Michelin-star chef prepares ISS meals for French astronaut
Food delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) must meet strict specifications. It cannot be crumbly or too heavy and must be able to be stored for two years, the ESA said in a statement.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are only available after a new spacecraft arrives from Earth with supplies, so most meals in space are canned, vacuum-packed or freeze-dried from a set of options provided by space agencies.
But to spice things up, one out of every 10 meals is prepared for specific crew members according to their personal tastes.
'During a mission, sharing our respective dishes is a way of inviting crewmates to learn more about our culture. It's a very powerful bonding experience,' Adenot said in the statement.
Adenot's menu was developed by French chef Anne-Sophie Pic, who holds a total of 10 Michelin stars and was named best female chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2011.
Advertisement
Pic said it was an 'exhilarating challenge' to develop the menu, which includes four starters, two mains and two desserts.
Adenot, a 42-year-old former helicopter test pilot, is scheduled to arrive for her first tour aboard the ISS in 2026.
A pair of NASA astronauts returned to Earth in March after being unexpectedly stuck on the ISS for more than nine months after problems with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Paris opens the Seine for swimming after 100 years: But is it safe?
Public swimming in Paris' Seine River is due to make a comeback over a century after it was banned with just a few exceptions. Starting on 5 July, three public swimming sites will open along the Seine River - one near Notre Dame, another by the Eiffel Tower, and a third in eastern Paris. The reopening is part of one of the French capital'ns most ambitious Olympic legacies. At a cost of around $1.5 billion (€1.27bn), the river has undergone a massive cleanup operation to transform it from a polluted, boat-choked artery into a swimmable urban oasis. The sites will be free to use, supervised by lifeguards, and will operate on a daily schedule throughout the summer. A colour-coded flag system - green for safe, red for nope - will let visitors know whether it's swim time or sunbathe-only time. But many Parisians remain hesitant on whether or not to take the plunge. The Seine's surface can still appear murky, litter floats by, and bacteria levels are known to fluctuate with the weather. Dan Angelescu, a scientist and founder of Fluidion, has been independently testing the river's water quality for years. He warns that the current official testing methods may not accurately reflect the real-time risks: "What we see is that the water quality in the Seine is highly variable and it is, there are only a few days in a swimming season where I would say water quality is acceptable for swimming, according to the regulations currently in place." "All we can say is that we can raise a hand and say look, the science today does not support the current assessment of water safety used in the in the rivers around Paris, and we think that there is major risk that is not being captured at all." But with over 35 species of fish now calling the Seine home - compared to just a handful in the 1970s - it's clear the cleanup has had an impact. But whether Parisians will follow the fish into the water remains to be seen. Check out the video above for more on the Seine swimming initiative.
Euronews
19 hours ago
- Euronews
Mission Michelin: Chef Anne-Sophie Pic prepares meals for outer space
Two Frenchwomen are set to give new meaning to the expression: "The sky's the limit". As announced by the European Space Agency, Sophie Adenot (who, next year, will fly to the International Space Station with her co-graduate from the class of 2022 Raphaël Liégeois) has worked with French chef Anne-Sophie Pic to develop the "bonus" dishes that she will take on board the ISS. No unappetising substitute at the bottom of the tube for this representative of the homeland of haute cuisine: as ESA points out, Sophie will be bringing a piece of French gastronomy into space with a special menu created with Anne-Sophie Pic, the world's most Michelin-starred chef. The dishes selected - "bonuses", not the full menu - are emblematic of French cuisine, but have been completely revisited, such as: Anne-Sophie Pic, notes ESA, is one of the leading figures in haute cuisine, constantly pushing back the boundaries of taste and emotion with her daring creations and intuitive approach. Her three-star restaurant 'Pic', in Valence, France, won Tripadvisor's 'Best Restaurants' award in 2024. She was also named best female chef in the world in 2011 by the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards. "It's a great challenge that Sophie Adenot has offered me and it's quite extraordinary", commented Anne-Sophie Pic, the three-Michelin-starred chef from Drôme, on ICI Drôme Ardèche on Thursday. When "last winter" the astronaut asked her to prepare festive dishes for the ISS, the chef "didn't hesitate for a single second to say yes". These bonus dishes account for 10% of astronauts' meals in space. "It's a bit of exceptional cuisine to give them courage", smiles Anne-Sophie Pic. Shellfish bisque, crème de foie gras esprit, onion soup with pink berries, braised beef effiloché, rice pudding and hazelnut and coffee chocolate cream: "The aim is to give them a taste of things they like". But to go into space, "these dishes are necessarily textured in a certain way", explains Anne-Sophie Pic. "It's classic cooking, but at the end, these dishes are restructured, blended and cooked thoroughly to remove any bacterial problems" and to make them "easy to eat". "It has to be fairly compact", but as the chef points out, it "can be extremely good and tasty". The food was packaged in partnership with Servair, a French company specialising in airline catering, using sterilisation in flexible sachets to preserve the taste qualities while guaranteeing very long storage at room temperature. Adenot, 42, a former helicopter test pilot, is due to carry out her first mission aboard the ISS in spring 2026. During a six-month mission called εpsilon, she will perform a variety of tasks, including European-initiated scientific experiments, medical research and station maintenance. Travelling at a speed of 28,800km/h at around 400km above the Earth, the ISS completes around 16 orbits around the planet each day, which can make it difficult to spread out breakfasts, lunches and dinners, notes The Guardian. Astronauts generally eat three meals a day, with a daily calorie intake of 2,500 calories as a rough guide. Because of the special requirements for food preservation and hygiene, feeding an astronaut can cost more than €20,000 a day. The food delivered aboard the International Space Station must be non-friable, light and have a shelf life of at least 24 months, according to the ESA. The bulk of the menus in space consist of canned or freeze-dried meals in plastic packaging that astronauts can select from a predefined list of options provided by the institutions. Fresh fruit and vegetables are a luxury and are only available when a spacecraft arrives with new supplies. Traditional gastronomy in space may not be the preserve of science fiction, continues The Guardian. Last April, ESA announced a project to assess the viability of producing laboratory-grown food in conditions of low gravity and high radiation, in orbit and on other planets. The team involved said the experiment was a first step towards developing a small pilot food production plant on board the ISS within two years, enabling future French astronauts to make 3D-printed bibs and laboratory-grown chips.
Local France
2 days ago
- Local France
Michelin-star chef prepares ISS meals for French astronaut
Parsnip and haddock veloute, chicken with tonka beans and creamy polenta, and a chocolate cream with hazelnut cazette flower will also be on the menu, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday. Food delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) must meet strict specifications. It cannot be crumbly or too heavy and must be able to be stored for two years, the ESA said in a statement. Fresh fruit and vegetables are only available after a new spacecraft arrives from Earth with supplies, so most meals in space are canned, vacuum-packed or freeze-dried from a set of options provided by space agencies. But to spice things up, one out of every 10 meals is prepared for specific crew members according to their personal tastes. 'During a mission, sharing our respective dishes is a way of inviting crewmates to learn more about our culture. It's a very powerful bonding experience,' Adenot said in the statement. Adenot's menu was developed by French chef Anne-Sophie Pic, who holds a total of 10 Michelin stars and was named best female chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2011. Advertisement Pic said it was an 'exhilarating challenge' to develop the menu, which includes four starters, two mains and two desserts. Adenot, a 42-year-old former helicopter test pilot, is scheduled to arrive for her first tour aboard the ISS in 2026. A pair of NASA astronauts returned to Earth in March after being unexpectedly stuck on the ISS for more than nine months after problems with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
