Thse insights have been pulled from the individual experiences of astronauts and cosmonauts recorded in published first person accounts — journals, diaries, debriefs, and post-flight reflections.As this database includes the personal, subjective experiences from a diversity of flyers, they may sometimes contradict, but together they provide a more holistic, if messy, picture of life in space. To learn more about how these categories were developed, please see this related publication.
“After dinner, we went over to the Russian segment with gifts, per tradition, and had some chocolate pudding cake.”
“X harvested some romaine lettuce and put a little of it in his pocket to give to Y and me. It was unreal to taste something so fresh and delicious in this sterile environment.”
“Food is still just okay... There is definitely a difference in quality. I don't know really why that is. Maybe manufacturing or just age of it in the package. But that is something that needs work.”
“One of us usually throws a few packets of meat and soup into the food warmer before dinner. Or one of us floats by the water dispenser (which is on the ceiling in the Lab), and fills packets of dehydrated vegetables or drinks, tossing them to each one of us.”
“Had corn chips, jalapeños, salsa, and Russian cheese last night. Just the three of us on the USOS side. Was very nice to have something different. Into my third week on ISS, a small special event like that has more meaning and buoyant effect on my spirits than during the first two weeks.”
“I want to clean up the eating area – new straps for the table, new Velcro, maybe even scrub some of the stains out of the fabric lockers. There are just odds and ends everywhere, and I would like to make it a little bit more orderly.”
An evening ritual for one crew was to gather around the Russian segment's dining table for dinner at 6:30 to share a meal and stories. When the food gets repetitive, the crew combines different parts of different meals together to make new recipes.
It's easy to get bored of food when there are limited options. However, eating to stay healthy is important, and is akin to "sport eating."
Recreating a meal from a previous mission for movie night by requesting specific preference foods, to share with the crew. Sauces 'glued' the meal together.
Sauces -- including salsa, hot sauce, pesto, mayo, and mustard -- are critical to food enjoyment for some, as sauces are relished to the last drop.