Did NCC1701, no A,B,C, or bloody D, have food replicators or “food slots” some kind of mechanical contrivance to move food about the galley? See “my chikcen sandwich and coffee!” from “The Trouble With Tribbles”.
There is also the turkey thing from Charlie X.
I can’t find the thread right now, but I recall a debate about this very issue this past summer. The Tribbles episode was evidence that there were not replicators (how did they get in the food if it was just materialised). Also, there are numerous references to the galley.
But, if it is just some way to move the food around, how do people’s specific orders get prepared so danged fast (just a few seconds)?
One of life’s great mysteries to be sure.
I always thought they had a bunch of selections pre-made and held in some kind of statis, kind of like those wheel-of-death vending machine with year-old sandwiches in them.
Plus, wasn’t there an episode in which the food was miscolored some how, and it was the computer’s fault? Or maybe that was a book… whatever.
I can’t find that thread right now, either, but my position on that issue was always that the original Enterprise (pre-refit NCC-1701) had at least one galley where food was prepared, possibly from the same kinds of components later used by the replicators. I’m thinking here of the surprise in the cook’s voice when the turkey had become real turkey. This food was then delivered to the food slots upon request, probably via transporter.
For novices to this entire discussion, the Next Generation-era food replicators actually used transporter technology to create food from basic components (proteins, fats, carbohydrates), thus eliminating the need for cooks and galleys.
In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, there is a scene set in the galley of Enterprise-A. This is still pre-Next Generation, but I was under the impression that they did have food replicators by that point.
The galley would be for special occasions (such as the formal dinner scene with the Klingons in that same movie) when replicated food just wouldn’t do.
We see similar scenes in Next Generation, DS9, and Voyager when a character will prepare a meal directly to impress, to be romantic, or just to have fun.
In Space Seed McCoy gets all excited over the spread and all I saw was coloured cubes (like everyone else gets) and celery.
What I wanted to know is when in the future does celery become a gourmet food?
Maybe because it is fresh and not replicated little colored cubes. McCoy had a thing about transporters, maybe as a country Doctor he had a thing about replicated food.
^:)^
[SUB] That green blooded son of a bitch [/SUB]
Actually, it’s a little known fact that the Enterprise food service was provided by Horn and Hardart.
Apparently when it’s dyed red. ^:)^
I’m pretty sure there was a cook back there, as evinced by the turkey’s comment from Charlie X. As for the quick preparation times, perhaps people ordered ahead of time and the computer knew who was pushing the access button the same way it knew how to route communications to wherever the receipient was standing.
–Cliffy
Help! Don’t let them eat me! Remember the Prime Directive!
Trek Trivia: That was Gene Roddenberry’s voice as the cook.
From what I recall from various “technical manuals”, the replicators are part transporters. The “matrix” of the food you want is stored in memory and, when requested, the mini-transporter creates the food from a store of protein mass kept somewhere in the galley. Keep in mind that the replicators also create the plates and silverware in the same box. Reminds me of a Steve Martin bit about fast food:
“Glop - your burger; Glop - your fries; Glop - your drink; Glop - your foam container; Glop - your change.”
Don’t have a cite, but in a tech manual somwhere it states that the food slots were simply dumb waiters…miniature versions of the turbolifts.
Hmmmm…I was always under the impression that the food in TOS was manufactured by computer. Not replicator/transporter, but put together automatically by fabricators. Kirk did say (in Catspaw) that his ship could synthesize as many gemstones as they wanted…
[Johnny Carson]
I did not know that!
[/Johnny Carson]