Head chef on the Nadesico, Howmei is responsible for making sure everything gets cooked correctly, even if it involves teaching Akito about the variety of spices and flavourings available on Earth. Given the very nature of the Nadesico's mission... and the fact that some of them might not live to see another day, Howmei want to make sure that every meal the crew eats is as good as they want... because it may be their last meal.

from wikipedia