Meal times are very special for the crews of the International Space Station (ISS), who have to spend many months circling the Earth together, far from home. They help to break up the long working days and give time for the astronauts to get to know each other better. However, the taste and variety of the food are very important.
One person who has great pride in providing special dishes for ISS crews is French master chef Alain Ducasse. In his latest project, Ducasse teamed up once more with ESA and the French space agency, CNES. This time he was asked to create food suitable for special occasions, such as New Year, birthdays and the arrival of a new crew.
13 different recipes were produced for the Expedition 14 crew who are presently living on the ISS. They included 3 starters or side dishes, 6 main dishes (meat or fish) and 4 desserts. All that the crew had to do was to heat the tins in the Station’s oven.
With his stay on the ISS coming to an end in a few weeks, ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter joined his American and Russian colleagues for a Ducasse dinner on Sunday, 26 November. Reiter’s 4-course menu included tomato, aubergine and olive dip, quails roasted in Madiran wine, a light celeriac purée with a hint of nutmeg, and rice pudding with candied fruit.
“It was absolutely delicious,” he said. “But we have no doubt that it would taste even better if we had some wine with it as well!”
