Revealed: Michelin-star chefs on how they improve airline food

Bon appetite: Larnaca to Saint Petersburg aboard Rossiya Airlines. Photo / sky_meal, Instagram

"Beef or chicken?" Is the question posed to air passengers during meals.

As in, "I can't tell... Which one is it?"

The non-descript, miniaturised cabin portions of food disguised in layers of aluminum do little to excite the senses.

But the blandness is not the fault of the airlines, it's the altitude.

In a pressurised plane cabin humidity drops to less than a dry day in the Sahara. It is this dryness combined with the cabin pressure that leads to a reduced sense of taste and smell.

A passenger's ability to appreciate sweet or salty flavours drops by as much as 30 per cent , found one study from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute.

The study which was commissioned by Lufthansa is a sign of how bland inflight meals are leading airlines to despair.

Paris CDG Charles de Gaulle Airport to Miami aboard American Airlines. Photo / Jeff Greenberg, Getty Images

Those with particularly a sensitive sense of taste choose to avoid airline meals all together.

However they could have easily just asked the Michelin-Star chef, Jason Atherton, for his simple solution to improving inflight cuisine.

The 46-year-old chef from the London restaurant Pollen Street Social, revealed he's not above taking cooking tips from friends.

The tip was passed onto him by his actor friend and frequent flyer, Jude Law.
"It was Law who told me to always take Tabasco on a plane," said Atherton, referring to the bottled, spicy chilli sauce.

"Aeroplane food is always bland, so it's great to give it kick," he told the Indian newspaper Mint.

"I just eat the protein, drowned in Tabasco, which tastes OK — well, it tastes of Tabasco, to be honest."

A meal aboard the Cam Ranh to Moscow flight with AzurAir. Photo / Instagram, @sky_meal

He's far from the only chef to have developed his own airplane food 'hack'.

Chef Alfred Portale from New York's Michelin-starred Gotham Bar and Grill was interviewed by Quartz magazine, about his new menus for Singapore airlines.

"Simply, [we use] salt and pepper but very often we use a lot of aromatic spices, sweet spices, to jack up the flavours," Mr Portale said.

"Or we put elements on the dish, like condiments, that will jar your taste buds."
The British chef Heston Blumenthal was brought onboard by BA to solve a similar problem.

Chef Heston Blumenthal sets tea service for British Airways in Capetown, South Africa. Photo / Roger Sedres, Getty

The chef, who had once made a meal from scratch at 35,000 as part of a television programme, thought his was mostly just for show.

More serious suggestions for BA included serving fruitier white wines and more mellow reds, and installing steam ovens to heat bread without hardening it.

Some Chefs simply won't eat on airplanes.

Gordon Ramsay recently vowed there was "no f**king way" he would eat on planes.

The chef gave this typically colourful statement in an interview with Refinery 29.

"I worked for airlines for 10 years, so I know where this food's been and where it goes, and how long it took before it got on board."