Top Chef & Airline Food

I spent lots of time chatting with friends last night about the current episode of Top Chef, Bravo’s reality cooking show.

I became a fan of the show because I know one of the chefs.  Chef Brian Malarkey is the nephew of a good pal, and I got to know him during his tenure at The Oceanaire Seattle.  He left Seattle do become the Executive Chef at The Oceanaire San Diego, and I have had the great pleasure of eating some of Brian’s tasty dishes in both locations.

In each episode, the chefs are given a different culinary challenge, and asked to step up and creative a wonderful dish under difficult and stressful circumstances.  I could only imagine how difficult this must be for them. . . until last night. 

Last night’s challenge was for the chefs to the kitchen of an airline, and create a first class meal that would fit within the storage restraints of an airplane galley, could be cooked and served on an airplane, AND be tasty and attractive in its presentation. 

As the chefs moaned and groaned about the variances in oven temperatures, lack of working space, small containers, etc., I started to laugh.  Welcome to my world people!

While this episode was fun and entertaining, it is NOT realistic, nor representative of what it’s really like to prepare or serve meals on an airplane.  So to all of you who are wondering why you can’t get a great meal like these on an airplane, let me tell you how it is.

REALITY SHOW:  These chefs were given a protein and a variety of foods with which to prepare their dish.  When listening to the list of ingredients they were working with, it’s clear that they wouldn’t be found in a typical airline kitchen. 

REALITY:  Airplane meals are constructed with a very strict budget in mind.  There is a price point that can not be exceeded.  The cost of a meal relates to the cost of your airfare, and you don’t want to pay one penny more.  You won’t find lots of expensive ingredients in airplane food.  Truffle oil?  Probably not.

 

REALITY SHOW:  Each chef prepared a meal which would serve 18 people, with two hours allowed for prep time.  They left the kitchen and went nearly immediately to the plane.

REALITY:  Airplane meals must serve hundreds, if not thousands, of people each and every day of the year.  The assembly line process that must be used to produce this volume of food does not allow for those personal touches that the chefs used.  Meals are produced much farther in advance than was depicted.  Would it be nice to slow things down, and have a little more panache to the meal.  Sure.  But are you willing to pay more for your ticket?

 

REALITY SHOW:  The ovens on the airplane cook irregularly, and don’t allow for variation on how people want their steak cooked.

REALITY:  You’ve got that one right!  The airplane provides neither the ovens, tools, nor space to individually prepare meals.  Things are prepared to a common denominator.  We try to judge correctly, but there are miscues.

 

REALITY SHOW:  There were lots of people to help serve the meal on the plane.

REALITY:  Market realities of ticket prices have meant fewer Flight Attendants staffing each flight.  Often, one person must cover the entire process from set up, cooking, plating, serving, and cleaning up.

 

REALITY SHOW:  Who was cleaning up?

REALITY:  All aspects of meal prep, service, and clean up must occur within a limited time frame.  And at altitude.  And sometimes during turbulence.

 

REALITY SHOW:  The judges deemed some of the food “the worst I’ve ever tasted” and “simple inedible.”

REALITY:  Any of the meals would make a lovely first class meal preparation on the flight.

 

REALITY SHOW:  It’s all about the food.

REALITY:  It’s all about the money.

Watching Top Chef is a lot of fun, and I won’t miss an episode.  BUT, it’s not reality.  If you want to see how meal prep is on an airplane, watch an experience Flight Attendant single-handedly serve 16 first class passengers cocktails, a multi-course meal, wine, and dessert at 35,000 feet during mild turbulence, and get everything picked up and put away prior to landing.

That’s my reality!

Photo credit:  flickr

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