Baiersbronn, Germany - One of Germany's most eminent chefs has been contracted to stew veal in a delicately flavoured sauce for the crew of the International Space Station (ISS), his aides said Friday. The European Space Agency (ESA), co-owner of the orbiting laboratory complex, had insisted on Harald Wohlfahrt, 52, being hired to offer an alternative to US and Russian space nosh, the Schwarzwaldstube restaurant in Baiersbronn, Germany said.
Wohlfahrt has been awarded three stars, the acme of cooking excellence, by the Michelin restaurant guides to Europe.
He devised a special space menu, based on southern German cuisine, that can be canned and still tastes great after being opened and heated up in orbit.
The expensive restaurant said the first load would be shot into space in March next year.
The starter on the menu is a potato soup with chunks of black pudding, followed by filet of veal and vegetables in a balsamico vinegar sauce, accompanied by a puree of white beans.
A compote of Black Forest plums with an aniseed sauce is included as dessert. The menu will have to do without the region's flavoursome white and red wines, as alcohol is banned on the ISS.
ESA said the astronauts on the ISS had asked for more soup and meat-and-sauce-style cooking in preference to snacks, but had also appealed for stronger flavours because life on the sterile space station diminishes the sense of smell and taste.
Asked if he would like to go aloft and serve the food himself, Wohlfahrt said, "No thanks. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground."
