The food preparation system of 23rd-century Starfleet vessels, which produced meals to order through wall slots aboard Kirk's Enterprise and was the forerunner of the replicator.
Food synthesizers supply the crew of the original USS Enterprise with meals. A crew member inserts a coded card or makes a selection and the dish appears behind a small sliding door in the wall. Outlets are found in the recreation rooms, the transporter room and elsewhere.
They figure in several Original Series episodes. In Charlie X the galley can offer only synthetic meat loaf for Thanksgiving until Charlie turns it into real turkeys. In Tomorrow Is Yesterday a 20th-century air force sergeant is given chicken soup, and in The Trouble with Tribbles Kirk's chicken sandwich and coffee arrive full of tribbles.
In The Animated Series episode The Practical Joker the machines go haywire and pelt the crew with food. By the 24th century the technology has given way to replicators.