Getting three stars from the Michelin guide just wasn’t enough. Now world-renowned chef Alain Ducasse is taking his stellar cuisine to the starry heavens. In October, the Russian cargo ship Progress left Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmo-drome, bound for the International Space Station with 13 Ducasse-created gourmet plates on board. These so-called special-event meals included roasted quail in a Madiran wine sauce, smooth celeriac puree with nutmeg, and semolina cake with dried apricots.
Ducasse isn’t the first space chef - last summer the ISS crew had its mission kicked up a notch by Emeril Lagasse. But that was a one-off; Ducasse plans to launch two new dishes every year. Sealed in aluminum alloy and manganese boxes, the meals will mark special occasions like space walks and crew changes. “My chefs expected this project to be restricting,” Ducasse says. “But they’ve been able to play with lots of products and techniques - with the pleasure of the astronauts as a goal.” Astronaut Thomas Reiter tasted the gastronomic grub aboard the ISS in December and loved it. “But,” he emailed, “we have no doubt that it would taste much better if we had some wine with it!”
- Jason Daley
credit: Tim Bower
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