FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved

Food by Beth Weisberg There's nothing wrong with a little takeout. Unless the person getting the food happens to pilot a jet loaded with 150 passengers. Dissatisfied with his inflight meal, Northwest Airlines captain Floyd Dean stranded his passengers at a Las Vegas gate last November for 90 minutes while he sought out "a decent meal." After searching the airport, Dean taxied to a casino, picked up a clubhouse sandwich, and headed back to the plane, thoughtlessly forgetting the 150 side orders of fries. (The fries are a joke; the clubhouse isn't.) While most of us don't react this dramatically to airline food, it's rare to hear anything positive about it. Michael Joss, director of catering and product development for Canadian Airlines, knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of an airline food rant. "It's like hospital food – it's fun to take a shot at it," says Joss. "It's a bit better than a TV dinner, but it's a similar sort of technology," he adds. To counteract the TV dinner image, Canadian Airlines recruited 12 of Canada's top chefs – including Michael Allemeier, executive chef at Teatro – to develop Business Class menus for long-haul (over three-and-a-half hours) flights. Allemeier isn't involved in the food preparation – that task falls to the Calgary kitchen of inflight caterers LSG Sky Chefs. But while he's planning, Allemeier needs to pay close attention to onboard limitations. "The racks in the (convection) oven are about two-and-a-half to three inches apart, so you can't do vertical food," Joss explains. And because the food is reheated by oven, he adds, it has to be reasonably durable – food that's fussy about exact timing just won't work. "You can't have too much liquid, because of the spillage issue – it's being moved by truck from the flight kitchen to the airplane, and then of course you've got turbulence, and you've got the aircraft takeoff." One of Allemeier's inflight menus includes a starter of fine green bean salad accompanied by shiitake mushrooms, and entrée of roasted salmon with fava bean ragout, spinach, roasted tomato and boiled potato wedges. The menu is typical of the type of dishes that work – all the components have enough humidity that they'll survive reheating at 35,000 feet. But before a dish gets airborne, he has another factor to consider. "Some of the flight kitchens are in Europe, some are in South America, some are in Asia," notes Allemeier. "Can they get those ingredients?" All things considered, the fact that Allemeier says he has heard nothing but positive comments about his inflight menu is pretty impressive. You might not dine off the fine china in coach, but if the regular food is not to your liking you can order a special meal from the airline. Andy Mah is Calgary Branch Manager for Cara inflight caterers. Together with his 220 teammates, Mah loads up 5,000 to 6,000 meals a day for Air Canada, Canadian Regional and other carriers. Mah has noticed an increase over the past six or seven years in the number of people ordering special meals. Depending on the airline, you can select from choices such as vegetarian (subcategories include Asian, non dairy, lacto-ovo), a fruit platter meal, a Muslim or kosher meal, even a bland/soft meal. Give the airline at least a few days notice that you want a special meal, and if you absolutely require it (for medical, religious or ethical reasons), it's a good idea to call again and confirm. The trend for both business and coach at the moment seems to be a demand for lighter, healthier food. At least, says Joss, that's what Canadian Airlines is going to try. "We went through this about four or five years ago. People in focus groups told us they wanted lighter and healthier. When we went lighter and healthier on the airplane, we were getting customer complaints that if they wanted a spa type meal they'd order a spa type meal.... Sometimes what they're saying the trend appears to be doesn't materialize in the air." Given the limitations, inflight food can only be so good. If you do have a complaint, talk to the airline – not the flight attendant with a meal tray in one hand, a blanket in the other and a sick kid in the back row.

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |