Among NASA's pioneers, the meal no longer has a classic form: there is the ritual of the hearty pre-flight breakfast (the famous 'pre-flight breakfast'), the family and regional cuisine of New England where Shepard came from, and then a completely new category born from the space conquest — freeze-dried rations and powdered drinks, designed by doctors and engineers to feed a man in weightlessness. Thus we move from the American diner table to the capsule meal tray.

Iconic technique of the space age: the food is frozen and then the water is removed under vacuum. Light, sterile, indestructible — just add water to make it 'come back to life'. It is the signature of Shepard the astronaut's cuisine, a world away from the steak of his youth.