Historically, food in space has always been a bland necessity. As far back as the Sixties, the "Right Stuff" pioneers often joked about the poor quality of their tubed food or the sad taste of dried fare. Eating in space was just another heroic task astronauts were asked to perform.
Now, after 40 years, space adventurers have asserted their right to choose more palatable food.
"All my American crewmates particularly love the Chili with duck breast,and Scott Kelly, our co-pilot, just loves everything."
"It's funny how many people still think today that we only have pills as space food during our shuttle flights," says Michel Tognini, another French astronaut, who flew on the last shuttle flight in July. "But now we can choose from about 150 NASA products for eating and drinking."
But even with this variety, which includes sirloin steak and shrimps, Tognini admits the standard food put on board for spaceflights is not as good as homemade. It only reaches a culinary level comparable to good camping rations.
Astronauts deserve a break today
The monotony of meals which can be deficient of taste, color and aroma -- is mainly due to the fact that there is no refrigerator on the two billion-dollar shuttles. "We have to be very careful about the health of crews. Meals have to be nutritionally balanced and also -- due to the lack of refrigeration -- cooked and treated so as to avoid any risk of food poisoning," says Vickie Kloeris, food scientist for shuttle crews at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
But for their mission, Clervoy and his six crewmates have selected, on top of their regular 270-pound NASA menus, seven specialties from southwest France. About thirty cans of the stuff have been shipped directly to Cape Canaveral. Following standard procedures, fresh food is stored on the space vessel 30 hours prior to liftoff. French delicacies will be put on the lower deck as Clervoy's personal food - along with some apples, fresh tortillas and peanut butter.
"In addition to our regular flight menu, there will be at least one gastronomical meal available daily during our ten-day mission. All my American crewmates particularly love the Chili with duck breast, and Scott Kelly, our co-pilot, just loves everything," said Clervoy, who considers Toulouse, in the Southwest of France, as his hometown, even though he was born in the Northeast of France.
He chose science over gastronomy, but has never forgotten his years in the Southwest as a child, where his mother used to make home made foie gras(goose liver paté).
For his part, Claude Nicollier, the crew's Swiss astronaut, will bring Italian Parmesan and a box of chocolates made to order by Hansueli, a famous Swiss confectioner. The candy pieces are even shaped like the Hubble, which will be repaired during this mission.
"I can't wait to see their faces when they open the box... We'll try to offer you some downlinks! (TV images sent to Earth)", explains the astrophysician, who will become the first ESA astronaut to "space walk" from a U.S. shuttle.
Based on a taste-testing done in Houston several weeks before their flight, Discovery's crewmembers decided to embark with this list of dining specials. Included was duck foie gras, Gimont cassoulet (white beans, pork sausages and duck), Streaky pork with green lentils, duck bordelaise with cepes mushrooms, grilled Toulouse sausages, duck breast piperade (marinated bell peppers), and duck breast with Chili.
All these meals are regular canned food prepared by the Comtesse du Barry company whose chefs cook according to the most traditional recipes. This largest family-operated foie gras producer in France is located in the classic small 3,000-person Gascogne village of Gimont close to Toulouse. Hundreds of geese and ducks roam freely in the streets.
The company's products - sold worldwide via the Internet and served in first class on some airlines - have the advantage of being approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. "Every year, we have FDA inspectors coming to Gimont to check on our quality and hygiene standards," explains Cendrine Martinez, Comtesse du Barry's marketing and communication director.
Foie gras is a velvety gourmet paté that evolved into France's refined traditional Christmas treat. French people consume 85% of the 15,000 tons produced in France. Few Americans enjoy foie gras and a lot of them think that ducks are unduly tortured for the enjoyment of abusive gourmets. The palmipeds are considered "done" when they become too heavy to walk by themselves. In spite of their reluctance, a growing number of Americans appreciate this delicacy.
The irony, say French chefs, is that the foie gras which flies on board the shuttle and that President Clinton enjoys eating in Paris bistros was hit with a 100% import tax by the United States as a retaliatory measure because of Europe's decision not to import U.S. hormone-grown beef.
Nether baguette nor champagne
The supplemental food dishes may be French, but a few compromises at the dinner hour will be necessary. After all, the astronauts will be in space, not in France.
For example, the three small blocks of foie gras will be consumed with wheat tortillas instead of French bread to keep crumbs from drifting about inside the shuttle and possibly obstructing the respiratory tracts of the astronauts.
Since alcoholic beverages are banned on NASA missions, wine is out of the question. So Clervoy has chosen to have a herbal tea with his meals. The tea came from a producer in Sens, Burgundy, who prepares it from untreated plants.
A small ceremony will be held on board to mark the turn of the millennium but there will be no such thing as a truly festive meal during this 10-day mission. "It is out of the question for astronauts to bring champagne along," explains Clervoy. Any kind of carbonated drink would be difficult to digest in microgravity conditions and glass bottles would not be tolerated for safety reasons.
On Russia's Mir space station, Russian cosmonauts were unofficially permitted symbolic amounts of alcohol for special occasions. "To celebrate my birthday, last May 19, we dressed up and at dinner time, I picked up a small plastic bottle of Armagnac in Mir's miniature cellar and instead of being able to clink glasses in space for toasting, we just used straws. And we crossed them like the swordsmen used to do," Jean-Pierre Haigneré, French astronaut who spent six months on Mir, told space.com.
Cheaper, better, tastier
Although astronauts admit that taste does change in space, Clervoy had already sampled foie gras on board his previous Shuttle-Mir flight in May 97, when he brought some to the Russian station on the occasion of a big ten-member international meal.
There has been no scientific study how taste is modified by space travel, but it is apparently due to two main factors.
"On one hand, as the crew evolves in microgravity, air is no longer submitted to convection," explains Clervoy. "Hence, the nose, which is one of the essential players in the perception of taste, does not sense the smell of the food ingested."
On the other hand, the flow of bodily fluids to the head could play a role the first days by giving the astronauts the impression they are congested, as if they had a cold on Earth. Astronauts usually compensate for this loss of taste by adding spices, salt and pepper which all come in a liquid form to be usable in microgravity.
All these foods and beverages have to be specially prepared, analyzed, controlled, weighed, packaged, labeled individually -- with a color identifier assigned to each crew member -- checked in and finally stored onboard the shuttle ten days prior to the flight. This long and meticulous task explains why the simplest standard astronaut meal costs about $100, according to NASA food expert Kloeris.
Yet, NASA has been doing some serious cost-cutting, as the space agency was known for paying as much as $600 for space-proof dental floss several years ago.
For this flight, however, the added luxury of French food is a real bargain.
The Comtesse du Barry preparations are standard products, so each full meal costs less than $18 per person, including the pricey foie gras, and are provided courtesy of the fine food maker.
"In any case, even if meal gathering and good food are playing a very important psychological role during missions, you dont want to eat too much sophisticated gourmet cuisine. Simple food just makes you feel better in weightlessness," says Tognini.
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