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Three of young Bahrain’s future space scientists and aspiring astronauts cooked up a flurry of delicious yet practical ideas as they competed in the National Space Science Agency (NSSA) Culinary Space Challenge.
Dishes including raspberry cheesecake, tuna salad and a tuna tortilla filling, were cooked up by Asmeh Jassim Alzayani, Saleh Mohamed Alnoaimi and Ali Abdulmutaleb Alsalam, respectively, emerging victorious amongst 37 potential space chefs aged seven to 12.
“The winners were picked based on nutritional value, space suitability and creativity,” explained Latifa Al Khalifa, co-founder and CEO of Clever Play which helped organise the competition in collaboration with the NSSA.
“The dishes had to be safe to consume, obviously, and provide light and healthy nutrition. In addition, we asked the students to do some research into making these suitable to be consumed in outer space. And, finally, we looked for the most creative cuisine.
“Two of the winners opted for tuna dishes because they wanted the meals to be healthy and light and one wanted to make a bite-sized dessert for astronauts to enjoy after their meal.”
Eight-year-old Ali, from Sitra, who is going into grade four at the Capital School went for a simple tuna salad because it has a long shelf-life and doesn’t need a fridge or an oven.
He combined tuna, spices, lemon and green leaves, with help from his mother and sister, to make a nutritious meal – even though he personally would not enjoy it while on earth.
“I love grills, but they are not very practical to consume in space,” he told GulfWeekly, with a michievous smile.
Meanwhile, seven-year-old Asmeh, from Riffa, who studies at the Naseem School in grade two, opted for her favourite dessert – raspberry cheesecake.
Working with her mum who helped her bake the cake, Asmeh put together the cake and came up with ideas to split it up into portions to make sure it can be consumed in a single bite in space, before it disintegrates.
And seven-year-old Saleh, from Hamad Town, who studies at Naseem School went for a versatile ‘tuna blast’ - which can be consumed as it comes or stuffed into a tortilla for a bit of an interstellar feast.
“It is made of tuna fish, tahini, pomegranate molasses, coriander, crushed nuts and dried cranberries,” he added. “It also wouldn’t need rehydration in space and there are a variety of ways to consume it.”
Saleh hopes to one day enjoy his ‘tuna blast’ as an astronaut blasting off into space. Of all the things that fascinate him about the cosmos, it’s gravity that attracts his attention the most.
Meanwhile, Ali and Asmeh are looking forward to being space scientists with their feet firmly planted on earth.
The competition aimed to promote awareness about the real-world relevance of space careers and demonstrate how essential food scientists can be in a domain like space exploration.
The trio, as well as seven other shortlisted participants, were judged virtually by prominent Bahraini chefs Hessa Humood Al Khalifa and Mahmood Janahi.
Hessa, better known by her food blogging name, Curiously Hungry, is the founder of ‘At The Table’, a unique Bahrain-based supper club which brings together a community of like-minded ‘foodies’.
Mahmood Janahi is a self-taught chef famous for his baking and cooking skills who hosts several baking workshops and demonstrations across Bahrain and the GCC.
“The chefs asked the participants some pretty tough questions around why they’ve packaged certain foods the way that they did, the shelf life of certain food items, the cooking process and the inspiration behind their dishes,” explained Latifa.
“The competition kicked off on June 21 and participants had to submit their videos by July 20.”
Each of the winners received a plaque, an educational space toy and souvenirs from NSSA.
