Top chef’s clever $4 hack to improve the flavour of airline food
A top chef has revealed a clever trick for improving the taste of airline foods.
Jason Atherton, who earned a Michelin star in 2011 at his London restaurant Pollen Street Social and now runs restaurant group The Social Company, spoke to newspaper Mint about his best travel tips.
The British chef, who said he flew around 800,000 kilometres a year, said he tries to avoid eating airline food but when he does he used this tip provided by his friend actor Jude Law.
“It was Law who told me to always take Tabasco on a plane,” he said, referring to the spicy sauce you can buy at the supermarket for just $4.
“Aeroplane food is always bland, so it’s great to give it kick.
“But I just try my hardest not to eat on planes. I can normally do it up to about 12 hours. If I go to Australia, I have to eat, obviously, because it’s 24 hours on a plane for me.
“I just eat the protein, drowned in Tabasco, which tastes OK — well, it tastes of Tabasco, to be honest.”
It makes sense that a spicy sauce improves the flavour of food in pressurised cabin, where both our senses of taste and smell are dulled.
The cabin pressure particularly impacts our sensitivity to sweet and salty flavours, which can be diminished by as much as 30 per cent during a flight.