Test Flight: LH Searches for Savor in the Sky

[thewinchester]

An interesting behind the scenes article from the Wall Street Journal, looking at LSG Sky Chef's food testing and evaluation facilities in Germany.

As part of the facility, the wingless front portion of an Airbus A310 has been used to establish a pressurised aircraft cabin that can be used to replicate most if not all flying and airplane conditions.

NB: Article also includes a behind-the-scenes image slideshow of the facility in use.

Test Flight: Lufthansa Searches for Savor in the Sky
Food Lab Shows Salt and Sweet Get Dull and Boring; Forget Caviar

By DANIEL MICHAELS, JULY 27, 2010

HOLZKIRCHEN, Germany — Scientists here are using a chopped up jetliner to study bad taste.

Their aim is to understand the decline in haute cuisine at high altitude. Initial test results: Perceptions of sweetness and saltiness drop by up to 30%. Sour, bitter and spicy flavors are barely affected. Resulting culinary turbulence can spoil the most eye-catching dishes.

Quantifying something as subjective as taste isn't easy. That's why chefs from Deutsche Lufthansa AG's LSG Sky Chefs, the world's largest inflight catering company, came to one of the world's biggest low-pressure chambers. The tubular laboratory at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, half submerged in a cow pasture, holds the wingless front portion of an Airbus A310.

 

[samh004]

There are some interesting bits in that piece, such as:

Seasonings like cardamom, lemon grass and curry survived better than salt and sugar. Chefs mused about offering only curries, "but our passengers wouldn't let us," said LSG manager Ernst Derenthal.

I’m sure choosing the curry option in the past has always proved to be good, and this is why, the flavours stick. And I guess, Indian airlines should have an easier job because of this fact?

Mr. Mayer noted that one slight consolation for people crowded into coach is that all those other passengers emit lots of moisture, which keeps cabin humidity at around 15%. In sumptuous first-class cabins, humidity can plunge to 5%, sapping the bouquet from champagne and caviar.

Another interesting little fact, so how do they fix that? Maybe they need to store the food in a more central location down the back and bring it forward at the appropriate time.

Caviar was one food that defied testing. Lufthansa wanted to know which fish eggs hold their character best in the stratosphere. They abandoned efforts after realizing that, even on the ground, flavor varies too widely from brand to brand.

"Maybe they'll try the test again, but I don't know," said Mr. Mayer. "It was very expensive."

And I loved this little bit, perhaps why it’s not offered as often as some would hope.

The only thing I want to question is the subject at the end of the slideshow tasting the red wine. He’s got a good sized red wine glass, but on a plane, such a glass wouldn’t be provided, so the wine he’s tasting might open up a bit more in that glass, but in an airline glass, wont. If they’re being scientific they should replicate it all exactly right I think.