A man recreating air travel’s most glorious meals | Hacker News Reader

A man recreating air travel’s most glorious meals

atlasobscura.com

29 pointsCaptainZapp14 comments

> Sennhauser says that bewildered Americans often ask if he constantly flew first-class. “I wish I was flying first-class,” Sennhauser says. “I’m recreating mostly economy class meals.” Some European and Asian airlines see offering their customers something nice to eat as a matter of hospitality, he says. “Whereas in the U.S., I feel like they’ve just thrown up their hands and said, ‘We’re done.’”

This resonates with my own experience. I've always been aware of the cliché that airline food is terrible and the "What's the deal with airline food...?" trope, but when I was young and my mum and I would to fly every summer to visit her side of our family in the UK I really looked forward to the in-flight meals (this was the good old days when short haul flights would serve food). On the very rare occasions when I take a long haul flight which still serves meals I still do look forward to them. The meals are of course different to what you'd normally eat on land, but they almost feel like a style of cuisine in itself.

So really, what is the deal with airline food? It's not actually bad!

On my last flight with JAL from Japan to Europe they served a MOS Burger themed building set. It was quiet funny to watch the whole plane trying to assemble their burgers.

It keeps passengers busy. I think that's the whole point of the meals - all the fidgety things to deal with.

I don't think it's a US vs Others thing, it's just international longhaul vs short travel. Food on AA or DL international is more or less identical to BA or LH.

Food on european short hauls is just as bad as anything I've seen in the US. Even in business class

For economy class food, Turkish and Emirates are above the rest IMHO. But then again, maybe that's just my preference for mediterranean food

Regarding what's "bad", I'd say that it has to be very salty because your sense of smell/taste doesn't work properly in the dry low-pressure cabin environment. And then it's the general issue with any ready-to-eat meal - you can pimp it up with as many slices of foie gras or truffle shavings, it's never going to be as good as even basic fresh food

IMO transcons are plenty long haul enough to have food and I don’t think anyone does it anymore.

I remember a reportage on television where they explained that airplane food had to be specifically designed. The reason being that you are in a very noisy environment, which alters the taste response.

Just looked it up, it does seem to have scientific backing: https://time.com/4110938/flavor-science-explains-how-you-can...

I don't think it's the noise as much as the dryness and low air pressure

You are definitely not alone. I really enjoy airplane food. I think it might be a specific way they cook or reheat it. The meals I've had use strong gravies. The feeling of humidity when the foil on the main course gets lifted ... bliss! Maybe even the presentation has a quality that resonates with me personally.

To each their own, I guess.

I often fly with KLM from the Netherlands. I find the food to be pretty good. And it is also usually local produce with some text about the origins. I like it. They are not a bottom feeding airline like EasyJet and Ryan Air, but often their tickets come out as a good option price-wise.

For me, the worst thing about airline food is that it's notoriously overcooked. I think a lot of the meals would be quite decent if cooked properly, but the service at 35,000 feet is difficult to manage and many of the meals are just ruined. The best in-flight meals I had were braised dishes, which have a natural resistance to being overcooked. Another exception was on Korean Airlines, where the dishes were mostly fresh greens, not cooked at all.

Taste buds also become much less sensitive at high altitudes apparently

I find in economy/premium only part of it is overcooked since they cook the entire tray at once rather than the individual components.

I assume it wouldn’t be possible to not overcook part of it unless you’re undercooking another unless they cooked everything individually.

As a kid there was nothing better than Singapore Airlines Raffles Class and brand spanking new Changi Airport in the 80s and 90s. Some of that magic still exists.

Interesting man.

Belongs here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_David_Attenborough%27s...

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