A chef working for a firm that produces thousands of plane meals every day has revealed why food served during flights can sometimes appear bland.
Julian Dugmore, regional executive chef for Gate Gourmet, explained that both colour and taste play crucial roles in making meals more appealing to passengers.
Aircraft meals must be prepared using extremely precise methods to minimise bacterial risks. This involves placing finished hot dishes into blast chillers before storing them at 5C until they’re ready for reheating.
However, Julian suggests that part of the reason these meals can look less tempting isn’t due to the dishes themselves, but rather the visual effects caused by being inside an aircraft cabin, making colour choices within the dish even more critical, reports the Mirror.
He told The Times: “It’s all about contrast. Green and red work really well together, but orange can look dull, almost grey, in an aircraft cabin with its lighting.”
Gate Gourmet stands as the globe’s premier provider of airline catering solutions and maintains the most extensive catering network worldwide. The company serves more than 120 airlines.
Beyond using colours to enhance the meal’s visual appeal, Gategroup’s chief operating officer Norbert van den Berg revealed they monitor social media platforms to identify trending foods they can integrate into their offerings. Matcha, a type of powdered green tea, has seen a surge in popularity recently.
Norbert noted that they can “hear the noise if something is cooking” and with matcha they “picked it up just as it was on the upward trajectory and said ‘Let’s use it in a sauce'”.
The topic of plane food has been a hot discussion point in recent months. While some chefs meticulously craft these meals, others have expressed their intention to avoid them entirely.
Dr Rangan Chatterjee, renowned for his TV show Doctor in the House and as the resident doctor on BBC Breakfast, discussed plane meals with Dr Darshan Shah on his Feel Better Live More podcast.
Dr Shah revealed that he usually avoids eating plane meals due to the prolonged impact on his glucose levels.
He stated: “I noticed that if I eat the meal that they gave me in the flight, not only does my glucose shoot up but it would stay up for hours and I was like, ‘I’m going to fast on every plane trip now. It’s just not worth eating’.”