A boccocini meal served in business class on a Virgin Australia domestic flight last year. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
ONBOARD food, especially in business class, is one of the main requisites for choosing an airline in an increasingly competitive market.
And the wide variety of cultures flying need to be taken into account, so we ask some top airlines how they go about it.
Virgin Australia:
The culture of a destination port and also the skills of their kitchens is critical when designing menus, Narelle Kellahan, General Manager for Luke Mangan at Virgin Australia, explains.
For example out of the US they serve business class passengers an American-style hot dog as a mid-flight refreshment.
"Imagine being half way through your movie and someone coming along and offering you a warm, fresh hot dog with a cold drink," she says.
On a flight from Abu Dhabi, Virgin's dinner includes serving an Arabic mezze plate. And flying into that city their meals are created in a Halal-certified kitchen and are 100 per cent Halal compliant.
Virgin entered a culinary collaboration with Mangan in 2011, and he continually rotates its menu.
While the chefs work to Mangan's specifications and make sure the menus are always appropriate to the route, they also make the most of our fresh ingredients.
Qantas:
The chef behind the Rockpool name Neil Perry and his staff have been creating menus for Qantas first and business classes and their lounges for 16 years.
Taste is slightly different in the air, he explains, because of very low humidity the taste receptors on the tongue dry quickly so they are muted both in wine and food.
"But the reality is that if it tastes really good on the ground it's going to taste good in the air," he says.
He focuses on selecting really great produce, making sure it's cooked well. So meat and fish go up seared and completely raw in the middle and the cabin crew cook them in the air.
"Because we write the whole menu we are very simpatico with each dish's play within the weight and feel of the menu itself," he says.
Crew are continually being trained, which includes PGOs - preferred galley operators - doing intense three-day courses.
Currently the business class service has a choice of four starters and five choices of main.
"Gone are the old days of one or two choices in entree and then mains, it's really structured now so that at any time of day you can have whatever you want."
And every three months the menu changes.
"Like all airlines we're... always looking at the trends and things happening around the world and also focussing on cultural responsibility we have flying to places like India and Dubai."
Qantas doesn't fly pork products into Muslim countries like Indonesia and the Middle East, or beef into a Hindu country like India.
"That's part of the whole airline ethos to make sure we're looking after people no matter what walk of life and no matter what place they come from.
"We don't unfurl the (warm) hand towel flying to Japan because it's seen as not being appropriate in their culture.
"We try and make sure we look at what people have expectations of and try and respect that."
Singapore Airlines:
Menus are changed monthly across all classes on this airline.
Customers in business class have a choice of three to four main meal options, as well as entrees, desserts and fruit and gourmet cheese selections.
Table service is provided, with meals served on linen using Givenchy-designed tableware. All meals are plated onboard by the cabin crew who are trained in food styling and presentation to ensure that the food looks as good as it tastes.
They're also trained in the essentials of wine appreciation, with several "air sommeliers", who have done advanced courses conducted by wine professionals.
The menus are created by the International Culinary Panel (ICP), made up of nine award-winning chefs from around the world including Australian Matt Moran, Carlo Cracco from Italy, Suzanne Goin from the United States, Georges Blanc from France and Sam Leong from Singapore.
Special meals in all cabin classes cover many religious and dietary requirements.
Cathay Pacific:
Charles Grossrieder, manager of catering services at Cathay Pacific, explains business class meals are designed according to the flight profile including time of departure, length of flying time and destination.
Meal service is matched with the body clock of the originating port and they need to take into account any cultural, religious and legislative requirement.
"When deciding the in-flight food offering, we look at the passenger mix, the flight routing and the timing of the flight," he says.
"We also look at what produce is available to use in each port and incorporate it into our menu selection."
Crew training programs make use of simulated aircraft cabins, as well as classroom theory on service delivery.
"We have to consider the cultural needs of all our passengers when planning our in-flight menus," Grossrieder says.
"Being a global carrier we care for many different people. Having good regional cuisine on our menus is very important and something we strive for with our catering partners."
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