When you hop on a flight from A to B, the last thing that you really think about is the food. Airplane food is a must because your journey is so long that you need some sustenance. Hope on a plane expecting top-quality meals, though, and you will be let down. Get on the wrong air carrier and your plane food might resemble prison food.
A century of learning
Go back a century and the first airplane foods were being handed out. Even if you think the food you get today is revolting, it will beat the stuff that was being fed on planes 100 years ago. It would have been something basic like some sandwiches and fruit; the idea of cooking on a plane did not come around until a good few years later.
Smoking on planes when cooking was a thing
Back in the day, you used to find that you could enjoy a cigarette between your food courses. While this would never happen now, many people enjoyed a post-meal or mid-meal smoke during their trips. The same could be said of the chefs; so, that ‘smoky’ flavor on old airplane food might not have been from a well-managed smoking process, but from a good old cigarette!
Eating in the air is a distracting experience
One of the main reasons why airline food can be so offputting is that our senses go into a weird place when we are 30,000ft in the air. The ability to taste salt changes as we hit a higher altitude, and so too does the ability to taste sweetness. So, if you are loading up your airplane food with more salt and more sugar, it might be down to the fact you are so high up that the food tastes poor. It’s not always down to just the quality.
Stick to umami
If you want the best experience on airplane food, stick to umami foods. This is a savory flavoring made using soy sauce, tomatoes, shellfish, and spinach. It does not become different as the senses our body uses to discover umami’s various flavors do not change as we get higher up into the air. Get something with tomatoes and/or fish and you are far less likely to notice a difference in flavor up in the air.