Plated Prawn entrees
Lobster tail dish
Once upon a time there was a girl (ok it was me), that attended an event called Taste of Sydney. It was an event sponsored by Emirates airline and this girl was obsessed with airline food. She had often wondered if there were little elves that put the little portions of food together and she had a fascination with small, compartmentalised meals. During the evening, her husband Mr NQN came up to her and said “Honey, talk to that man, tell him about the story you’ve wanted to do for ages about airline food”. Unfortunately the man in question was always busy being shuttled from group to group and she was too shy to blurt out “I’d love to do a story on airline food” in front of a group of strangers so a year passed where she occasionally thought about contacting Emirates but never did.
And then the opportunity came when she was chatting to the amazing Myriam from the Emirates airline’s PR company. She told her that she had always wanted to do a story on how airline food is made in a behind the scenes kind of way and Myriam offered her the chance to do so – in Dubai! So that is how this very happy girl ended up one afternoon being given the lowdown on how your airline food gets from the chefs to your plate and any challenges in between!
X ray machine
There are two security checkpoints to drive into the $120million USD Emirates Flight Catering facility. Security is tight and I need to fill in an infectious and communicable disease questionnaire and surrender my passport, sign two visitors logs and go through an X-ray machine before donning a white coat and hairnet and entering the main area. Staff member’s mobile phones are taken so they can’t photograph or video the facility such is the security. I’m met by John Earnshaw one of EKFC’s (Emirates Flight Catering Company) Assistant Vice Presidents who gives me a tour around EKFC1, one of two catering facilities. EKC1 is for the Emirates meals while EKC2 is for the other 110 airline clients that EKFC provides the meals for. We start downstairs on the ground floor where all supplies are delivered. Everything is scanned by a huge X-ray machine operated by Dubai Police. We walk through the High Base store which holds between 7-10 days worth of stock and over 1000 pallets of produce, airline equipment, cutlery, china, dishes and meal carts.
Sorting the debris
Because Emirates airline is so “peaky” as in there are peaks in which many of the flights leave e.g. between 6am-10am there are over 65 flights departing, this requires a lot of planning. The main activity here on the ground floor aside from storage is unloading of the trolleys and this is called the ware-wash area where the meal trolleys are sorted by workers according to the class (economy, business or first) and they’re then loaded into another area where other workers separate the waste and other debris from the plates, napkins and the cutlery. The food waste is fed into a vacuum system compacter and the food waste is fed into a vacuum system which transports it directly to a compactor through pipes which stretch for 200 metres in length.
Plates and cups going in for a wash
The weighing machine that counts the number of units
All of the cups, dishes, glasses and cutlery are then washed and dried and come out hot, dry and ready to pack. These are then weighed in blue bar coded crates that travel around a huge conveyor belt that stretches over two floors. These weighed crates act as an inventory and the barcoded system allows different crates go to a different storage area in the floor above depending on their contents. We hear a constant clinking of plates and glasses and I look up and John points out the constant trail of the blue bins containing all of the plates, china and cutlery above us. This conveyor belt is called the ‘bin conveyor system’, and it stretches for 1.1km throughout the building.
Sorting the trolleys
One of the computer screens in the control room
Everything is monitored and controlled from the facility control room. There are 226 CCTV cameras installed that watch over every corner of the building including exits so that there is no need to post a security guard. Footage is recorded on hard disk and kept for 30 days.
Hand rolled dolmades
Dolmades being cooked
Now for the food! We head into one kitchen and see the painstaking process of making dolmades from scratch. Each vine leaf is soaked, stuffed, rolled and then cooked and we see a pot which contains about 2,000 dolmades (6,000 dolmades are used a day). I ask how the decision is made to make these even though they are so labour intensive and John says that they’re such a specialty of the region so it’s not prudent to omit them. Everything is made on the premises including all of the sauces. The only thing that is bought in is the Arabic bread and some of the cubed fruit for economy and the lettuce comes already washed.
The Bond Store is where the shopping fun occurs. This is where the duty free goods and the alcohol for the flights are kept. They’re divided up in Economy, Business and First Class and of course Business and First is where most of the fun is at with some amazing wines and champagnes being brought in. They used to have a system whereby there was a different stock list of liquors for each destination which was a lot more labour intensive but now they just have an extra cart of the special liquor for certain flights like Japan or Brazil that is just added on the regular selection. The temperature sensitive drinks are placed in a huge holding chiller 6 hours prior to departure. The area of the cold rooms and refrigeration in this facility is 3140 square metres and they can produce 24 tonne of ice cubes a day.
Caviar reserves for the flights
In First class we see Iranian Caviar where a 1oz can is allocated to each passenger. The champagne is Dom Perignon and the overnight bags are stored here (the first class amenity bag isn’t that different to the business class but these two are quite different to the economy class). There are routes where First Class is in a lot of demand for example the Jeddah route where First Class is almost as compulsory as a golf club membership.
First Class Amenity Bag
We then reach the kitchen which is divided into three areas: a cold kitchen, a hot kitchen and a pastry kitchen. We start in the cold kitchen where I meet the executive chef Hawaiian born James A. Griffith. He has been in Dubai for 17 years and at EKFC for 10 years. He formerly worked at the Hilton and Hyatt before starting here as an executive sous chef. The meals that they are currently preparing are made 10-12 hours ahead and the trays are set 4-5 hours ahead. They make up a sample with weights etc and the rest are prepared accordingly with the time and temperature recorded. He shows me a diagram of the food and laughs “Marco Pierre White (who was visiting Dubai and wanted to see the facility) saw this and he laughed and said it was cooking by numbers”.
Sample menus
A sample dish with guidelines
The menu is changed monthly and depend on the region that they’re flying to but there’s always an Arabic option and a mezze option as well as a dish from the destination. The passenger mix is also taken into account which is taken from information gathered at the time of the booking (although James is a little reluctant to discuss how they get this information).
Each section is then run by a chef. The pastry section is run by a Canadian chef, the Cold section by a Swiss chef and the Hot section by an Indian Canadian chef. These chefs all have sous chefs underneath them much like a restaurant kitchen. And does James miss working in hotels and restaurants? Yes, he says he misses the stress of the service although there are events where the chefs prepare fine dining meals for the cabin attendants when they move from Business to First class.
Plating up prawn entrees for First Class
So what are the challenges to cooking for an airline? James says that cooking so far ahead of time is one and the temperature constraints are another big challenge as everything has to be chilled to 5 degrees. The temperature in the air is also a problem as it’s cold and dry so items such as bread are made a bit differently with a lot of bread improver and less butter to keep it softer. They use North American Beef Tenderloin which they’ve found to be a good cut to cook as it comes out nicely despite the early lead time for cooking.
Sushi rice also presents a problem as it can go hard but a combination of salt and water helps with this. Some items hold up better e.g. iceberg and cos lettuce hold up better than softer oak leaf lettuce. The sheer volume of food can be a challenge and the chefs can tend to get bored easily if they aren’t regularly challenged and motivated. And how do they find ideas? He and other staff (including two workers from the floor) head out to fine dining restaurants like Gordon Ramsay and Gary Rhodes.
Smoked salmon for sandwiches
There’s always an Arabic choice and all food is halal without alcohol. Other choices are red meat, poultry, seafood and a vegetarian dish, often a pasta. In economy there is a choice between chicken and red meat or seafood and in this part of the world, chicken is the most popular choice although this depends on the region.
Do they work towards a specific budget for each meal? James says that cost is a factor but the quality and range is more important. However it can be a factor for other airlines particularly with the Global Financial Crisis and its impact on the aviation industry.
We watch them loading up a cheese plate for first and business class. In it there’s Australian Persian Feta (gorgeous stuff!), French Camembert and a German Smoked goats cheese. And who chooses the brands that they use? The suppliers are invited to submit their products, these are tasted and then the choices are presented to the food managers.
In the pastry section we watch as they make a wattleseed pavlova. They’re always on the lookout for new suppliers with good quality products. They’re currently testing the wattleseed and have started off small with using the wattleseed on one route and if it is popular, they will then use it on more routes. To find out what the passengers think of the food, there are “Voyage Reports” where cabin attendants can log in whilst in flight and email the catering facility any feedback so it can be sorted out quickly.
I know the question you’re dying to ask: Is there anyone to check the standard of the food? There is a whole department of twelve staff who handle quality control. It’s very obvious when they do it as they take out cameras and thermometers mid flight to ensure that the food stays of a certain standard. To aid in the presentation, some of the dishes have plastic rings to keep them in place and in First and Business items are packed in metal trays which are then removed and served on fine bone china by the flight attendants. The Captain and first Officer eat different meals for safety and these are prepared by different people in different sections.
An exciting development for future airline food is the on board cook-from-raw ovens which they have recently trialed and James is pleased to report that even French fries cooked in it turned out crispy. First Class currently have a dine on demand system whereby passengers can order things from the menu whenever they like, just like in a restaurant.
Lemon tarts
Economy meals
For those of us that have missed out on our meal choice, it’s most likely been in economy. The best way to get the meal you want is to pay for a business class or first class ticket as first class meals are loaded 150% full, business class is loaded 120-150% full and economy are 100% loaded so that means your selection may run out if you’re in economy as they’ve just packed enough for the passengers. And the nicest touch for all class of passengers (and one that probably shouldn’t be abused for fear of having the privilege revoked! 
) is the special order cakes which are made for honeymooning couples etc. Although ringing up to celebrate “My first flight on Emirates” is probably not such a cake worthy occasion no matter how tempting haha!
Japanese crockery for the Japan routes
Japanese dishes
We enter the hot kitchen where we see some workers flipping roti. The kitchen here is divided into Indian, Continental, Sub continent, Far East, Arabic and Japanese. Osaka is an existing route but with the forthcoming addition of Tokyo means that there is much more testing of the Japanese menus. This involved two teams of Japanese chefs coming over from Japan. One team cooked with the Emirates team while the other team tested the food. We see the Japanese plates being plated up and they look beautiful.
Flow wrapped bread rolls
Then we head into another room where the food that has been cooled down is then portioned up and plated under “cooling curtains” so that the food doesn’t ever rise above eight degrees. There is a flow wrap machine which packages up all of the bread rolls and slices of fruit cake and moves them onto a conveyor belt. In total there are 430 staff in the kitchen and 30 in the staff canteen.
Canapes for Business Class
Filling the economy trays assembly line style
The packed trolleys
We then go down to assembly where the bits you never think about are done such as the cutlery which is all flow wrapped. The economy trays are all prepacked by a line of people where each person grabs two products and places it on the tray. Business and First are done in a slower manner by an individual with 5 trays at a time and there’s a runner who helps to replenish the stock. All trolleys are filled with the necessary number of trays even if there aren’t the number of passengers traveling. This is called “dead heading” and helps with keeping inventory and returning the correct quantity of equipment.
Once the trolleys are prepared they go into a lift where they are then loaded onto refrigerators. Two hours before departure, the entire flight uplift is loaded into trucks fitted with a hydraulic system which will lift the catering to the aircraft door. We walk past giant flour silos which they make full use of as they go through so much flour at this facility. I then try various dishes that represent the different routes.
Mezze plates for Europe and Australia
Prawns for Germany and Lobster for Europe
Chocolate tart with cherry compote for Africa Duck liver terrine for Far East
Pecan Pie for America and Pavlova for Far East and Australia
And I’ll leave you with some interesting stats while I’m busy sampling these delights:
There are 127 different menus and 70,000 meals a day
In 2008 Emirates airline used:
- Beef tenderloin: 187 tonnes
- Assorted prawns: 188 tonnes
- Chicken: 580 tonnes
- Whole eggs: almost 2.2 million
- Whipping cream: 190,000 litres
- Lobster meat: 50 tonnes
- Cheddar Cheese: 18 tonnes
NQN visited and travelled to Dubai as a guest of Emirates airline. Chef James A. Griffith second from right and John Earnshaw, first on right.
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110 Comments | Add your own
That is seriously cool!!! Kudos to you for speaking up!
Wow – quite the eye-opening post! Food in first class sure does look better than that in economy…
Oh my! That was fascinating!!! I’ve always wanted to know what it looked like behind the scenes – thanks so much =) Brilliant.
This is definitely one of my favorite stories you have written!!! Great job Lorraine
how insightful! I love your blog very much
Oh I ♥ seeing the story behind my food….especially since I’ve never flown Emirates. Good on you…to bring it to the public! Lovely photos too, especially of the 1st class amenity bag!
Wow! Fantastic write-up on such a huge catering venture. Interesting to see that in times of electronic ‘everything’, there’s still a whiteboard to record items.
Great read, Lorraine, thank you! Fascinating and informative. Oh, to have the money to travel first class and have my own 1oz can of caviar to wash down with Dom Perignon..
Lorraine, what an engaging and informative article! It has given me a valuable insight into the processes involved with airline food. Brilliant journalistic effort on your part as usual, and hope that the food you sampled was good as it looked
Fascinating! First and business class food is almost always good. Economy not so much. I saw something much like this on TV recently. Can’t remember now which airline. But it was an American one. Food is not nearly as good.
Honestly, I cannot remember reading a post that I found so engaging, this was fascinating. I’ve not flown long haul so rarely get to eat airline food but seeing all the process behind this was incredible. Have stumbled you!
Wow – what a fantastic post! I too have always been intrigued about the ‘behind the scenes’ process that must take place. oooh and I found the bit about “The Captain and first Officer eat different meals for safety and these are prepared by different people in different sections” really interesting too….sounds very sensible!
Thanks for a great story Lorraine!
See, this is what sets you apart from other food bloggers (especially the aussies! No offence there to the rest of us!) It’s the width and breadth of your subject matter! Love this piece, really fascinating!
You lucky thing! It’s all fascinating stuff, feeding the hoards crammed into one small aircraft. Looks like First really is the way to go, if you can afford it. Mmmm caviar.
It must have been a great experience. Good on you.
Wow what an incredible insight into airline food. Seriously Aussie airlines need to take a look and make some changes.
wow that is all so fascinating…..and you got to go to dubai to do it!
thanks so much for this post….
What an incredibly interesting story – thanks for sharing
great post. i am absolutely fascinated. i’ve often wondered what goes on behind the scenes with airline food.
is the cake for couples on their honeymoon just on this airline?? klm / continental didn’t offer us any cake when they heard we were on our honeymoon…
Wow, lobster tail! That’s pretty amazing.
I actually like airline food. I know many people cringe at the thought of it.
Great story, I can imagine how exciting it would have been. Thanks for the insight, I really enjoyed it!
That was so interesting! I have no first class travel planned…but now I feel quite informed about it!
FABULOUS INSIGHT!!!!! Loved this.
I am still drooling over the WHOLE CART of lemon tarts…
*wipes drool from keyboard*
What an amazing article! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as it provided a fantastic insight on the behind the scenes. You were so lucky to have been able to go and see it all in person. And the food..yum!!
I think we should campaign Qantas for hand rolled dolmades in Econmomy Class! Thanks for the post. Really insightful.
Wow, if only I can afford flying in Emirates. I heard that the First and Business class are amazing and the planes not too noisy compared to other airlines.
Reading these review on plane food, suddenly I feel that these other airline meals are unworthy and I never feel better eating any airline meals
Love this post. A few weeks ago, I saw on the Discovery Channel a ‘How do they do’ segment on airline food at this facility in Dubai, but was left disappointed as it was no where as detailed as your visit. Thank you, thank you for posting this as I have turned into a bit of an aircraft nerd lately with a recent highlight being walking under and touching an Emirates A380 *squeals*.
Is it possible to be in love with a plane??
Just to let you know I’m available if you have to call in sick for your next flight Lorraine! Seriously, this is THE BEST story– interesting, informative and such fun! Thank you.
I loved the whole story (& Photos)- thank you for investigating on our behalf!
Wow, what an awesome post. I really enjoy ones you do like this.
Hears hoping you got to stay in Dubai for a smidge and so we get more posts from there (i LOVE your travel posts also!)
how intriguing, to actually be able to go behind the scenes at one of the world’s top airlines. I think the Myriam and the PR company absolutely did right by you, your audience, and their client! this is a truly engaging read – i love your posts on the behind-the-scenes stuff, another fave of mine is the Fish Market Auctions post you wrote. Can’t wait to see what you write about next!!
Awesome story, thanks for sharing Lorraine!! This is such a different story, something you never get to see!! And I’m amazed by the variety of ingredients and meals, and the amount of planning and safety measures involved. Kudos to Emirates ; – )
Wow, I read every single word and wanted to know even more!
You really do have the best job in the world, and nobody could do it better! xxx
Fascinating! The volumes etc are truly mind boggling
This is absolutely fascinating! Kudos for getting all those stats on paper and the great photos, too. I couldn’t help thinking of Flying High (the movie) when seeing the pilots’ meals
I think that the food on Emirates is better than what I am used to! Luckily for me, I’ll eat most things, so I can’t see myself booking a first or business class flight just to get the meal I want.
Awesome post – love the details!
Far out! What an amazing post.
is that possible!?
How lucky you were to be able to see it all in action! I’m craving airline food now
Wow, what an interesting look into how airline food is produced! I wish I could fly first/business class!
Keep asking those questions Lorraine! One of your most interesting & informative blogs to date. You go where we’d all love to- impressive work!
Its amazing how much food they produce! how lucky are you get to see behind the scenes!
I have never come across with this very informative and educational article that has given me so much happiness and appreciation. I was so riveted from start to finish and I was disappointed
it has to end (the article!).
Thank you Sweet NQN for posting and I can’t wait for my next trip overseas…and your next blog. Just luv it!
Great post, Lorraine. I love airplane food, although not as much as my brother-in-law who apparently always asks for a second meal! I flew back from Melbourne on Monday with Qantas, and was very surprised with the quality of the food. Lunch was finished off very nicely with a Frosty Fruit. I am not sure I can see Emirates serving Frosty Fruits to their first class passengers
Thank you so much for this Lorraine – it was fascinating and so well-written! I love finding out about things like this
However… *sob* I’m heading over to Europe in one week but, seeing as Air Canada is making me pay for checked baggage, I highly doubt I’ll be getting anything like lobster or wattleseed pavolva!
(I’ll probably by lucky to get some peanuts and a juice…)
Love your work, Lorraine. You have taken food-blogging to a whole new level.
Thanks to your fascinating and in-depth post, I now know that honeymoon couples get extra desserts on board
Fantastic report!
x
Awesome post! I’ve always wondered how they did airline food as well so thanks for the behind-the-scenes tour!
Great behind-the-scenes. I’m another who has always been curious & loves airline food, although i’d love the chance to try it first class!
Yes, fascinating. It’s amazing that with such high volumes they actually stuff up so little….
That is so utterly fascinating – I love “how things work” type anything. What a wicked opportunity you had to be able to see it all. The whole operation is HUGE and so organised. Amazing
Wow, such an interesting piece on the runnings of what we air travellers never get to see. And hooray for Mr NQN for completely supporting your habit AND giving you encouragement =)
This is a very informative write up. Just like you, I have always wondered how the behind-the-scenes of airline food preparation was. I never did imagine that it was on such a large scale. Amazing operation.
As soon as I read the title of this post I knew I would love it (lol, I’ve always been curious about this too!). I think this might be my all-time favorite of your posts, Lorraine! I can’t believe the process that goes on behind the scenes, such as stuffing and rolling dolmades. And I love how the cuisine is geared toward different routes. Next time Mike and I visit his parents in Jordan I will strongly suggest that we fly Emirates!
Amazing. You shy? I think not. But, people say that about me, and I have that secret shy bone. I’ve flown over a million miles in the air, and I never once had caviar or lemon tarts. It was mostly USA flights…we just don’t eat like that, but we should.
Lorraine, GOOD STUFF. Love this one so much
oh we’re so lucky because you were there and did this lovely post.
Thank you!!!!
Fascinating! The power of planning. Of course it just reinstates my NEED to fly first class alla round the world.
I’m a huge fan of Emirates and their food choices are a definite factor in this.
Wonderful opportunity for a story, thanks very much.
The mind really boggles… Thanks for sharing! Imagine having to put all that together for all those flights on a daily basis! I won’t ever complain about bad airline food again. Well, maybe not for a little while anyway…
What a fascinating story Lorraine! I have always been fascinated with airline food as well and love how everything has their own compartment!
I wish I knew about their free cake for honeymooners policy! We just recently went on our honeymoon travelling Emirates through Dubai and Ghana! I have to say the food was excellent even in economy class.
Emirates have nothing to hide . I’ll give them a go next time .
What a neat behind the scenes look! First class dining sounds awesome on this airline!
I am officially, JEALOUS!!! great detail and insight.
Wow! Who knew that behind airline food was THIS?! I had always travelled in economy so I had always hated plane food without much thought in the work involved to prepare it. All I can say is, wow! xD
Just goes to show that the space is business class is not the only different thing! It is nice to see food you know what it is rather than ‘it is meat of some kind’. Really interesting – and a reflection of the discerning passengers who fly Emirates and require better quality food. If only Qantas would serve better food. They often don’t even bother providing pre-ordered special meals based on family’s experience.
Wow, how far a question can take a person…. it’s like ‘ask n ye shall get’…
What an interesting look into how airline food is made.
Wonderful post…..
Oh my goodness! This has been a not-so-little dream of mine too. Glad to see it fulfilled via you. Excellent reporting!
Great post. I’m pretty envious and now have an urge for First Class travel.
Awesome! I heard Emirates was topnotch in QC. Now I’ve seen it with my own eyes. thanks for sharing.
as both a travel and food nerd…this is by far the best blog article I’ve ever read! thankyou so much lorraine…really tempted to fly Emirates next time!
So love this post…ohh the caviar! Great job Lorraine…
I’m flying with Emirates on Sunday and am quite excited now to be travelling the ‘Australian Route’ to try that Wattleseed Pavlova. Hopefully though I will be able to upgrade to business class with my points though and try out the lobster tail!
Another interesting and awesome post!
This was such an interesting post, I never ever thought of how they need to adapt the food to the different conditions up in the air. Duh!
I’m thinking I need to start flying Emirates now.. lol. I quite enjoy the food on Singapore Airlines (then again I am usually starving so might be biased), they should invite you behind the scenes there too – how cool would that be?
Such an interesting post! First class really is another world. So cool that you got the opportunity to see what the behind the scenes is like.. almost as technical as Willy Wonka’s Factory!
What a fantastic story and what great sports the Emirates people are to invite you to behind the scenes. Well done.
Wow wow lucky you! Thank god you could finally do this. THe only way I’ll ever see this is through this post, so thank you!! I’m still drooling over the whole CART of lemon tarts, wishing I could just dive in!
A fantastic story! I’ve always loved airline food, not so much for the taste but work behind it all and your story really captured it. I am really amazed the lengths they goo to just to please people.
Oh be still my heart… i’m having really fast palpitations and I don’t want it to stop because this is one of the awesomest posts you’ve done to date, Lorraine!! This is awesome in the highest level!!!
I too have always wondered and loved this sneak peak. Thanks for the post.
Just goes to show, obsession DOES pay off. Brilliant investigative journalism, NQN!
OMG, I want your job!!! LOL Another fantastic story yet again,Lorraine. What a scoop!!
Would love to fly Emirates ( even though I always travel Qantas) to try their Business class, maybe one day
Blvgari…….sigh
Really amazing reporting… this belongs in a magazine. I am soooo impressed… you go girl!
having never been on a flight long enough to require a meal or on such an expensive airline, i can’t say i ever pondered what went on behind the scenes. however, i found this post to be extraordinarily fascinating–it’s amazing how much planning is involved and how much organization is needed for things to run smoothly. and the high degree of security is quite comforting, no?
Wow a trip to Dubai! That’s awesome! Taste testing too!
It’s so weird to think that all the food we eat around the world on flights is made at the same place. Thank you for posting this!
oh~~lucky you lorraine! i’m envious:-)
Great posting Lorraine.
I’ve worked over 15 years in the airline industry ,been into Scandinavia several times for training courses, but never got the chance to see the food place.
Emirates is one of the best in food and service.
I totally never ever get the pavlova! Oh well, I did get a yummy strawberry cheesecake once and with my dairy intolerance, didn’t do well AT ALL after awhile. Then there was turbulence. You know the ending.
That was a really interesting post and great to be a fly on the wall watching over all aspects of their food. Emirates is my choice to fly with – just wish to be able to fly Business or First … one day ….
Thanks Lorraine
Absolutely fascinating! What a great experience Lorraine.
WoW! NQN, that was quite a coup!
I must say, I would have rather been sitting in first class sampling all of this at my leisure than going through all of these assembly lines…amazing the organizational skills required to run such an operation! I decided this year that I would not subject myself ever again to the lousy food(grub) on American Airlines. What a difference! Emirates is tops, I think!
Amazing experience, well done on the reportage! As a plane geek this was a very interesting read, especially about the pilot and co-pilot eating different meals prepared by different staff!
You need to work for food network. This is one awesome post! I have a friend who is a pilot for this airline. Wow didn’t know he ate this good. Gonna send him the link to this post.
ahh i enjoyed this post a lot! what a great eye-opener into the industry. i also had fun scrolling up and down the lemon tart photo cuz it actually looked like i was getting different angles of the trolley ;D
A great posting and a fascinating insight in to how airline food is produced. I knew some of the details but this filled in a lot of the gaps! Inflight kitchens are not the only ones to use these methods though, any large catering organisation runs along the same lines. Even I do something similar if I am cooking for several people at home. Organisation is the key to having time to enjoy it!
Congratulations.
Fantastic read thankyou
Fascinating, who knew you could order a cake to celebrate a special event?? Love the photos
Excellent Post, very interesting.
Luckily I had the chance to enjoy all the wonderful thinks on many EK flights
Cool post! really enjoyed having an insight into airline food and I can say Emirates food takes first place along with Qatar Airways. It’s so good that I think “cooking by numbers” should be recommended to some of my family friends!
oh man what a great look behind the scenes lorraine thank you for sharing !
What an utterly fascinating post! I loved every word and picture!
The photographs are, as always, beautiful, NQN, and what a cool idea for a story!
Amazing. This is just so fascinating.
The most interesting content I have ever read on a blog. Kudos to your great effort in finding this fabulous information…
Sawadee from bangkok,
Kris
Thanks for the sneak peak. Actually, it’s more than just a sneak peak. This is a detailed post. I actually wanted to try working for a kitchen airline. Just try.
WOW.. two things. (1) i LOVE airline food too! and I’ve recently flown Virgin Atlantic which for economy class has pretty darn good food. Might do a blog post on it
and (2) I WANNA FLY EMIRATES! how good does that food look!
Thanks everyone for the lovely comments. This was a huge thrill to be able to bring this to you all and your kind
words and enthusiasm really make it worthwhile
Emirates read your comments and were really impressed by them too!
clearlytangled, I think it might just be on Emirates. We received really bad service when we went to Fiji and they knew it was our honeymoon. We knew that there definitely wasn’t going to be a cake then!
Toni-they had that Discovery channel documentary playing in the background in one of the kitchens!
Love,
Lorraine
xxx
Hi,
Thanks a lot for the information on how is the airline food made and are under so ‘amazing security system’.
people truly needs to be aware about the stuff they consume.
“emirates” is always for the passengers best comfort and security which is appreciated a lot all around the world.
Good pictures by Not Quite Nigella and very informative and influencing site.
Truly appreciated systems about, not only first and business class but also for economy class.
Excellent.
Great story girl. Loved it!
Hey there!! That was an awesome post! I work on Emirates in business class and to get a behind the scenes peek was priceless! keep it up! now I know that it ain’t elves making all that food hehehe!
Another brilliant article – how I wish I could have been there with you. Absolutely fascinating!
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[...] Interesting article- airline food A very interesting look into airline food. How Airline Food Is Made: Behind The Scenes at Emirates airline @Not Quite Nigella [...]
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