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Food columnists and restaurant critics Jill Dupleix and Terry Durack provide their expert opinions behind the scenes of aviation food.
Forget the fear of flying. Compared with the visceral fear of aviation food, this is a little potato. As two people who have devoted their lives to finding the real authentic domestic and foreign flavors, we have a deep distrust of the food on the plane, salted fish formed over decades, hard-to-eat beef, mysterious soup, outdated tomatoes, and soft Bread.
In fact, we have travelled long distances to avoid it. We take trains, cars, and ships instead of planes. Our own food, so we don’t have to eat theirs. (Ham and cheese sandwiches work best-soft white bread, plenty of butter and mustard-tightly sealed to prevent dry pressurized air).
On a spectacular occasion, we even took first class. They eat caviar there, you know. Packed in barrels. You can have a few seconds and a third. Champagne is at the top of the tree, ready to use. The irony is that, generally speaking, only drug barons, arms dealers, Hollywood stars, and people who own Facebook and Google fly in first class; no one eats and drinks like normal people.
But the fact remains: airlines will try their best to tell you what to do in an emergency, but they have no real advice on how to deal with their dinner plates.
When Traveler invited us to the Singapore Airlines World Food Forum, we said no very politely. But we are curious. Is it possible for an airline to cook something that is neither boring nor anonymous, tastes not reheated, and does not seem to be thrown on the plate?
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When eight of the world’s top chefs from the airline’s international culinary team, including Matt Moran from our Aria restaurant in Sydney and Brisbane, gathered together, what happened at the forum in Singapore?
So we changed our minds and said yes. Within one day, we will meet with the chefs, who will introduce up to 50 new in-flight meals for the coming year; go to the industrial catering kitchen of Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) and produce up to 80,000 meals a day; and Look back at the dining experience in the air the way we are in the restaurant.
What could go wrong?
Some researchers claim that at high altitudes, we lose up to 30% of our ability to taste, and given what we see on air trays, we are often grateful for this fact.
The problem is, this is all about your nose, not your taste buds. Anthony McNeill, Global Director of Food and Beverage, Singapore Airlines, said that if you can't smell the food, you can't taste the food. "The combination of dry cabin air and pressurization means that your nasal passages are dry and less acceptable," he said.
As a result, your general airline historically overuses fat, sugar, and salt to overcome bland, reheated, anonymous food. What is unforgettable is that China Airlines once sent a small packet of MSG in our lunch box, and Alitalia also sent a small bottle of grappa (I have to say that both help).
McNeil started his career as a young chef at Fanny's in Melbourne, and then worked with well-known hotel groups in China and the Middle East for a long time. He has witnessed how new technologies can improve passenger comfort.
"The situation is improving," he said. "The technology of the new generation of aircraft increases humidity levels and reduces cabin pressure, resulting in a more comfortable experience."
Lobster thermidor is one of the most popular dishes in the premium cabins of Singapore Airlines.
Well, this is interesting. Starting in December 2018, Singapore Airlines premium class passengers can actually book online and order dishes from the on-board menu. Most importantly, first and business class passengers can "book a chef" and order the main course from a separate menu of up to 68 choices. The two biggest orders are obviously Lobster Hot Moon and Beef Rib Eye with Roasted Vegetables and Garlic Puree.
Since there is no tightly wrapped ham and cheese sandwich on the list, we ordered the feeling of the air lunch we hope to travel from Sydney to Singapore-the chicken rice she ate, and the lamb shank he ate in Indian curry.
The online service attributed her dishes to him, and attributed his to her, but it didn't matter. After getting married, we naturally exchanged tableware. His (her) chicken rice is a beauty; skinned tender meat with a little oil, served with rice, smells and tastes like cooked chicken soup. Her (his) lamb leg curry is ok, but a bit stuffy.
Yeoh Phee Teik, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience, Singapore Airlines, clarified the future with a welcome speech at the World Food Forum. "Our customers pay more attention to their health and well-being when they travel," he said.
"Our award-winning chefs from the international culinary group have joined this healthy movement to create new seasonal menus with lighter dishes, allowing customers to eat as healthy in the air as on the ground."
Just the previous week, the airline also signed a contract with the global health brand Como Shambhala to launch "healthy delicacies" on flights departing from Singapore from July 1st. All cabins will introduce new health features featuring specially curated dishes. menu.
We say it all depends on your understanding of health. We ate salted almonds and cashews with pre-dinner gin and tonics, then spicy noodles and red wine, then cheese, then chocolate. It really makes us feel good. Please don't take our nuts.
Singapore Airlines' food products outside of Singapore, its busiest hub, are produced by the Singapore Airport Terminal Services Company in North Changi. Just to look at their production facilities, entering from the administrative building through the connecting bridge, we had to take off our watches, put on shoes, hair nets, masks and windbreakers.
Then we had to go through a high-speed, low-pressure air shower, which removed all remaining surface deposits. If they can also immerse us in amniotic fluid, they will do so.
Rick Stephen, who was born in Australia, founded the highly acclaimed Brisbane restaurant Raphael's in the 1980s. Now he operates these two large kitchens as the kitchen director of SATS, and 1,200 chefs report to him every day. Like a foreman, he walked us along the corridor across the vast plains of conveyor belts and refrigerators, and showed us 19 independent kitchens, producing as many as 80,000 dishes a day.
We visited professional Japanese, Indian, Thai, Western and Muslim kitchens, another one was dedicated to peeling shrimp and the other was dedicated to peeling eggs. There is a room dedicated to thawing control, and a 24-hour bakery that produces 110,000 kinds of baked goods every day.
"We also make all the chocolates, all the seasonings, our business snacks, and two cheese rooms," he said, before taking us into a computerized spice room that has not yet been activated, where each spice will be electronically Distribution and weighing.
A kitchen dedicated to pork, we watched and fascinated, because the long-existing butcher master Martin produced the perfect ballot of truffle pork and chicken farce after another; every movement of his was as smooth and as a clockwork Precise. "If Martin is making meatballs, we don't have to weigh them," Stephen said. "It was 20 grams, then 20 grams, then 20 grams, it was perfect."
The airline even has a simulated cabin in the SATS facility that can be fully pressurized in 30 minutes. Stephen said that this is their secret weapon against boredom, because they can adjust and adjust the formula, knowing how stress affects the aroma and taste.
Another discovery was a small room with only a slender stove-end grill on which hot coals were burning and smoke filled. It looks like a holy place, a sacred place, and to some extent it does.
The airline’s famous Singapore satay is cooked here; the marinated meat is hand-made on colorful bamboo skewers. The small grill can still cook 10,000 chicken satays, 2,000 lamb satays and 1,000 beef satays every day. "We don't dream of using an electric grill or oven," Stephen said.
There are rows of rapid coolers, a huge forest of "combined" ovens, and an automated rice production line. Only a three-person team can cook 4000 servings per hour. The automatic fryer can be mass-produced without the need for human hands to work near the hot oil; a soup station produces 600 liters of chicken broth and 300 liters of veal broth every day.
"It's all made fresh from bones, without foundation," he said affirmatively. "It has such a big impact on taste."
If there are any signs of new operating facilities launched by SATS in March 2019, automation and data-driven analysis are the way forward. The dry goods storage area itself is six stories high. The cute delivery robot is used to deliver goods and ingredients. It follows the controller like an eager puppy, imitating every direction and speed.
All this is dwarfed by the amazing omelette machine, which is a Heath Robinson-like device, in which 15 omelette pans complete a complete circle on a rotating turntable, attended by three female chefs. There was a plop. The dispenser puts 100 grams of fried egg mixture into each pan. You can watch it all day long.
At that time, a pan is halfway around and the omelet is ready to be folded by a chef. When it completes the cycle, it has solidified and the golden color is perfectly formed, and then the process begins again.
"We used this machine to make as many as 8,000 omelets a day," Stephen said proudly. The most surprising thing is that in all these high-tech platter games, each omelet is still gently folded by human hands. "Each frying pan can only be used for 14 days," Stephen said. Thankfully, the staff lasted longer.
The art of inflight dining is to make the food on board as close as possible to the dishes that chefs dream of. Anthony McNeill worked closely with Rick Stephen of SATS and his team of executive chefs to perfect each new recipe. A specific standard was established for the kitchen, accurate to the last gram.
Nevertheless, the human factor is still crucial. We entered a huge room with uniformed and masked staff working in groups, circled on the benches, and the benches were filled with small rectangular plates familiar to economy class passengers (business class and first class passengers are discs) Son. Wow).
We counted 160 plates, one bench, and about 10 benches, but then everything began to blur. This is not the case for the staff, who seem to know instinctively how many slices of carrots or green beans to add to each dish without having to refer to the color photos provided. A staff member adds selected coriander leaves to curry and rice dishes, placing them in exactly the same position each time.
The main dishes are placed on huge trays and conveyed to a special cooling device through a conveyor belt to reduce the food temperature to a safe level as soon as possible. Finally, the dishes are loaded into smaller trays and loaded into the familiar kitchen cart on board, ready to board the plane.
Do you want a drink after takeoff? Uh, yes, please. Every year, Singapore Airlines provides high-end passengers with vintage Dom Perignon Champagne worth US$6.25 million and Kruger Grande Specialty wine worth US$4.4 million (you must have something to wash off all the caviar).
Michael Hill Smith from South Australia’s beloved Shaw & Smith, one of three international wine experts, as well as Oz Clarke from the United Kingdom and Jeannie Cho Lee from Hong Kong, said that the airline’s wine profile is slowly changing to include More from the Burgundy Cru vineyards of Grand Cru and Premier.
"We learned from the survey that people still prefer New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Australian Shiraz and Bordeaux," said Hill-Smith. "But again, you need to bring some discoveries for people to try. If the wine is good, why not?"
The work of the International Wine Expert Panel has been amplified in the air by more and more young sommeliers in the air, crew members who have a special interest in wine, and people who have obtained advanced certificates from the British Wine and Spirits Education Trust. There is a kind of surreal pleasure when discussing something like wine, which is so entrenched and connected to the earth, with such a long distance on it.
Given the context-you are in the air, fixed on your seat-dining in this rather narrow cylindrical restaurant is surprisingly relaxing. The decoration is pleasant and the lighting is flexible. Some guests even fell asleep and snored during the meal.
The staff are elegant and charming, dressed in colorful uniforms, creating a unique difference ("Singapore girl" factor) and giving people a sense of origin. The dietary choices almost reached the level of obsessive-compulsive disorder, the food was put on the tray and brought to the table, and the bread was delivered separately.
In general, dishes influenced by Asia are the most successful. A bowl of minced meat and black rice vinegar minced meat noodles is refreshing and full of flavor; Hainanese chicken rice is served with black beans, fresh chili and lime dipping sauce; Singapore curry laksa exudes the dreamy smell of rich coconut cream gravy; a delicate dish The sea bass fillets with Jinhua ham are extremely delicate.
The wine pouring is very efficient, with a wide range of varieties, and the price is included (although there is no sign of Pinot Noir on our SYD/SNG or SNG/SYD flights). Tea is the only sticking point-it is either weak or strong, and it is never correct.
Obviously lack of outdoor dining and small windows, but this is consistent with the genre. Diners can even indulge in a variety of entertainment activities-in order to remain competitive, restaurants on the planet may consider doing so. The best point? When dining, you are actually transporting at high speed from one country to another.
A wide variety of drinks are included in the price.
GO-TO DISH Bak chor mee pork black vinegar noodles
COST is variable, from economy to first-class suites.
PRO TIP chooses food specific to the departure airport, such as Singaporean food outside of Singapore, Western food outside of Sydney.
At the World Food Forum, we watched Italian creative Carlo Cracco infused lentils with smoked chestnuts and hazelnuts; French Georges Blanc made morel polenta with grilled chicken breast, zucchini and asparagus.
"For me as a French chef, sauces are very important," said Blanc, the longest-serving (and most savvy) chef in the international team, who has won three for his restaurant since 1981. Michelin star. "It's actually a liquid seasoning, so it must be well adjusted to give the food the proper balance."
Shanghai chef Zhu Jun salivates with his wallet-style spring crab dumplings, and the famous Indian chef Sanjiv Kapoor prepares smoked shaam savera (spinach kofta in tomato sauce), which is the perfect balance of tradition and twist. The famous Japanese Yoshihiro Murata handles his dishes with all the seasonality and precision of exquisite kaiseki cuisine. His trio is smoked salmon with miso yolk, firefly squid and asparagus, as well as squid and bamboo shoots; New York’s Gotham Bar and Grill Alfred Portale represents his hometown. His hometown dish is a carefully selected sea bass with grilled fennel and blood orange lotion. Suzanne Goin of Lucques Restaurant in Los Angeles introduced a frozen red pepper soup with Aleppo peppers, chives and whipped cream, which fully demonstrates her clean, market-oriented California approach.
If Blanc is about sauces, then Goin is about fresh vegetables. “I use watercress, arugula (rocket), vanilla and baby spinach, and healthy doses of acid—usually citrus juice—to brighten any dish,” she said. One of the most valuable parts of her work is the collaboration of the catering facilities at Los Angeles Airport with the same farmers she uses in restaurants. "It's really exciting to think of our local farmers' products being served on flights all over the world."
Next up is our own Matt Moran from ARIA in Sydney and Brisbane, a proud Australian comfort dish with peas, anchovy and tarragon Gremorata. After working for the International Culinary Panel for 15 years and creating 700 dishes, he said that he knows how to break this process down into several steps.
"The first few years are difficult, trying to understand what you can and can't do," he said. "We now have step-by-step photos that can show where everything goes and the order."
Although he personally likes a braised wagyu beef cheek (he said “braised dishes are the best”), he did not try to replicate the menus of his high-end Aria restaurants in Sydney and Brisbane. "You can't like food too much," he said. "People want to recognize what is in front of them, so you have to keep it simple."
Drinking wine at an altitude of 10,000 meters is pleasant, but there are some things you need to know. This is the inside story of Michael Hill-Smith, the co-founder of Shaw & Smith Wines in South Australia and Tolpuddle in Tasmania, who is one of the three prominent consultants of the airline's International Wine Council.
1. Like food, your wine tastes different from that on the ground. "The relative humidity in most cabins is low, which can dry out our nasal receptors, resulting in a weakened sense of smell and taste," Hill-Smith said. Therefore, the wine selected for Singapore Airlines is tasted in a pressurized simulated cabin or in the air.
2. He said that the best performing varieties to choose from are more aromatic. The hardness, astringency and bitterness in the air are more prominent, so Hill-Smith tends to avoid choosing acidic or tannin styles for the list. "Bright and vibrant wine paired with fresh fruit flavors works well," he said. "Riesling, Australian Shiraz and its soft, mature tannins, or modern Pinot Noir are your best choices."
3. The more you smell, the more you taste, so do your best to increase the aroma of the wine. Glasses are usually smaller than top restaurants, so shake the wine gently to increase its contact with oxygen. Red wine is usually served relatively cool, so let the wine warm up in the glass.
4. The best strategy is to drink less, but drink better and stay hydrated. "A very good glass of wine can help me relax and enjoy the food before going to bed," Michael Hill Smith said. "But because we are all dehydrated during long flights, drinking plenty of water is a good strategy."
5. If you wake up to the sound of a champagne cork from any airline, they are doing it wrong. The correct way to open a champagne bottle is to take the cork out of the bottle with a pop instead of a pop. No one wants to hear a loud popping sound on an airplane.
Matt Moran (Matt Moran) designed the latest dishes for Singapore Airlines to play to his strengths, focusing on Australian lamb, the side dish is fresh peas, the side dish is modern Australian flavor.
"For me, the most important thing about food is texture, but you have to maintain a balance," said the personable chef, who always chats with the staff on the boat. "If you have a fatty food like lamb, you really need acidity, whether it's vinegar, lemon, or in this case, pickled anchovy."
Australian lamb tenderloin is cut into 120g portions, slowly cooked in sous-vide cooking, and then roasted. Cool quickly to stop the cooking process, and then heat on the machine at 150 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.
30 grams of fresh peas (about 70 grams) quickly turn white. "Even if 15 seconds is too long, it will affect the quality and flavor," Moran said.
Tomatoes are cooked with garlic and herbs to add a bit of freshness and acidity to the plate.
Drizzle with anchovy oil before serving and use 10 grams of marinated white anchovy as a garnish to provide balance.
30 ml lamb and anchovy sauce, seasoned with fresh tarragon.
The delicate pea sprout tendrils (three in a plate) come from Export Fresh, an Australian salad leaf expert, and are kept fresh under a damp kitchen towel.
Fresh tarragon is mixed with garlic and breadcrumbs to create a texture contrast.
Michael Hill-Smith recommended an Australian Shiraz from the list, such as Tim Kirk's 2016 Clonakilla O'Riada Shiraz from Canberra. It is fragrant, spicy and cool, and the climate is cool. "It is fresh and full of vitality, with enough acidity to eliminate the higher fat content of lamb," he said.
Grilled goldfish with nicoise salad
Fingerling potatoes, green beans, quail eggs, cherry tomatoes, olive paste and pesto
Grilled lamb chops with braised lamb neck.
Fried eggplant with balsamic vinegar and Romesco sauce
Crispy duck with stomach (a sweet and sour caramel sauce) with chicory, lettuce leaves and oranges
Popcorn cheesecake with yogurt sorbet, caramel sauce with fresh raspberries and caramel popcorn
Jill and Terry are regular columnists for Good Food in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, and they are also directors of the Australian Financial Review's 2019 Australia's Top Restaurant Awards.
Jill has been the culinary editor of The Times for many years, has written 16 books, and is the world's first sustainable and ethical restaurant guide, the founding editor of Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery.
Terry commented on the restaurant for the Independent for nine years on Sunday and edited the food guide for nine years. They eat, drink and travel together in order to find food wherever they might hide-even on an airplane.
Jill Dupleix and Terry Durack are provided by Singapore Airlines.