Vacuum-dried shrimp that 'come back to life' as soon as water is added, coated with a spicy horseradish cocktail sauce: the astronauts' favorite space meal, surprisingly tasty despite its strange origin.

Why this dish? The freeze-dried shrimp cocktail was THE cult dish among astronauts: its tangy sauce cut through the dulled sense of smell in weightlessness. Shepard, who went from the suborbital flight in 1961 to the long days of Apollo 14 in 1971, experienced this space cuisine of dried foods rehydrated with a water gun.

Up there, your nose doesn't smell much — blood rushes to your head and everything tastes bland. So we looked for what wakes you up: those little dried shrimp, you'd inject water into the pouch, knead it, and the horseradish sauce would sting you right behind the eyes. It was about the only thing, in that flying tin can, that reminded you you were still a man with a tongue. Believe me, we almost fought over the shrimp portion.

How it was made : Onboard, the dish arrived as freeze-dried shrimp in a plastic pouch: the astronaut injected cold water with a hydration gun, kneaded the pouch, then sucked out the contents. The spicy horseradish sauce compensated for the altered taste and smell in microgravity.

The contemporary twist : Present it as an old-fashioned 'shrimp cocktail' on crushed ice in a martini glass, with a lemon wedge reminiscent of retro 1960s coupes.

Sources : NASA, 'Food for Space Flight', NASA Facts · Bourland, Charles T. & Vogt, Gregory A., 'The Astronaut's Cookbook', Springer, 2010

Alan Shepard · Charactorium