European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse By Dan Berger los Angeles times on a recent weekday morning Carmine Mallei executive chef at United airlines san Francisco Kitchen cooked up a souffle using chanterelle and porcini mushrooms Quot it was gre.i1. Maffoni says Quot you should have tailed it. Like a Rhioe Star restaurant Quot he beams. But will the souffle make it to a Leighl service7 Maftei shrugs. Fir Siho must determine whether the souffle can be prepared half a Day in Advance and held in refrigerated suspension hollow 15 degrees by Federal Law without spoiling Hen he will have to see whether it looks and tastes Good alter it s reheated. And hell have to find out exactly what happens to a souffle at 30,000 feet. Most important the souffle will have to be approved by United a executives. The main question they will ask is the soul Flo easy enough to make and cheap enough to warrant adding to the menu7 its easy to make fun of airline food. It s not easy to Cook it. Airline kitchens work under enormous handicaps. Start with scale. United the Only Domestic airline that operates its own kitchens prepares 50,000 meals a Day a in California alone. There Are two kitchens in san Francisco and another in los Angeles. Its 13 other kitchens at airports scattered around the country prepare a total of 80,000 More meals a Day. Other airlines contract with one of a dozen caterers All of whom operate on the same scale an in flight Kitchen which is usually a warehouse located near a major Airport looks like a scene out of a haul Bunyan Story. Stock pots Are the size of bathtubs. Lach refrigerator is the size of a living room with doors on each end the grills can accommodate to steaks at the same time. The pantry is tilled with barrels of Oil hour Salt and sugar despite the quantities airline caterers Start with very Good ingredients tie steaks Are aged the seafood is fresh. The berries Are Ripe Quot we re shooting for fresher foods Quot says Wolfgang or be Cater air s executive chef for Alaska airlines who has been known to Don Kitchen Whites and walk through air planes asking people How they would improve the Lood Quot when fresh seafood is available we demand it our vegetables Are Iresh almost All the lube says that a decade ago More than half the products used by airlines were packaged but that these Days no More than 10 percent of the products served on Board Are canned still the scale puts limitations on what can be done with the food there a no time for the kind of careful cooking you would find in a restaurant recipes have to be simple enough to fit into an Assembly line setup some of the stations actually look like factories with conveyor Bells running through them. Trays come by one worker plops on lettuce another a handful of sliced Fiam a third some cheese a fourth adds the packets of Mayonnaise and Mustard meals Are assembled at movable stations. As soon As the food is ready for a flight the stainless steel prep station is milled away the area is cleaned and a new line is set up. The in flight Kitchen operates around the clock and at Peak hours it is jammed with Cooks tray assemblers cleaning people and in flight food storage boxes. When they re full the food storage boxes Are moved into refrigerated cold rooms 38 degrees to await the arrival of the plane that they Are destined for. Now consider timing it generally takes Between 12 and 24 hours for an airline meal to get from the Assembly station to a passenger s pull Down tray. During these hours the food is kept just above freezing bread Stales under refrigeration tomatoes lose flavor lettuce Wilts. Even when the food leaves the refrigerator room it must still be kept cold catering companies use a lot of dry ice Between the Kitchen and the air plane. Incoming flights Are cleared for Landing about 15 minutes before they arrive at the Gate. As soon As clearance is Given Liaison personnel in the Kitchen Start loading the cold boxes full of dinners onto Large catering trucks which then head onto the freeway for the 10-Rnmute drive to the Airport. How Many meals Are needed is determined by the flight s passenger list which is compiled 24 hours before it takes off. Since the airlines must by Law discard any meals not eaten on Board they try not to Load too Many meals that won t be eaten. Still they always add a few extra dinners to accommodate a no shows Quot or last minute passengers. When they get to the Airport the trucks go right onto the runway. They have specially designed Beds that can be raised to the level of the planets Galley door the full carts Are simply rolled in while those filled with refuse from the previous flight Are rolled onto the truck. Waste removed from flights is returned to the caterer sterilized in a huge pressurized heating tank much like a giant autoclave and then taken to the dump Federal Law mandates that All airline waste products be sterilized before they Are thrown out. Even airline officials admit that All this holding and moving takes its toll on the food a when you re late getting Home from work and you Call your wife to keep the food in the oven for an extra hour How does it taste Quot asks Carl Baber head of Alaska airlines food service. Great airline food a. A Tives. However try to Diane the blame a a let s face it says one airline food execute a it and it s Cood. Bul once if leaves our Kitchen a a a m0 hands of a flight attendant who can a. A Well anything Good can be ruined is Are better today than they used to be a it letter ovens and better Assembly and cooking a a a a a of one trick developed Over the past few years. A r ally Cook foods chill them and Hen Complete a a to just before flight time or on Board the a a a a a Lusty food executives say this makes dishes e. = a Ninacs with cooking units food is boarded a a i then heated in either a High temperature a a a a in Section oven or on a hot pad. Food for a a a equipped with ovens is heated before it leaves l a i a a a it and kept in a hot Box on the air plane until it is a Quot m a. H meals sit on special Thermal trays that keep Quot a s a Safe temperature for three hours. United has developed a Way to keep hot and cold Lood is a Pic same cart. Each tray has a Hole Cut in it to mate the rectangular entree dish when the tray a it Duson d mfg the cold cart the entree dish slides onto a a a Cate. United Calls these their Quot new tech Quot carts. Bui a Natter How High tech the hardware ultimately he or arc restricted by the conventions of taste. Anne Ved has to Appeal to a Broad clientele. One airline hoc a a a a pc says that most larger airlines Don t have a he to make truly distinctive food for fear that few will Biko it Alaska airlines one of the most innovative has taken lie bold step of adding game meal a Duck and Verso i to its menu. But one excellent Rabbit dish never made it into the air. The reason company feared a backlash from people with pet Burn or Why it won los Angeles tunes Rodrigo Gill Lef Carmine Maffei and Jurgen Brunke put the finishing touches on the Assembly line production of United airline meals. The airline prepares 130,000 meals daily. Page 14 the stars and stripes amp it Towli lot angelas Timas a typical airline meal Noil fresh ingredients mean it would never Fly in coach. This is no plane meal by Dan Berger los Angeles times the meal in the photo above might look like an airline meal but it sure does t taste like one. And it would never Fly in coach. Here s Why. A a cup of fresh brewed cappuccino get real an lines Aren t even equipped with espresso machines. A a Iresh croissant at a civilized temperature All bread a Dales under refrigeration and the bread you gel on an air Kine has been sitting in a cold Box for at least 12 hours though some airlines Are now baking bread on Hoard a fros tily tossed salad this one Wisn t tossed yesterday and it was 1 held Al near freezing temperatures at most 45 degrees by Federal Law where it a Ltd and browned it does t come with a plastic packet of dressing either a Chicken with Tomato Olive sauce fins one has t been reheated and it s not Bland enough to pass the everybody has to like it taste test those kalamatas olives for instance7 too Strong tasting for the average american palate a pasta Al Dente with Iresh Basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. In the air you take your pasta any Way they can get it on Board. And those graters can get dangerous at 30,000 feet a steamed asparagus. It s Bright Green it in t Mushy a chocolate cake see croissant a chocolate covered Strawberry. You be got to be kidding by the time it got to your seat on a Reat flight the Strawberry would have shrivelled away from its chocolate Shell because you Don t have to worry about airline regulations or mass cooking techniques at Home this Chicken with Tomato Olive sauce which serves six not Loo should be easy and delicious the recce was a a a a a rot a a a a Chicken with Tomato Olive sauce 6 4-ounce Boneless Chicken breast halves 1 Teaspoon ground oregano 2 i Teaspoons finely chopped garlic a Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper Salt Pepper 5 to 6 Tablespoons butter 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil i cup chopped onion 1 i cups chopped tomatoes 3/4 cup Chicken Broth 6 pm Lento stuffed Green olives sliced 12 kalamatas olives pitted and sliced hot pasta with chopped fresh Basil or italian Parsley and Parmesan cheese Wash and put dry Chicken rub oregano 1 Teaspoon garlic Cay no and Salt and Popper to taste on both sides of Chicken let stand 20 minutes. Heat 1 Tablespoon butter and 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil in Large non Slick Skillet Over medium heat. Place Chicken breasts skin Side Down in Skillet and Cook until Golden Brown. Turn to Cook other Side. Remove Chicken from Skillet and keep warm Strain drippings if necessary reheat about 2 Tablespoons drippings in Skillet Over medium High heat. Add onion and remaining 1 i Teaspoons garlic and saute until tender add tomatoes and saute 2 minutes remove one third of Tomato mixture and Reserve add Broth Green olives and any juices accumulated on Chicken Platter simmer uncovered 5 minutes add Chicken breasts and simmer another 5 minutes slowly stir in remaining Tablespoon Olive Oil and 4 to 5 Tablespoons butter into sauce. Stir in reserved Tomato mixture and kalamatas olives. Season to taste with Salt and Pepper serve with hot pasta makes 6 Servings each sewing without pasta. Contains about 304 calories 386 my sodium 92 my excl Stem 18 Grams a 4 Grams carbohydrates. 38 Grams pints a 0 4 gone. Her 54 i a 1 eateries trem la Friday May the stars and stripes Page 15
