Aeroplane food hasn’t earned the best reputation over the years – after all, we’ve all endured trays of bland, unrecognisable mush lumped into the same bracket as hospital food. So it was only a matter of time before enterprising airlines saw this airborne Achilles’ heel as an opportunity.
Increasingly willing to put their stamp on airline menus, world-renowned chefs are leading the way when it comes to curating elevated dining experiences at 40,000 feet. But how do you cook a Michelin-worthy meal when battling cramped conditions, altitude-altering flavours and single-temperature ovens?
World-renowned chef and BBC MasterChef: The Professionals judge, Monica Galetti, knows what it takes to create luxury dining at 40,000 feet. She’s been Singapore Airlines’ guest chef since 2024, and has curated four seasonal menus for the airline. So when offered the chance to try her latest spring menu before its official launch in March, I asked myself: am I willing to travel 14 hours just to sample a four-course meal in the sky? I popped my passport in my bag, donned some loose-waisted trousers, and off I went.
Before take-off, I met with Monica at the Dnata headquarters – where thousands of in-flight meals are prepared for over 100 airlines – to chat about her new menu and the various challenges that arise when cooking for the sky. “Cooking at high altitude means having to adjust our seasoning as your senses are actually dulled in the air,” Monica explained. “Something else you have to take into consideration is the space the team has to work in. It’s obviously tiny, so you need to think about how practical it is to physically put the dish together and still create something that looks beautiful”.
This awareness of space in the tiny galley extends to strict rules, including how many movements are allotted to each plate. For instance, in first class and suites, staff may use up to five movements per plate, whereas in business class, they may use only three to four. Time is also of the essence, with rows of hungry customers expecting a seamless food service. Monica’s crab starter, for instance, takes her just over a minute to plate, yet when I tried my own hand at plating the dish at speed, it took me about four.
Another stratospheric challenge is ensuring the protein doesn’t dry out in the small, single-temperature fan ovens on board. “On the plane, meals have to be reheated for no less than 20 minutes at 180 degrees, so just imagine how well done the food would be if already cooked to perfection on the ground.”
