creamed chipped beef.

The "Spread"

Leftovers and small amounts are food are combined to make this paste, which is spread over a newspaper and eaten with a spoon. Anything can constitute as an ingredient, including tinned tuna, hot sauce, crisps and salsa. The flavour comes from the sachet of dried spices found in packets of ramen noodles.

"Pruno"

This is the equivalent of moonshine, made on limited ingredients such as apples, oranges, bread or even tomato sauce. The mixture is placed in a bag and combined with water. The bread provides the yeast and a sock is used to help the fermented fruit stay separated from the liquid.

Creamed, chipped beef

Ordinarily in a dried and reconstituted sauce, chipped beef is made of leftover meat which is pressed together and partially air-dried.

"Pizza"

To make the base, broken ramen noodles and crackers are crushed and transformed into a paste using hot water and a bin bag. After the crust hardens, toppings such as leftover meat, cheese and salsa are added.

No bake cheesecake

Piper Kerman, who served time in prison as a drug smuggler and money launderer for a West African drug kingpin, documented her time in her memoir Orange Is The New Black. In the book, she describes a common prison cheesecake recipe made of graham crackers, lemon juice, vanilla pudding mix, stolen margarine and coffee creamer.

Nutraloaf

Otherwise known as prison loaf or disciplinary loaf, it is served in US prisons to inmates who have demonstrated significant behavioural issues. It is similar to meatloaf in texture, but has a wide variety of ingredients including fruit, meat and bread. Prison wardens have argued nutraloaf provides enough nutrition to keep prisoners healthy without requiring utensils to be issued.