What real astronauts eat in space is a far stretch from what has typically been shown in science fiction movies.
Meals have greatly improved from the first missions. Initially, food could only be transported and consumed in the form of bite-sized cubes, freeze-dried powders and semi-liquids. All of these were put in inconvenient aluminium tubes. Generally, they were bland and unappetizing.
Because of the unpopularity of these, great improvements were made on the subsequent missions. The tubes were done away with and the food was instead incased in plastic containers. This increased the variety to include such choices as shrimp cocktail and chicken and vegetables.
More advancements were made when the use of hot water was first implemented. This enabled the re-hydrating of foods, and therefore, better taste.
The Skylab was the first vessel to accommodate enough room for a dining table and seating. It also featured a refrigerator and freezer, as well as storage room for seventy-two varieties of food.
Today, on space shuttles, astronauts eat common items that can be found in grocery stores. These are all packaged and combined by dieticians to provide a balanced diet for living in space. The astronaut eats from a tray that anchors the foods and enables him or her to choose from different items at once. The available utensils are the traditional fork, knife and spoon, as well as a pair of scissors for opening packages.