Food is a necessity and a pleasure. While animals eat strictly for sustenance, humans love food as an art form. It’s even created the category foodie, for those who enjoy eating for pleasure. But what about aliens? Are they foodies or do they just eat for survival?

What we know about alien cuisine mostly comes from television and movies.  Some of it can turn your stomach, but others may intrigue you.  From Star Trek, for example, we have learned that the Borg primarily eat nutritional supplements, although Seven of Nine did begin to enjoy human foods again.

The Romulans are carnivorous and eat lots of meat.  They bring livestock onboard their spacecraft and slaughter the creatures prior to cooking.

Klingons eat foods such as Gagh, Krada let, Mollusk and Racht.  We have no idea what any of them are, but they sound like some sort of meat to me.  They have soups with live creatures swimming around until they are eaten alive.  They enjoy a variety of drinks, mostly alcoholic with unusual names.  Also, I do remember Klingon Tea in one Star Trek episode.

Not to be outdone, the movie Skyline features alien monsters who enjoy human heads as a delicacy, tossing the bodies into a vat.

In the movie War of the Worlds, the aliens took humans and crushed them, spraying their blood and guts on their crops as fertilizer.  Their crops looked like some type of vine fruit or vegetable that  would eventually emerge for their feed.

In Earth’s Ultimate Conflict, we learn that Grays are a mutation of their former species, Nuurians.  Their mutation was caused by the introduction of insect DNA.  This makes it particularly easy for them to become dehydrated.  They require large amounts of water or moist foods.  They enjoy many strange-looking vegetables, since the Elders require them to be vegetarian.

The Shaglums from the planet Shay Gallum live in both water and on dry land.  The planet’s oceans breed algae, which is their main source of food.  The algae have color seasons and the Shaglums’ skin color changes with the algae.  They make highly desired sprits and wines that they enjoy with their algae.

Escape From Nuur has even more alien cuisines.  The Ja are also carnivorous, and one of their most prized meats is from an animal very similar to a cow.  They love to BBQ qukoiyak.

The Goiyans from planet Goi love many foods and meats, but they are most famous for their Goyian coffee and thick yellowish cream and butter.  They have a bread which is high in protein, low carbs, and calories made from the seeds of a flower.  The bread made from these seeds has a golden-brown rustic crust.  When a dinner roll is pulled open, the fluffy, soft inner bread is usually spread with Goiyan butter to enjoy.  No bread we have can compete with its high protein and low carbs.  This would be a wonderful addition to our own diets, as soon as we have trade agreements with planet Goi!

Since we have had little to no contact with aliens that we know of, our imaginations and intuitions have given us a great variety of alien nourishment, wouldn’t you say?

As for me, I’m a little partial to the Goiyan bread and butter; how about you?