Spice-- The Final Frontier?

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25252149-29677,00.html

One small step for naan ... Indian astronauts' spice odyssey:

AS part of India's race to send a man into space by 2015, a team of military scientists has been set a tricky mission: to develop a curry fit for orbit.
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"Curry tends to be spicy, high in fat content and uses many ingredients; all these factors present significant challenges," he said. "We cannot afford the stomach of an astronaut to be strained."
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Anecdotes from astronauts suggest this could be a problem: those on the International Space Station have complained of their sense of taste changing over time -- leaving them craving more piquant, tart dishes.
Dr Bawa said his biggest challenges were posed by the kinds of traditional snacks that homesick Indian space voyagers are likely to crave the most. A good example is the dosa, a crispy rice pancake that is fried, folded and often stuffed with a spicy potato filling -- a breakfast dish whose attractions would surely be destroyed should it be transformed into rehydrated, irradiated gloop, ready to be consumed through a straw.
"Developing a dosa for space? It's never been done before ... fried bhajis? Very challenging -- we can use only minimal oil. But if the mission demands it, we are ready to look into it," Dr Bawa said.
India, which sent an unmanned probe to the moon in November and is engaged in a space race with China and Japan, is not the first nation to rise to the challenge of sending a tricky national delicacy into the cosmos. When South Korea's first astronaut, Ko San, blasted off last year in a Russian spaceship bound for the International Space Station, he took a supply of kimchi, a fermented, microbe-rich cabbage dish beloved by Koreans. Three government agencies had spent years working on it, spending millions to ensure the "space kimchi" would not become dangerous when exposed to cosmic rays.
"When you're working in spacelike conditions and aren't feeling too well, you miss Korean food," Mr Ko said.
The Times

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2009 05:23AM by Frank Furter.

Alpoo - Curry Flava-d Doggie Food

83% of Indians report there is naan difference between it and regular Curry.
Sai Natarajan gleefully say "it tastes just like chicken curry! can I have more sir!"

(and yes, Sai is a real person, and yes, he would hurt me if he knew... he
is a vegetebalarian... ok.. and yes... you should know by now that I will show him
this..)

Quote
bill-e-g
Alpoo - Curry Flava-d Doggie Food

83% of Indians report there is naan difference between it and regular Curry.

Okay, I get all of the exotic jokes! Naan= The official "burrito" wrap of India...(hey, I miss so much of the humor here, that I need to revel when I get an upper hand)