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Sumitra Senapaty

Those who care about their in-flight food now have reason to smile. Two key words in the airline food industry these days are choice and quality. And international airlines are wooing their customers with a variety of options.

A flight kitchen

No doubt about it, the airline industry has not been having a good time recently. Since the 9/11 attacks in the US, passenger numbers have plummeted and the headlines have been full of tales of airlines in financial difficulties. As a result, the food served in-flight to passengers is of more importance than ever before. With competition between airlines becoming fierce, winning a reputation for dishing up the best meals in the sky could be a significant boost to business.

It is also a fact that we are pretty spoilt. When we travel by air, not only do we expect efficiency with minimal inconvenience, but also we're disappointed when our meal isn't gourmet and served hot and fresh.

But that is no simple task. In-flight meal service is an industry unto itself — flight kitchens cater not only to mass-scale feeding for economy service, but to specialty feeding for business and first class as well. Cabin space, cooking facilities and serving requirements limit the types of foods that can realistically be served.

Quality services aboard the flight are what travellers look forward to during their travel.

Air travellers who care about the food they eat en route, now have reason to smile. Two key words in the airline food industry these days are choice and quality. Airlines have realised that customers care about in-flight food service, and they're focusing on providing quality products and, when possible, choices. Special meals, natural foods, choosing what to eat, based on whether you want to feel alert or rested ... read on to learn about what's new (or little-known) in meals on-board.

Although flight kitchens face many challenges and limitations, they are aggressively responding by improving quality, listening to their customers, becoming more trend conscious, and basically bringing meal service into the 21st century.

Will that be scrambled or sunny-side up? Fresh warm toast? Or perhaps Asian-style with a hot bowl of rice instead of grilled tomatoes and broiled mushrooms? To finish, how about a light or dark, freshly brewed espresso or a double-shot latté? At a fusion café in Hong Kong or Vancouver?

Not exactly — but some 30,000 ft in the air aboard Cathay Pacific's First Class compartment! The premier Hong Kong-based airline is one of the few worldwide carriers that actually prepare their in-flight food fresh daily with fresh ingredients. Not bad if you consider that at their new Hong Kong International Airport operation, they produce over 35,000 meals per day.

Throughout Cathay's global map, the vast menu selections for the planes are rotated and changed about four times a year depending on the routes — a major undertaking for the 10 million-plus passengers that fly Cathay Pacific's 50 worldwide destinations. Ever wondered how they figure out what meal to serve on those overseas international flights, especially when you're crossing datelines? According to the airline spokesperson, the meals are designed depending on the time of departure and arrival. For instance, Cathay's CX888 leaves Hong Kong right in time for lunch and arrives in Vancouver before noon but too late for breakfast, so a brunch is decided. It may be a bit confusing for your body's meal timing, but in the end probably makes up the jetlag quicker!

With many airlines, the addition of a la carte has proven popular, especially with well-travelled business people, where they can create their own meals from a specifically designed menu and specify when they wish to eat. It's somewhat more service — and labour-intensive, but a superb service, especially for worn out business exectuives that want to dedicate most of their flight time to catch up on sleep deprivation — a much needed requirement if you have to close that multi-billion dollar contract when you arrive!

Understanding customers' needs is key to service perfection. According to Syed Abdillah Aziz, Malaysia Airline's Manager South Asia and Middle East, business passengers in particular want more flexibility in menu choices.

Additionally, they desire more personalised service and healthier menu items, "We did extensive research with focus groups of passengers, people told us they want simple, tasty, familiar food, and they want plenty of it."

Malaysia is known for its wonderful cuisine, and so is Malaysia Airlines. One can expect to savour delicacies such as Chicken Korma and Satay with spicy Peanut sauce, cooked in the authentic Malaysian way, adding to the memorable experience of flying this airline. The menu on the Delhi-Kuala Lumpur flight is also specially designed for Indian passengers — laccha paratha, gobi matar masala, tandoori fish tikka, dhall, steamed rice, shahi tukda and more.

Gourmet sky meals — the logistical problems involved in getting good, flavoursome food to passengers in-flight are as great as the culinary dilemmas. "If you ate a meal on the ground before boarding an aircraft and then ate exactly the same meal a few hours later mid-flight, it would taste quite different," explains Peter Jones, Professor of Catering at the University of Surrey. "Flying in an aircraft has a similar effect on our bodies to being halfway up a mountain. The difference in air pressure to being on the ground has a marked effect on the experience of eating."

"It is estimated that there is a loss of as much as 30 per cent in our capacity to taste," adds Jones, "so, unless dishes are more highly spiced and seasoned, they can seem bland. And the psychological impact of flying also has an effect on how dishes taste." Because of all these factors, it takes a lot of trial and error by airline caterers to create dishes that are satisfying, flavoursome and easily digested.

Since the commercial jet interior altitude is as high as a mountain resort, 7,000-8,000 ft above sea level, we can also use the research of high-altitude experts such as, Charles S. Houston, M.D. "The food you would like to use at high altitude is the food that requires the least oxygen to digest. Carbohydrates give you quick energy and don't use as much oxygen. You need small amounts of carbohydrates at high altitude." As for alcohol, "One drink in flight does the work of two," according to Dr Houston.

Delta even offers `ideal performance meals' for international business travellers, which are intended to either relax or energise. Passengers can choose entrees crammed with carbohydrates, which increase the brain's production of the relaxing hormone serotonin, or meals that are full of protein, which the body uses to create enervating dopamine. Want to chill out during the flight and be alert upon arrival? Ask for the vegetarian pasta. Want to be sleepy once you hit the ground? Request a mushroom-filled lamb chop or pan-roasted duck.

Delta partnered with Groppel, known for his application of sport science techniques to individual performance in the business world, in an effort to better serve the business traveller. "The international business traveller has high performance requirements, not much different from those of a professional athlete," says Groppel, author of The Corporate Athlete — How to Achieve Peak Performance in Business and Life, which focuses on how to perform at higher levels. "This is the future, not a fad,' he says. "It's all about choice. We're talking about health and happiness and what we can do to maximise job performance."

Food is important to a flier, that's why some of the major carriers have begun culling culinary talent to build better meals. Today's supper in the sky could be the brainchild of your favourite celebrity chef. Sun-dried-tomato-crusted sea bass, anyone? But the ultimate purpose of airlines is still to get passengers from point A to point B, though air carriers do try to reach their customers' hearts through their stomachs.

Coffee, tea or Hindu vegetarian? Don't be surprised if a flight attendant poses that question to you. Counting calories? Longing for some plain old, boring, bland food?

At least four major carriers now offer that option. Hindu vegetarian, Weight Watchers entrees and bland food are among the growing number of special meal options now available on airlines. Special meals have long been available for fliers with medical conditions and religious concerns.

But some airlines now are offering meals aimed at health-conscious passengers and even finicky eaters. Try lacto-ovo vegetarian (meat-free with dairy and eggs), low-purine (no beans, nuts, sardines or animal organs) and gluten-free (without wheat, barley, oats or rye).

There definitely is an increase in special meal requests, clearly, people are more conscious of their diet. Diverse offerings range from McDonald's Friendly Skies Meals (usually a chicken or salami sandwich or cheeseburger, fruit or vegetable, dessert, milk carton and toy) to Japanese bento box to vegan meals. Almost 60 per cent of special meals now ordered are vegetarian, low calorie or meat free.

Chances are, you simply board a plane and wait to see what type of food you'll be served. But anyone who thinks in advance about his or her meal has choices galore. Most major airline carriers offer an array of special meal options, and the variety available is quite amazing. Just decide on a meal, if you like, and place your order at least 24 hours before takeoff. Consider the Emirates offer — 23 special meal varieties. (Know a restaurant with that many entrees?) The trick is to know your options in advance. Then, if you want, you can make a meal request when you book your flight. This little bit of advance planning allows you more control of the food you eat en route. No more excuses for unhealthy eating because of limited options!

Emirates takes great care to cater to all passengers' ethnic tastes according to the route structure. The wide range of nationalities represented in the Emirates cabin crews provide valuable inputs for these menus ensuring that there is always an option to suit everyone. (Some 86 nationalities are currently employed.)

Did you make a New Year resolution to lose weight and eat more healthfully? Are you on a special diet? Maybe Emirate's low-fat/low-cholesterol meal is for you. Or perhaps you'd like low-calorie. Or high-fibre. Or maybe you'd prefer low-sodium, low-protein or non-lactose. Get the picture?

Everyone's noticed the organic or natural food trend, since such products are gradually becoming available in mainstream, metro grocery stores. But in the sky? Well, yes — at least on Swissair. Despite the fact that natural foods tend to be pricey, this airline is giving Mother Nature a try.

Swissair was the first airline in the world to focus on organically grown food products. After pondering logistics and passenger reaction to a major change in food service (example: where would the airline get two million organic eggs?), Swissair launched its `natural gourmet' catering line and has remained dedicated to using as many organically grown, natural foods as possible.

Called `natural gourmet', the unique food-service concept is already gracing menus on flights leaving Switzerland, translating into over 6,000 hot meals daily.

A study by a panel including customers as well as cabin attendants revealed that a traveller's experience of a flight generally passes through several phases. Travellers need calm and quiet during boarding, followed by a period of nestling down in their seats surrounded by their personal belongings.

Only then do they begin to feel a need for entertainment, or an opportunity to work or sleep. KLM has readjusted its product and the timing of its service during these phases of flight experience to ensure its passengers feel at ease throughout. Cabin attendants are being given more time for receiving the passengers on board, and, preceding takeoff, a video with restful images of swans plays on the monitors, counterbalanced by more active images and music just before landing.

Additionally, passengers will be presented with a wider choice of meals, while having greater influence on when they wish to enjoy them, to suit their own program of eating, sleeping, relaxing or working, during the flight.

"Gourmet dining is part of the charm behind unique in-flight dining experiences," concurs Tom Burges Watson of Cathay Pacific who firmly believes that the airline can win customers by serving better food.

As part of Cathay Pacific's continuing dedication to superb food service on their flights, `The Best Chinese Food in the Air' is being provided by the internationally-acclaimed Yung Kee Restaurant on Cathay's 48 flights from Hong Kong for the next six months. Makes you want to fly there just so you can enjoy the yummy food served on your way home!

Picture

courtesy Oberoi Flight

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