At an altitude of 39,000 feet, taste buds lose sensitivity. With a traveler's ability to taste 33 percent gone, airline meals must be more robustly seasoned on the ground and wines more aggressive on the palate.
Since no one consumes more airline food than business travelers, menu planning for repeat passengers is a constant challenge for airlines with long-haul routes.
“We are treating in-flight dining like in-flight entertainment, because the food has to work hard to keep passengers entertained,” said James Boyd, spokesman for Singapore Airlines. “We need to satisfy a number of objectives. It's also a vehicle for creating a point of contact. The way a meal is presented creates an opportunity to interact with passengers.”
To meet the taste challenge, carriers conduct costly and labor-intensive tests, some in kitchens that have a sealed room to replicate in-flight pressure and humidity conditions.
On long-distance flights, menus are changed regularly and tailored to ethnic preferences on given routes, which requires considerable research and attention to very specific guidelines.
“Meals must taste like this, look like this...exactly, according to detailed instructions," said Bob Ferguson, vice president of aircraft catering for Emirates in Dubai, who in March spent 180 hours traveling and sampling food.
Emirates employs three food managers—Swiss, German and Arab chefs—to design menus for the international network.
“We do a tremendous amount of market research. Also a lot of self-analysis. We bring in samples without producers' knowledge and compare them with what we said we wanted,” said Ferguson, himself a trained chef.
Singapore's food and beverage manager works with an international culinary panel—famous chefs of well-known restaurants—to produce an “insanely detailed” catering checklist of “every hors d'oeuvre, main course, cheese, beverage, fruit, baked goods and standard items, such as water, butter, salt and pepper,” Boyd said.
“Each item is identified and numbered, with specified serving size or weight. Presentation should be perfect—down to the grill marks on a chicken breast or whether berries are suspended in aspic or yogurt. Photos of dishes are circulated to galleys as a plating guide,” he said.
One dish was shipped back six times for recrafting and perfecting sauce color and drizzling, Boyd said.
Matching the food to the customer
As carriers cater to an ever-wider variety of cultures, dietary restrictions or laws must also be observed.
Israeli carrier El Al, the world's largest kosher airline, serves only glat kosher meals, or food certified by rabbinical laws.
“In Platinum Class, we combine very upscale food together with it being kosher. To give the feeling El Al is an Israeli carrier, there is lots of fruit and also vegetables, so people feel good after eating on board,” said Nira Dror, vice president and general manager of El Al North America.
Kosher service is up to 30 percent more expensive because separate kitchens, ovens, dishwashers and meat/dairy china are required. But El Al does not charge extra, she said.
“Menus are rotated monthly. During Jewish holidays, we add typical dishes, like honey cake for New Year, doughnuts for Hanukkah, matzos for Pesach,” said Dror. “All food is freshly prepared. Our New York flight kitchen produces more than 15,000 meals a day.”
“On Emirates, all meals are prepared in a manner that is suitable for Muslims,” said Ferguson. “And we have a very good selection of wines, which surprises people, who think they may not get any alcohol at all.”
As part of an annual Finland-wide campaign, Finnair observes Heart Week by providing meals with heart-friendly ingredients. In April, Business Class passengers were served lime-marinated whitefish with dry rye bread, grilled chicken breast with mango sauce and wheat risotto, and black currant pastry.
Comfort foods
British Airways' Sleeper Service for Club World passengers, on selected overnight flights from North America and the Middle East to London's Heathrow, offers several dining options.
In North America, the Terraces Lounge has a preflight selection of gourmet entrees, soups, salads and desserts, plus an extensive wine list. In New York's JFK airport, travelers can choose a freshly cooked meal from the carving station or pasta bar. On board, there is NightCap service of hot chocolate and warm cookies.
Individuals or groups on Blue Star private jets, increasingly popular with corporate travelers, get full bar and snack tray service and whatever meals they choose—from a restaurant or private caterer.
“We work around what customers want, as opposed to them getting what we serve,” said Debbie Dickinson, vice president of marketing and public relations in New York.