Recently I’ve been making an analysis for books that feature more descriptive and detailed accounts of the food/drinks consumed by characters. Surprisingly, Project Hail Mary had quite a lot of food and drink references and descriptions which I wasn’t expecting for a sci-fi novel!

Based on the inclusion of these food descriptions, it really helped to establish more of a down to earth and grounded feel with the main character(s) by giving more details about their day-to-day experiences. Food is something so integral to our daily lives, I always find it fascinating how much detail (or lack of) authors decide to focus on it throughout their books. Especially if they do or don’t include historical and larger cultural contexts in respect to what type of, how they prepare, or how food is received/viewed by specific characters. As for Project Hail Mary, it was expanded upon for cultural contexts in a main conversation between Grace and Rocky’s differences when it comes to cultural taboos or rules around food. Outside of that and back when he’s on earth…eh nothing much else, more of just a documentation of his day to day what he’s eating and going through amidst the chaos of the Hail Mary Project. There’s still numerous mealtime instances which are a stabilizing moment similar to whenever Rocky gets onto Grace about needing to sleep and take care of himself as a human rather than just be a science machine 24/7. This was a super effective way to further build on Rocky & Grace’s friendship, newfound comfort being around one another and helping each other out. Whether it’s one of the (many) burritos in the food stores to the nasty coma sludge food, these moments of yuck and yum are certainly consistent staples in Grace’s day-to-day life aboard the Hail Mary (as well as in flash backs for more Terran based food). Bon Appetite!

• Classic diner’s toast, eggs, & bacon (ch1)
• Rice, steamed buns, coffee, deep fried dough sticks on the Chinese aircraft carrier (ch5)
• Food paste aka “gravy goo,” described as tasting rich (ch1)
• more goo food - beef flavored with (chunky) carrots (ch6)
• Stratt’s Dutch gin (ch6)
• Burrito with cheese, beans, red sauce (ch9)
• Peanut butter tortilla (ch11)
• Breakfast burrito + coffee with cream and sugar (ch12)
• Eggs and sausage (ch17)
• Rocky’s gravel meat - human equivalent: extra dry beef jerky?? (ch17)
• Water!!! (Stay hydrated!; Ch25)
• Ilyukhina’s Vodka (for celebrating!; ch 25)
• Coma Slurry aka Bitter Pill Chow™️ (ch26)
• Vitamin Shakes & “Meburger” (ch29)