Space food is usually dehydrated and powered, so astronauts everywhere were probably besides themselves to learn that Heston Blumenthal is trying to revolutionise space food. A sort of pimped up Jamie Oliver and school food situation, if you will.
For Channel 4′s Heston’s Dinner In Space, the chef teamed up with the UK Space Agency, the ESA and Nasa to design meals for Tim Peake to eat while he’s on his six-month stay aboard the International Space Station.
But the chef had to contend with zero gravity, the effect on taste in space, and official rules around what’s actually allowed (like that any moisture can be dangerous).
To make things even harder, Heston had the brief to make seven dishes that would take Tim on a nostalgic trip back to his childood and be a reminder of comfort food at home.
Tim with his bacon sarnie from a can (Channel 4/Screenshot)
Among the dishes Heston created were a chicken curry, a salmon and caper dish, and sausage and onions but it was the bacon sandwich in a can that really impressed everyone. Bread, by the way, has been banned in space since astronaut John Young smuggled a sandwich on his mission and the crumbs went EVERYWHERE.
It looks a bit different to your standard sarnie… but it’s probably a lot more expensive (Channel 4/Screenshot)
The chef and his team spent months developing the sandwich, trying all sorts of methods and combinations, to make sure it actually tasted like bacon when Tim tasted it hundreds of miles above earth.
I love the idea that Heston's contribution to space food is a bacon sarnie @astro_timpeake
— YSL (@ysl807) March 20, 2016
The way Heston's face lit up when he realised "I COULD PUT A BACON SANDWICH IN SPACE!!" 😂 #hestonsdinnerinspace
— Adam Todd (@AdamTodd310389) March 20, 2016
@astro_timpeake just watched Heston's Dinner In Space. Wow!! Fantastic- I want to try an #ISS bacon sandwich 🐷 Hope you are well 👍🏻🚀🇬🇧🛰🌏⭐️
— Lisa Scranage (@LisaMJJ) March 20, 2016
Heston's bacon sarnie in space looked like a sponge. Madness! I wanna try it all.
— Pandas&Pizza (@FightEmilyFight) March 20, 2016
Mind boggling tv watching Heston create the perfect tinned bacon sandwich, destined for space 🚀
— Bethan R. Harris (@BethanRHarris) March 20, 2016
The comforting smell & taste of a bacon sarnie on the #ISS @astro_timpeake @Heston_Live #baconbuttie #Principia @phoenixips @mrcpips
— Heather Watson (@he4therw4t5on) March 20, 2016
bacon sarnie in space, well done Heston, that's awesome #HestonsDinnerInSpace
— Mikey (@mfshill) March 20, 2016
Heston tried out zero gravity for himself to find out how easy his food in a can would be for Tim to eat. Turns out not very…
The sausage and onion dish (Channel 4/Screenshot)
But the revolutionary space food was a hit with Tim.
Nice tux Tim (Channel 4/Screenshot)
So maybe we’ll be seeing more bacon sarnies in space.
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