When the Space Age dawned last century, it was foreseen that everyone in the future might take pills to stay nourished, not having to bother with that pesky old cooking. One of the icons of real space travel were tubes of more or less tasteful food.
What people soon discovered is that sucking roast beef out of a tube is just not a proper substitute for an actual serving of the stuff. Humans don’t just like to taste good food, they like their food looking good, smelling good, and textured good.
Rule # 1: Goo doesn’t cut it. Early SF writers, however, seemed enamored with the idea.
Later, attitudes seem to change as the gleaming Space Age began to tarnish. Witness the difference between food in two other geek touchstones: Star Trek and Star Wars.
Continue “Cooking with Phasers!” in Part 3: Star Trek
Or see previous section, Part 1: 2001
Copyright © 2006-2008, Robert Daeley. All Rights Reserved.