Flying has always been about getting from one place to another in the quickest manner possible. Priya Vatsyayan, Vistara’s in-house chef, and Rajeev Kumar Bansal, Group Chef – Culinary Development, TajSATS Air Catering, both based out of Delhi, explain the process involved in ensuring a fine-dining experience at 35,000 feet.
At a restaurant, a customer can pick the dishes they want, but not on a flight. How do you plan your menu to make sure you cater to different palates?
Vatsyayan: We do surveys and visit places known for food like Cyber Hub in Gurugram, Old Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata. For instance, Cyber Hub is extremely popular with corporates, which is the kind of clientèle we see on Vistara, and we observe what they eat. Any feedback that comes on social media is read.
So, after some passengers wrote to us about our desserts, the catering team decided to visit Kolkata as we were doing eggless preparations. We also went to the German Bakery there and flew down some samples, and in the current menu we have selections from there, such as espresso caramel pastry, praline pastry, rich truffle tart.
What are the meal choices available on-board?
Vatsyayan: We offer a total of nine meal choices in a flight — four for business, three for premium economy, and two for economy. Further, there are six meal cycles in a day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, two refreshments and snacks.
We ensure that no two meals in a flight are the same and that the menu gets a complete overhaul every fourth day, especially important because many of our passengers are frequent flyers. This means that when we sit down to plan for the entire summer or winter season, we have a spread of at least 220 different meals. We also prepare a calendar for festive occasions such as Holi, Deepavali and Onam. On some of these days we do a completely different menu, and on others we just do a special dessert.
What are the challenges involved in catering on board a flight?
Bansal: The first requirement is that the food has to be safe from bacteria, since we prepare the food around eight to 16 hours before a flight. So, once the food is prepared, they are put in blast chillers and cooled below five degrees. Following this, they are packed in casseroles and stored in refrigerated walk-in rooms and further cooled to one to four degrees until it is time to shift them on to an aircraft. Our next challenge is to ensure that the food texture doesn’t change on reheating. We do several trials to arrive at the right consistency needed for different items, especially those with gravy. Another challenge is to arrange different food items in varying ratios to ensure that the visuals are attractive. This is easier to do when you have a full plate, as in a restaurant, but we have to achieve the same results with a casserole.
27/02/19 Jagriti Chandra/The Hindu
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At a restaurant, a customer can pick the dishes they want, but not on a flight. How do you plan your menu to make sure you cater to different palates?
Vatsyayan: We do surveys and visit places known for food like Cyber Hub in Gurugram, Old Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata. For instance, Cyber Hub is extremely popular with corporates, which is the kind of clientèle we see on Vistara, and we observe what they eat. Any feedback that comes on social media is read.
So, after some passengers wrote to us about our desserts, the catering team decided to visit Kolkata as we were doing eggless preparations. We also went to the German Bakery there and flew down some samples, and in the current menu we have selections from there, such as espresso caramel pastry, praline pastry, rich truffle tart.
What are the meal choices available on-board?
Vatsyayan: We offer a total of nine meal choices in a flight — four for business, three for premium economy, and two for economy. Further, there are six meal cycles in a day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, two refreshments and snacks.
We ensure that no two meals in a flight are the same and that the menu gets a complete overhaul every fourth day, especially important because many of our passengers are frequent flyers. This means that when we sit down to plan for the entire summer or winter season, we have a spread of at least 220 different meals. We also prepare a calendar for festive occasions such as Holi, Deepavali and Onam. On some of these days we do a completely different menu, and on others we just do a special dessert.
What are the challenges involved in catering on board a flight?
Bansal: The first requirement is that the food has to be safe from bacteria, since we prepare the food around eight to 16 hours before a flight. So, once the food is prepared, they are put in blast chillers and cooled below five degrees. Following this, they are packed in casseroles and stored in refrigerated walk-in rooms and further cooled to one to four degrees until it is time to shift them on to an aircraft. Our next challenge is to ensure that the food texture doesn’t change on reheating. We do several trials to arrive at the right consistency needed for different items, especially those with gravy. Another challenge is to arrange different food items in varying ratios to ensure that the visuals are attractive. This is easier to do when you have a full plate, as in a restaurant, but we have to achieve the same results with a casserole.
27/02/19 Jagriti Chandra/The Hindu
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