When you concentrate on the meals that astronauts eat in house, lobster, haddock and foie gras in all probability do not spring to thoughts – however that is precisely what France’s subsequent customer to the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) might be eating on.
Astronaut Sophie Adenot has teamed up with award-winning French chef Anne-Sophie Pic to create a menu of gastronomic delights that can journey with Adenot to the ISS subsequent yr.
As an alternative of the same old freeze-dried vitamins that astronauts eat, Adenot, 42, might be selecting from the likes of “Foie gras cream on toasted brioche” and “Lobster bisque with crab and caraway”.
The menu – which the European Area Company (ESA) has dubbed “a pinch of France in house” – contains 4 starters, two most important programs and two desserts.
Adenot stated the dishes, which additionally embrace braised beef, and chocolate cream, won’t solely “delight our palates” but in addition assist her really feel linked to Earth, and her residence nation.
“Her (Pic’s) delicacies signature is deeply influenced by the terroir. That is necessary to me as a result of I grew up within the countryside, and it’ll remind me of my roots,” she was quoted as saying in an ESA assertion.
There are strict guidelines for meals on the ISS – it should be crumb-free, light-weight and hold for no less than 24 months, the ESA says.
Due to this fact, most meals are canned, vacuum packed or freeze-dried, with contemporary fruit and greens a uncommon luxurious that may solely be loved when a spacecraft arrives with new provides.
However to maintain issues fascinating, increase morale, and assist with crew bonding, each tenth or so meal is one ready particularly for every astronaut, with these “bonus meals” typically made in partnership with a chef.
Well-known for her haute delicacies, Pic, 55, has probably the most Michelin stars of any feminine chef on the planet – 10.
She says this venture is “pushing the boundaries” of gastronomy, as she labored along with her crew to create particular meals, whereas holding throughout the technical constraints.
“Cooking for house is an exhilarating problem,” she was quoted as saying by the ESA.
Adenot says she is going to share the haute delicacies along with her colleagues on board – it’s in any case an necessary second – French gastronomic tradition turning into for the primary time… extra-terrestrial.
Adenot, a former helicopter check and rescue pilot, has gained a string of awards, together with a medal honouring her actions in gender equality within the sciences.
