This Friday, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and his Crew-2 mission team are flying to the ISS for six months. On certain occasions, they will be able to taste small dishes of gastronomic quality. On the menu:lobster, beef bourguignon, cod with black rice, potato pancakes and wild mushrooms, or even almond and caramelized pear tarts.
Space cuisine has come a long way since the flight of Yuri Gagarin, who in 1961 fed himself on mashed beef and chocolate sauce in tubes resembling to toothpaste. A few months later, John Glenn, the first American sent into orbit, had contented himself with applesauce. Then, little by little, the various operating space agencies understood that the well-being of their astronauts also depended on good daily meals.
On the French side, things began to change in 1993 following the return of astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré from the Russian space station Mir. Everything had gone very well there, he said, except the food. Richard Filippi, a chef in southwest France, who had just heard Mr Haigneré's complaints on the radio, had then contacted the National Center for Space Studies - the French equivalent of NASA - for him offer help.
Mr. Filippi and his students then cooked beef, quail, tuna and lemon stew confits and other foods that accompanied French astronauts on subsequent Mir missions in the 1990s. sought to revive the program in 2004 for the International Space Station, Mr. Filippi had unfortunately retired. To replace him, he therefore recommended world-renowned Chef Alain Ducasse.
Since then, the latter has collaborated with the French space agency to create dishes available to astronauts on board the station. The Mr Ducasse team has now developed more than forty recipes, with gluten-free and vegetarian options (carrot and smoked paprika clafoutis, or cooked quinoa with saffron broth and vegetables).
For this Crew-2 mission, Thomas Pesquet and his friends from the ISS will be able to taste small dishes prepared by Mr Ducasse. The latter has also teamed up with another Michelin-starred chef, Thierry Marx, and Raphaël Haumont, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Paris-Saclay. The support of the latter makes it possible to transform the different recipes offered so that the dishes can be sent into space to be tasted according to very technical specifications.
Note that the French Center for Culinary Innovation at this university had already prepared meals for Thomas Pesquet's first trip to the space station in 2016. For your information, l he astronaut and Chief Marx had met by chance at a judo conference a few years earlier (they are both black belts).
Thomas Pesquet, a former Air France pilot, also asked Servair, a catering company for several airlines, to design dishes for him. These were prepared by Chef François Adamski. Will be offered lobster, beef bourguignon, cod with black rice, potato and mushroom pancakes or even almond and caramelized pear tarts (his favorite dessert).
These recipes will not be enjoyed every day, but only on certain occasions, such as birthdays. There are enough shares for the whole crew to enjoy.
