servair, the French and African leader in in-flight catering and a member of gategroup, was asked by the European Space Agency, at the request of Thomas Pesquet, to develop a gourmet menu for astronauts on the forthcoming Alpha space mission due to take off on April 22, 2021.
Each astronaut on the space mission can take “bonus food” with him, which he shares with all the other members of the mission.
I’ve been a fan of servair since the start of my career as a pilot with Air France in 2005, so it was an obvious choice for me to call on their culinary and technical expertise to develop this menu.
Thomas Pesquet
So, throughout the development process, servair’s Corporate Chef François Adamski (Bocuse d’or, MOF and twice Michelin-starred) and the French astronaut worked hand in hand to build a menu that honors French cuisine while echoing Thomas Pesquet’s childhood memories and favorite dishes.
Among the ten dishes proposed by the Chef, the astronaut chose:
- Crunchy and creamy small spelt, melting celery and Périgord truffle
- Beef bourguignon, smoked farmhouse pork belly, mushrooms and glazed onions
- Crepes flambéed with Grand Marnier and orange zest, Suzette style
Gastronomy in your pocket!
To ensure that taste qualities were maintained while guaranteeing a very long shelf-life at room temperature, servair’s engineers, in conjunction with the CTCPA (Centre Technique de la Conservation des Produits Agricoles), chose a cutting-edge technology: sterilization in flexible pouches.
The real challenge was to develop a “gourmet” product within the constraints of heat treatment but with reduced sodium and alcohol content., all with a “dense” texture suited to consumption in weightlessness. In contrast to conventional canning, the flexible pouch technique enabled us to combine the preservation of original flavors with a very long shelf life.
Boris Eloy, Executive Vice President Innovation, servair
Thomas Pesquet, “fine Gastronaut”…
To help Thomas Pesquet make the right choice of recipes to take with him into space, servair organized a tasting session to compare the dishes being prepared in the kitchen with those sterilized in pouches a few weeks beforehand.
For me, it was essential to preserve the flavors of the dishes, whether they were fresh or in sterilized pouches,” says François Adamski, servair’s Corporate Chef, ‘so we proceeded by iteration, adjusting the seasonings and cooking schedules each time, until we had a product that was very close in taste to its ’minute’ version. The results were much appreciated by Thomas, who was looking forward to sharing his culinary universe with the other astronauts. With Thomas, we’ve taken gastronautical cooking to a whole new level!
The whole of servair is now eagerly awaiting the verdict of Thomas Pesquet and his guests at the French astronaut’s festive meal.
