Tourist to serve up gourmet meal at station

Billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi and gal-pal Martha Stewart cooked up the menu for a gourmet meal to be served at the International Space Station after the software pioneer arrives there next month.

Simonyi, who has been romantically linked to Stewart, is scheduled to blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 7 with Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov. He reportedly is paying $20 million to $25 million for a trip to the outpost.

French chef Alaine Ducasse created the six-course meal as part of a European Space Agency science experiment. Alaine Maillet of the French Space Agency is the principal investigator of the experiment, which aims to provide a psychological boost to station crews.

The normal menu at the station includes 200 items and is a 50-50 split between Russian and American food.

Russian dishes, such as borscht and jellied perch, are canned and reheated. American favorites such as barbequed beef brisket and shrimp cocktail are rehydrated or served up as military-style Meals Ready to Eat.

The ESA "Special Events" meals include high-quality foods for celebrations on holidays, birthdays or when new crews arrive at the outpost. There are 13 recipes that include six main courses, three side dishes and four desserts.

Stewart and Simonyi, who was the chief architect of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, selected Quail Roasted in Madeira Wine, a distinctive dish combined with a light puree of celeriac -- the white-fleshed root of a variety of celery -- with a hint of nutmeg.

Also on the bill of fare: Duck Breast "Confit" with Capers, Shredded Chicken Parmentier, Apple Fondant Pieces, Rice Pudding with Candied Fruit and Semolina Cake with Dried Apricots.

Simonyi did a taste test with Belgian astronaut Frank DeWinne and his wife, Lena, at the Gagarin Training Center outside Moscow.

"I have to say these dishes were very much to my taste," Simonyi wrote in his blog at www.charlesinspace.com, a site dedicated to his trip to the station.

"The celeriac tasted surprisingly fresh, with the nutmeg remaining distinct; the duck had a forward flavor, and the capers gave it added interest so that one could eat it without a side dish."

He liked the dessert, too. "I thought the rice pudding was especially remarkable in that the rice texture was completely gone and the result was a very tasty paste, not unlike chestnut puree, which is one of my favorites," he said.

Simonyi is scheduled to arrive at the station April 9. He'll hitch a ride back to Earth on April 20 with current station commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin, who will be winding up a six-month tour of duty on the outpost.

The gourmet meal won't be the first at the station. Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse sent up some special dishes last July. They included Mardi Gras jambalaya, kicked-up mashed potatoes with bacon, green beans with garlic, rice pudding and mixed fruit.