Astrobiologist Tries to Cook Outdoors in Antarctica — and the Meals Turned Out Just as Expected

Thousands of miles off the South Pole, Concordia Research Station sits on a dome glittering white under the Antarctic Sun. Even astronauts who have the privilege to witness the otherworldly sights of stars and celestial sparkles feel jealous when they think about this station. Fanning out of this station is an endless desert painted in pure white, not even a lone bear or a huddle of penguins. In March 2018, when astrobiologist Cyprien Verseux (@CyprienVerseux) was aboard the station, he and his team conducted a fun experiment: cooking outside in all this ice. The photos they captured from their outdoor kitchen left viewers amazed and curious to visit this place.

Even Mars has an average temperature of minus 60 degrees Celsius, but the winds blasting this isolated ice-scape can sink the mercury even to minus hundred, Verseux described in a blog post. Amidst this stark frozenness, scientists and biologists have scant and meagre facilities to survive and carry out everyday tasks. As Ben Saunders described in a YouTube video, scientists here usually live on unappetizing meals like freeze-dried cereals, energy and protein bars, dark chocolate, seeds, and electrolyte drinks throughout the day.

During one such expedition in 2018, Verseux and his team came upon the idea of a cooking project. Instead of cooking the meals in the cosy, typical kitchen, they set up the cooking equipment outdoors, spreading it over the sparkling white carpet of ice. They ventured outdoors and cooked an array of dishes in this outdoor kitchen, snapping surreal photos all the while. There couldn’t be a better word than “surreal” to describe these photos, indeed. Take a look. These photos will probably remind you of a dreamlike art gallery or shots of a science fiction fantasy.