What? No Tang?

Last week, the astronauts about the International Space Station had the arduous task of trying out a new "celebratory" menu designed to mark special occassions during long space missions. The menu included:

Main dishes:

• Effiloché de volaille en Parmentier (shredded chicken Parmentier)
• Dos d'espadon façon Riviera (Riviera style swordfish)
• Volaille épicée, sauté de légumes à la Thaï (spicy chicken with stir-fried Thai vegetables)
• Cailles rôties au Madiran (quails roasted in Madrian wine)
• Magret de canard confit, condiment aux câpres (duck breast confit with capers)

Side dishes:

• Carottes de sable au goût d'orange et coriandre (sand carrots with a hint of orange and coriander)
• Céleri rave en délicate purée à la noix de muscade (a light puree of celery with a hint of nutmeg)
• Caponata (tomato, aubergine and olive dip)

Desserts:

• Gâteau de semoule de blé fine aux abricots secs (semolina cake with dried apricots)
• Morceaux de pommes fondantes (apple fondant pieces)
• Far de l'espace Space (a Brittany 'far' tart)
• Rice pudding aux fruits confits (rice pudding with candied fruit)

This would be impressive, if it hadn't all come in tins