Serving meals 30,000 feet above the ground is no small feat. Add to that the fact that our taste buds and sense of smell are the first things to go at that high altitude, which is why many meals taste so bland: our perception of saltiness and sweetness drops in a pressurised cabin. So, how do some airlines try to defeat this aspect of human biology?
Airplane meals, like us, can’t miss their flights. So, chefs move with military clockwork to stay within flight schedules and food safety requirements. Then there’s the added issue that food can taste different in the sky due to air pressure, engine noise, and dryness on the plane.
The catering team uses a pressurised simulation room to test and taste recipes under flight conditions before they are approved. Once cooked, the cooking process is instantly halted using a blast chiller. On flights, attendants use the residual heat from onboard steam ovens to finish cooking food just before service. If a meal goes over this safety window by even a single hour, it fails food safety standards and must be thrown out. Depending on where you board a Singapore Airlines flight and which cabin class you are travelling in, your food menu changes.
Moreover, to prevent food from drying out, chefs cook premium cabin meats only to 30% to 40%. Meanwhile, other hot foods, like vegetables and pasta, are cooked to 50% to 60% doneness, so they remain firm and al dente. The airline also ensures that, from the moment cooking begins until a passenger eats, the entire timeline must not exceed 72 hours. The airline takes 9 to 12 months to create a single new dish. It also coordinates menus from 77 different departure locations to ensure regional variety, offering local staples like chicken and rice on flights departing Singapore or smoky trout salad on flights departing New York.
