Here's the Best 5-Star Dish at 30,000 Feet
Singapore, Qatar and Emirates airlines aim high, with fine dining in the sky.
— -- Dining on a plane can be a real buzz kill before you enjoy the cuisine at your vacation destination, but it doesn’t have to be.
As fee-hungry airlines look for ways to squeeze your wallet by charging you for everything from water to baggage to seat assignments and food, believe it or not, some airlines are serving up more than stale pretzels and peanuts.
The airline industry is expected to collect a record $50 billion in fees this year, according to a recent study by airline consulting firm Idea Works Co.
Singapore Airlines, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways have already won multiple awards for their five-star culinary dishes in first, business class and coach.
Hit digital show “Real Biz” wanted to get a taste of the best dishes in the sky, so we asked three of the world’s top airline chefs to compete in the ultimate challenge: The best five-star meal at 30,000 feet.
The chefs prepared their favorite in-flight meal, exactly as it would be prepared for passengers aboard the plane and presented the dishes to the Real Biz judges, four-time James Beard award-winning chef Todd English, iron chef judge and restaurateur Donatella Arpaia and ABC News chief business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis.
Judging was not an easy task. Arpaia explained preparing food at 30,000 feet is very different than cooking in a restaurant. “People don’t realize what happens to the palate, when you are flying in the air, and the chefs have to adapt to that because our taste buds change; you have to have more salt and spices.”
Preparing the food is half the battle. Timing the food to arrive on the plane and keeping it at the right temperature is critical. “If you have an hour delay, the food could be sitting in the oven for an hour. Before you know it that piece of fish is now dried out into shoe leather,” English added.
To keep food and beverage temperatures comparable to dining in a five-star restaurant, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways use the latest technology on board the aircrafts.
Colin Binmore, Qatar Airways manager of food and beverage development and inflight services, explained to ABC News, Qatar’s high-tech ovens are preprogrammed to reheat hot meals and alternate between steam and dry heat to avoid overcooking the food. When finished the oven automatically activates a holding function, which keeps the food at the perfect temperature before serving.
Singapore Airlines' develops its dishes in a test kitchen with air pressure that mimics the conditions in an actual airline cabin at 30,000 feet.
The buck doesn’t stop there; these airlines take their presentation seriously. Each meal is served on fine china with real silverware, no matter what class you are in. Qatar Airways even serves its wine and champagne in full-stem glasses.
Darren Bott, manager of regional catering for Emirates airline, added, “each dish is exclusively plated on Royal Doulton fine bone china and Robert Welch cutlery.”
In the ‘Real Biz Chef Show Down’
Singapore whipped up its number-one dish in first class, the "Maine Lobster Parfait,” served chilled with avocado, lemongrass, golden osetra and quail eggs.
Qatar served up a mouthwatering spicy shrimp machbous with spices ranging from cardamom powder cumin, turmeric powder, cinnamon, piled on top of basmati rice garnished with toasted pine nuts, peeled almonds and cashew nuts.
Ultimately, there could only be one winner. After a long heated debate, the Real Biz chef judges Rebecca Jarvis, Todd English and Donatella Arpaia named Singapore Airlines chef Alfred Portale “Chef of the Year” for his number-one dish in the sky, the “Maine Lobster Parfait, Avocado, Lemongrass, Golden Osetra and Quail Eggs.”
Click here, if you dare, to learn how to make Singapore Airline’s Maine lobster parfait.
