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 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are going to talk about something different than usual please enjoy

AIRPLANE FOOD

Pilots Eat Different Meals To Passengers

“The life of everyone on board depends upon just one thing: finding someone back there who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner.” If the movie Airplane! taught us anything, it’s that the flight crew should never eat the same meal as passengers.

Thankfully, due to very stringent safety regulations, it’s super rare for airplane meals to give you food poisoning. However, it’s still important to give pilots and co-pilots different meals to prevent them getting sick, just in case. Because if those in charge of the plane suddenly get an upset stomach, it won’t be a pretty flying experience for anybody.

Umami - The Savoury Fifth Taste Sensation - Is Unaffected By Altitude

Umami, the fifth taste besides salty, sweet, sour, and bitter, is the only taste that is unaffected at such a high altitude. If anything, scientists have claimed it’s enhanced.

Umami, beloved by Japanese chefs, is that satisfying, savoury taste you get from foods such as tomatoes, sardines, shellfish, and soy sauce. That’s probably why you see so many in-flight meals packed with umami-rich ingredients such as spinach, mushroom and fish, not to mention all the tomato juice served on board.

Culinary Science Goes Into Every Mouthful

The process for creating on-board meals, from fully-designing to implementing menus, involves lots of trial and error and can take more than a year. United’s Polaris menu, which launched in 2016, included 28 menu workshops in 16 cities on five continents to produce 48 new salads, 96 appetisers and 240 entrees.

Science and culinary arts combine when creating plane food. Virgin, for example, always choose proteins that can survive if the seatbelt sign goes on and the food is stuck in the oven. Salmon, kingfish and barramundi are all high in oil content which is good, and meat that has a little bit of fat also keep their texture well. Airlines would never use a loin of venison because it’s got no fat and if it’s overcooked, it’s going to be like leather.

Even Celebrity Chefs Have Tried To Make Plane Food Taste Good

Many airlines have turned to celebrity chefs to bring not only taste, but also a bit of glamour, back to flying. Australian airline Qantas pioneered the concept of partnering with celebrity chefs in 1997 when it brought aboard Neil Perry, who put Aussie fine dining on the map at his flagship restaurant, Rockpool.

Air France decided to capitalise on its national culinary heritage by asking Michelin-starred chefs from around the country to create the menus for its first and business class passengers.

Not to be left out, British Airways challenged gastronomic guru Heston Blumenthal to create the ultimate in-flight meal. The result was “Height Cuisine,” a menu designed to maximise the taste of its dishes at altitude by using recipes that are naturally high in umami.

Not Eating During A Flight Can Actually Be Bad For You

Those who refuse to eat airplane food or simply hate eating while flying aren’t making the healthy choice. Not eating on the plane is pretty bad for your health because it can cause your blood sugar levels to drop, which results in you feeling fatigued, weak, and shaky.

Not eating can also cause migraines and drastically changes your mood, too. And as for jet lag, not eating can worsen the effects. So, next time you fly, make sure you either brave the on-board food, or take your own.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking