How the golden age of airline food came to an end

Most of us like to complain about plane food. But how many of us have tried taking our own food on board? Over in the United States, one traveller recently took in-flight self-catering to the next level, bringing on board her own flour to make gnocchi.

Admittedly, the pasta-enthusiast in question, an American influencer called Katie Brooks, didn’t explain how she’d cook the pasta. But her in-flight video, spread across social media, struck a chord with passengers fed up with underwhelming meals at 35,000 feet.

Such grumbles are hardly new, though what adds insult to injury, is the fact that these days practically everyone on Earth knows that things didn’t used to be like this. Thanks to the internet, we’ve all seen the old photos of smartly-dressed passengers, tucking into a spectacular luncheon of roasted meats and platters filled with fresh fruit and vegetables.

Have we really fallen as far as the nostalgic memes on Facebook might suggest? Unfortunately, yes. That’s according to Fred Finn, a lifelong aviation enthusiast who holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most frequent flyer. In his memoir Sonic Boom, he details how he flew with Pan Am throughout the 1970s, including on its iconic Boeing 707.

“It was the best experience I ever had in the skies,” he tells me over a video call. “Every meal was cooked on board and the attendants were trained at The Savoy in silver service. You would order at the beginning of your flight and then be taken to the dining area after an hour or so.”

Flying’s delicious golden age

Pan Am may be regarded as the pinnacle of in-flight luxury, but it was far from the only post-war carrier with a reputation for culinary excellence. During the 1960s, American Airlines had its legendary Royal Coachman service, with an extravagant menu – beef consommé, sautéed chicken breasts – designed to echo a state banquet.

At the same time, Alaska Airlines introduced its Golden Samovar menu, plying passengers flying between the US and USSR with lashings of Russian caviar and veal Orloff. Meanwhile, Australia’s Qantas famously offered fresh lobster and oysters to passengers on its trailblazing “kangaroo” service between London and Sydney.

Then there’s Concorde. For all its dizzying feats regarding the transatlantic speed record, the iconic speedbird is also remembered for its collaborations with Michelin-starred chefs. Menus from its 1980s and 1990s heyday are enough to make the modern traveller green with envy, filled with excessive delights like lobster canapes and roast guinea fowl.

Aviation expert John Arlidge took several flights on Concorde during the ’90s. Though he says that – when it comes to culinary luxuries – what he remembers even more fondly is the pre-flight service.

“When you walked into the Concorde Room at JFK, you would be greeted by two attendants carrying trays,” he recalls. “On one there were flutes of vintage Krug and on the other there was a Desperate Dan pile of bacon sandwiches with brown sauce. Talk about the perfect way to begin a three-hour flight to London.”

How health and safety killed plane food

Are such days gone forever? While it’s easy to look back in amazement at what flying used to be like, any aviation nerd will tell you that, for a variety of reasons, the idea of an in-flight banquet just isn’t possible today.

For a start, there are the rules against bringing things like sharp knives and uncooked meat on board. Then there’s the radically different design of the modern (much safer) passenger jets, with their smaller galleys and more compact seating areas. Plus you have to factor in that airline tickets cost a tiny fraction of what they used to, even adjusted for inflation.

Instead, the vast majority of airline meals are cooked in large kitchens in close proximity to the airport – usually by third-party companies – before being brought on board to be reheated. Naturally, the meals aren’t exactly a gourmet delight either, usually loaded with sodium in order to compensate for the loss of taste we experience in the air.

The airlines that still succeed at in-flight dining

Still, that hasn’t stopped a handful of airlines going the extra mile when they can. Some full-service carriers still have an in-flight chef, including Austrian Airlines, Gulf Air, Saudia and Turkish Airlines. The last of these even offers the option of having a candlelit dinner for long-haul business-class passengers, which surely has to be the most extravagant option out there?

Every now and then, an airline manages to buck the trend and come out with a legendary meal that stands the test of time. One example would be AirAsia’s take on Nasi Lemak (a Malaysian dish combining fragrant coconut rice and a spicy sambal sauce) which developed such a cult reputation amongst travellers, that the airline was able to open a bricks-and-mortar restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.

Are there any modern plane meals that deserve to join it in the hall of fame? “The biryani in Qatar Airways’ business class has to be my favourite airline meal of all time,” says frequent flyer Gilbert Ott, editor of God Save the Points. “I always look forward to Malaysia Airlines’ satay service, which they serve as a separate course on long flights,” says Rhys Jones from Head for Points.

“As someone who goes back and forth to Japan every year, the cuisine on ANA (or All Nippon) excites me the most. The combination of the zensai appetisers, fresh sushi and a fish-based main dish is as good as what you’d expect at a decent Tokyo restaurant,” says Ross Mollison, a Las Vegas restaurant owner, and founder of the circus company Spiegelworld. He knows a thing or two about fine cuisine.

Faced with the constraints of the modern passenger jet, some airlines have also become deliciously creative to provide travellers with exactly what they want. Etihad reportedly received so many requests for beef tartare from first-class passengers, their chef found a way to get around the raw meat rule: by searing the filet mignon beforehand, and then removing the seared edges in the in-flight kitchen.

Of course, the best pleasures in life don’t have to be complicated. Look at Neil Perry, the long-serving chef for Qantas, who famously had the airline install a toaster in the galley of its A380 planes, in order to provide passengers with generous helpings of hot toast and Vegemite during their flight. “British Airways and Marmite should take note,” says John Arlidge, who rates the airline’s cuisine as being the very best.

Whisper it, then, but could we even be entering a new age of in-flight dining? If you’re boarding certain carriers, the very thought will be utterly preposterous (that’s assuming you even get a meal at all). But if you’re lucky enough to be turning left on one of the luxury airlines, you may well have a very different assessment.

Even with the best chefs on board, it certainly won’t be anything like the belt-loosening banquets they used to have in the 1960s – but with the lethargy and bloating that often accompanies long-haul flights, that might be no bad thing.

The Telegraph, London