Topic: Asteroid belt menus

[6pairsofshoes]

Ah.  You've gotta love the internet.  I don't remember this film as being one of those that would stand up to a second viewing.  Maybe a candidate for Mystery Science Theatre?

I don't think of lots of SciFi films where people eat much.  Maybe they take nutrition for granted.  Star Trek came up with the mystery "get what you want" replicator food distribution, kind of like a souped up Automat for the future.

[8ullfrog]

I know it's been quite a while, but even on star trek they complained about the replicators being crap. They had a whole song and dance with Counselor Troi, arguing with the replicator about chocolate (fuggin youtube nuked the clip) but Voyager shockingly did it better. Hot. Plain. Tomato soup.

[6pairsofshoes]

I wonder where they even get raw ingredients in space?  That they could synthesize or even grow the plants that produce tomatoes seems a bit much.  Ever since I read the Expanse series, I frequently think "I doubt I'd be eating citrus on an asteroid belt, or chocolate, or......"  The fragility of our terrestial botany really stands out the more I think  about the intensity of sunlight, the warmth, the moisture, so many factors that could cause disaster by their absence or overprevalence.

It's funny to hear that guy so frustrated with the replicator.  I felt that way when I was logging on to my credit card acct today, realizing I'd forgotten my p/w again and getting annoyed at all the hoops I had to jump through just to pay a bill.  I guess it beats writing a check and posting it.

[8ullfrog]

Star Trek does handwave some details, but the replicator is described as a "matter resequencer". (My browser does not like that word)
Voyager actually runs into exactly that problem; they can't stop by a starbase and resupply.

Their solution is to pick up a local guide, who enjoys the flavor of mold. (Neelix)

Replicator use is strictly rationed in the delta quadrant, so you're going to be eating Neelix's cooking whether you like it or not.
Neelix is also a known liar, so he may be feeding them bad tasting stuff on purpose.

Delta Quadrant food run:

[6pairsofshoes]

Wow.  That's sad.  Funny how some foods that look appetizing via their resemblance to others can be toxic.  I quit watching Star Trek after TNG.  I just lost interest.  Stargate was more fun and Battlestar Galactica.  I can't remember what they ate in either one of those shows, though.

[8ullfrog]

Ds9 went into the mechanics of things a lot more, they even occasionally visited "waste extraction".
Power makes a bit more sense on DS9, they're running a massive fusion reactor (It's the red, gem like thing hanging from the bottom of the station.)

One of the few things I disliked about BSG is they would occasionally "borrow" plot points or character interactions from Ds9.

DS9 also has restaurants, including one that is just called KLINGON RESTAURANT. The chef of said restaurant sings opera.

They have a replimat for the federation communists that don't really have money, but Starfleet gives the officers stationed on Ds9 a stipend, so they can hit the bar for real, genuine Root Beer.

Battlestar Galactica at the start the ships had frozen food storage, they kind of bent that up in the episode "Black Market" which is widely considered one of the worst in the series.

Stargate had the comissary, and it was occasionally vital to the week's plot.

Unlike Star Trek, Replicators are bad guys.
Later on they get matter sequencing from the asgard.

I could not find the vital debate Jack had with Daniel about potatoes.

[6pairsofshoes]

Ha!  I'd forgotten both the commissary and the replicators on SG.

As for the Klingon restaurant that was run by an opera singer, I used to go to an Italian restaurant in Boston's North End that had singing waiters.  They would actually sing about how great it was to eat there, and the cooks would sing back from the kitchen.  That place was amazing.  It had great food and the best canolis I've had anywhere.  Villa Francesca.  I don't know if it's still there.

[8ullfrog]

Youtube has fed me an amazing, anti-replicated meal.

The video has Troi's anti-replicator rant on chocolate.

[6pairsofshoes]

That was entertaining.  It also made me glad that I stopped with TNG.

There's so many odd fruits on Earth with multiple ways of preparation.  Lately I have been exploring persimmons because they are so plentiful here this time of year.  Slightly oblong orange fruits with pulp the consistency of snot and a mild sweet flavor.  They make nice puddings and cookies.

[8ullfrog]

I completely forgot that Melora and Julian went to KLINGON RESTAURANT, but that's because I hate that episode.

[6pairsofshoes]

Klingons seem like evolved heavy metal musicians.  I don't think their cuisine would be much to my liking.  Probably like intergalactic road food or something.

[6pairsofshoes]

This podcast makes me think that, if we ever make it into space, eating will be the least of our worries.  https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS81NG5BR2NJbA?sa=X&ved=0CBEQlvsGahcKEwiYluyZgpWDAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA

And to think, a trip to the Int'l Space Station is only 250 miles.  It's a longer trip to Los Angeles from San Francisco.

[8ullfrog]

I remembered you talking about 2001 - A space odyssey, and it popped up on my facebook feed today.

A tray filled with pastes, and a fairly odd spoon type instrument to scoop with.
They are heated in a radar range (essentialy a microwave)
The meals are thought up in huston and a nutritional regiment is specialized.
There are 18 varieties.
When the astronaut is done eating, they put their tray in a cleaning slot pretty much identical to a standard dishwasher.

I find it interesting how close it is to the ISS video you posted.

In regular movies, Ice cream tends to be mashed potatoes, under film lighting ice cream would melt before the scene was finished.

[6pairsofshoes]

I can't imagine there's much dairy in space.  So if you did manage to get coffee out there you'd probably have to drink it black, or with some kind of "Coffee Whitener" the most descriptive name I've ever heard for that product.

I was wondering what's in it.  So I hear it's sugar (usually corn syrup), oil and water.  How they make it "whiten" your coffee is a trick in itself.  Cargeenan and cellulose gum are other regulars in these products.  Occasionally they contain milk products like casein.  One kind of funny aspect to this is that coffee creamer powder is highly explosive.  The Wikipedia entry on Non Dairy creamers contains this little nugget.

As with many other powders, large amounts of powdered non-dairy creamer powder are susceptible to dust explosion when suspended in air. Amateur filmmakers and pyrotechnicians[12] have taken advantage of this property to produce several types of fireball effects.[13] Individuals using powdered non-dairy creamer in the ordinary amounts used in a cup of coffee do not face a risk of dust explosion.[1]

But I'd expect that care should be exercised when storing large amounts of the stuff on a space station.

[6pairsofshoes]

I wonder how they would be able to replicate the flavors of citrus in space, like dehydrated lemon juice powder?  Finding water might be a task, but I'd expect it would be a minimal requirement to support life, just an issue of adjusting the taste of water that would be recycled a zillion times.  Maybe if they shoot Jeremy Clarkson up there, he can start working on it in advance of human colonization so we'd be able to have a decent cup of coffee and some nice lemon curd on cream scones once we arrive.