1 of 3 | Air France and Air Canada recently announced new chef collaborations, joining airlines like Qatar Airways, Emiriates and British Airways which have tapped regional celebrity chefs to revamp menus. Photo courtesy of Montréal en Lumière
March 29 (UPI) — Airlines like Air France, Qatar, Emirates and Air Canada have recruited some of the best chefs in the world to prepare high-quality menus for customers.
Air France and Air Canada announced new chef collaborations in March, joining Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas, who have been developing new menus and partnerships to create authentic menus and snacks to lure travelers.
In February, Air France tapped master chef Olivier Perret and chef Dominique Crenn to create new menus offered as incentives to fly from Canada and the United States to France.
His creation unveiled at the Montréal en Lumiere festival, Perret and his crew served Quebec farm-raised chicken breast roasted in tarragon crust, melting potatoes, sautéed chanterelles with blueberries and red wine sauce, followed by a pecan, maple and cranberry dessert.
Julie Martel, programming manager for the festival, said the passenger’s experience on a flight to a new country often serves to set the tone for the trip, with food being a key element.
“It’s a taste of culture before you land at your destination,” she told UPI. “This is why choosing the right chefs is so important. They act as culinary ambassadors.”
Air France also has partnered with renowned chefs like François Adamski, Emmanuel Renaut, Anne-Sophie Pic, Julien Royer and Jean-Charles Brédas to create menu items based on its regional network.
In March, Air Canada announced it would offer new dishes like Thai chicken and rice, penne with pesto, chicken cacciatore and even a pancake with maple syrup while teaming up with chefs Jérôme Ferrer, Vikram Vij and David Hawksworth.
Late last year, Qatar Airways partnered with Thai celebrity chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn, or Chef Ton, to serve signature dishes on routes between Thailand and Doha.
That menu features a mix of items from his Michelin-star restaurant, Le Du, including his signature river prawn dish and Coconut Sago dessert and specialty inventions like beef short rib curry and lobster curry.
Gategroup, a Swiss company that services the travel industry, including catering and food logistics, announced in February it would partner with Qatar Airways to launch a culinary studio in Doha to “facilitate innovation, co-creation and efficient menu design.”
In a statement, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said their partnership would deliver “refined culinary experiences for our guests, in-flight and on the ground in our world class lounges at Hamad International Airport.”
Throughout March, British Airways joined with legendary barbecue restaurant Franklin Barbecue of Austin, Texas, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its London-to-Austin route and entice flyers.
The company offered limited edition bottles of its original BBQ sauce, in addition to a beef brisket dish on the flight from Austin to London.
British Airways’ Executive Chef Mark Brega said he took inspiration directly from pitmaster Aaron Franklin’s culinary mastery after visiting him in Austin.
“We are always looking for culinary inspiration in the cities we fly to, so it was a delight to meet Aaron Franklin and learn from his passion and expertise and share Franklin Barbecue’s original BBQ sauce with our customers,” he said in a statement.
Tinkering with menus in the airline industry goes back many decades and brought a number of innovations to flyers.
In 1973, the old French airline Union de Transports Aériens made culinary history, hiring chef Raymond Oliver to retool its in-flight menus. Oliver leaned on salt, sugar and oil to spruce up the recipes.
In 2010, a Lufthansa study led to chefs experimenting with cinnamon, ginger, garlic, chili and curry, eventually relying on intense flavors, such as orange and tomato oils and tomato concentrate to enhance the food.