The Man Who Makes His Own Airline Meals

[AnonyJ]

Adopted Glaswegian Nik Sennhauser loves flying and loves in-flight meals so much he's been recreating them for his own enjoyment.

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-57411754

"...I found it fascinating that you got on a plane at two in the morning and an hour later someone came round and served you a three-course meal.
It was like a wee performance on the plane. It was like entertainment."

These days the pandemic has drastically reduced Nik's chances of getting on a plane and tucking into an inflight meal...

..."Being a plane geek I have a trolley filled with glasses, plates and cutlery," said Nik, who bought the authentic inflight items online.

He now spends Sundays recreating meals for himself and his husband Graham. Nik bases his creations on photographs he took of inflight meals served on his travels to and from Europe, Asia and the US.

They include lobster thermidor, meat patty and gnocchi, and fried chicken with waffles, roasted potatoes and grilled peaches. But Nik admitted he enjoyed the eating far more than the preparation of his meals.

"I don't like cooking. It's not my thing," he said...."

(Photo: Nik Sennhauser)

 

[CharmerKamelion]

I love this idea! I am a huge fan of airline meals. I actually don't enjoy flying at all - but for me having a nice compact airline meal plonked in front of me is the highlight of the process. Only ever once had a bad one - I can't give into details cos it still makes me feel nauseous. Eating it at about 5am in the middle of a turbulent thunder-storm after having been awake for 36 hours all contributed to a pretty nightmarish scenario. But other than that - airline meals are one of my favourite things!

 

[Mythopoeika]

This seems similar to the man who has to recreate Christmas every day, just so he can feel a warm glow of security.

 

[Timble2]

Flying back from Peru, Lima-Bogata, Bogata-Paris, Paris-Heathrow, I got about six airline meals, including three, breakfasts, in a more or less random order, over 24 hours. Coming back from Dalman in on Turkish-Cypriot, the meal included a slab of greyish organic material which could have been, meat, fish or chicken, in a off-white sauce that tasted of nothing, and limp green beans. Memorable for all the wrong reasons

 

[RaM]

Last airline meal I had was on a Dan Air Comet not had one since and have not missed them.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I've only ever had a few airline meals. Awful.

 

[CharmerKamelion]

Gosh, guys. I must be even weirder than I thought I was!

In my defence, I better confess that I really liked school meals too .... well, except for the lumpy mashed potatoes, the mere thought of which still makes me retch like I've got a furball.

 

[Timble2]

Gosh, guys. I must be even weirder than I thought I was!

In my defence, I better confess that I really liked school meals too .... well, except for the lumpy mashed potatoes, the mere thought of which still makes me retch like I've got a furball.

I always liked school meals, including liver and onions - which no-one else would eat - so more for me.

 

[Nosmo King]

Gosh, guys. I must be even weirder than I thought I was!

In my defence, I better confess that I really liked school meals too .... well, except for the lumpy mashed potatoes, the mere thought of which still makes me retch like I've got a furball.

The Heathrow to Schiphol flight always made me laugh, you'd get airbourne, the seatbelt light goes off, cabin crew start dishing out sandwiches, by the time they've finished the seatbelt light comes on and your landing, if you are lucky you got served early enough to have had time to eat your sandwich.

 

[Trevp666]

We really do need a separate thread for these "Too much time on their hands...." type of stories.
I mean come on....surely this guy has got better things to do?

 

[Trevp666]

The Heathrow to Schiphol flight always made me laugh, you'd get airbourne, the seatbelt light goes off, cabin crew start dishing out sandwiches, buy the time they've finished the seatbelt light comes on and your landing, if you are lucky you got served early enough to have had time to eat your sandwich.

Stanstead to Guernsey was only 40 minutes by turboprop (quite loud) and that took off, the captain made a few announcements, then the plane climbed to cruising altitude, "Oh look, the Isle of Wight", and then we were landing, lol.

 

[Frideswide]

We really do need a separate thread for these "Too much time on their hands...." type of stories.
I mean come on....surely this guy has got better things to do?

This is a fun comment for a place that celebrates the weird and wonderful, the species in all its diversity - down with your homogenised humanity @Trevp666

I always enjoyed the food and drink when flying, and I've been a frequent flyer around europe 30 years, pre retirement.

Sabena always had very good personnel and I enjoyed the flights internal to Scandanavia - going from Schipol up to Kiruna every couple of months for example. Being given a paper lunch bag and then being let loose on a buffet table with someone to carve hunks of meat and dole out soup in sealed cups as well as individual portions of cheeses and meats and fruits and nuts and...

My flyer cards used to get me upgraded often and if there wasn't a seat I could choose between the stand meal and whatever business was getting.

Happy days!

 

[Yithian]

I always liked school meals, including liver and onions - which no-one else would eat - so more for me.

Everything was good at my school apart from quiche.

 

[Nosmo King]

Everything was good at my school apart from quiche.

my defence, I better confess that I really liked school meals too .... well, except for the lumpy mashed potatoes, the mere thought of which still makes me retch like I've got a furball.

I only had school dinner briefly when i was at junior school and one thing that has remained with me is the disgusting duchess potatoes, baked Mr, Whippy mashed potatoes, always tasted like stagnent dish water (or how i imagine that would taste)

 

[Frideswide]

Everything was good at my school apart from quiche.

agreed. It was never set and always had those weird tins of mixed veg with the pea skins coming away from the peas in it.

At my school, rather than yours!

 

[Trevp666]

down with your homogenised humanity

Long live Homogenised Humanity! And Congealed Compassion, the Pasteurised Proletariat and Standardised Softheartedness!
And any other alliterative altruism.

 

[Frideswide]

Pasteurised Proletariat

 

[Kondoru]

Our latest Heritage project is food...and this means also railway food.

We have decided not to attempt to recreate it, out of lack of skill and decency.

 

[Trevp666]

lack of skill

That was one of the required abilities for BR food of the 1980s.
I heard that the ham sandwiches would stay on display until they curled up too much, at which point they would warm them up and relabel them as sausage rolls.

 

[bugmum]

Best airline meal I ever had was a lemon grass chicken between Bangkok and Sydney, on a BA flight - they obviously picked up some good local grub on the layover from Heathrow. However, I cannot thin of any reason why I would want to recreate one of those meals. Especially since the last cream tea I had on a plane supplied Rodda's clotted cream rather than Langage Farm!

The Junior Medic had a bad experience with airline food when very young, and wouldn't eat on a plane for years. Then he noticed that they were giving out Gu puddings and managed to force one of those down. The Teenager is not hugely enamoured of airline food either, but that's just because she's a fussy madam at times.

 

[Bad Bungle]

There was a telly prog on Concorde years back where the chief Stewardess (Flight Attendant) explained that a VIP frequent flier insisted on a fresh boiled egg for his in-flight meal. Problem was that water only boils at about 70 C at 30,000 feet, which was never hot enough to cook the egg properly. She solved the problem, but wouldn't tell us how.

 

[Nosmo King]

There was a telly prog on Concorde years back where the chief Stewardess (Flight Attendant) explained that a VIP frequent flier insisted on a fresh boiled egg for his in-flight meal. Problem was that water only boils at about 70 C at 30,000 feet, which was never hot enough to cook the egg properly. She solved the problem, but wouldn't tell us how.

You can pre-cook soft boiled eggs, chill them in ice water and then warm them through later, the same as with poached eggs.

 

[Nosmo King]

There was a telly prog on Concorde years back where the chief Stewardess (Flight Attendant) explained that a VIP frequent flier insisted on a fresh boiled egg for his in-flight meal. Problem was that water only boils at about 70 C at 30,000 feet, which was never hot enough to cook the egg properly. She solved the problem, but wouldn't tell us how.

Either that or tell them that no matter how important you are

 

[oxo66]

There was a telly prog on Concorde years back where the chief Stewardess (Flight Attendant) explained that a VIP frequent flier insisted on a fresh boiled egg for his in-flight meal. Problem was that water only boils at about 70 C at 30,000 feet, which was never hot enough to cook the egg properly. She solved the problem, but wouldn't tell us how.

If you are recalling the discussion accurately, a reference to water boiling at 70°C at 30,000 feet don't make sense.
Concorde flew at 56,000 feet according to wikipedia, and subsonic airliners at up to 40,000 feet according to my memory. But of course people can't breathe at even 30,000 feet. Aircraft cabins are maintained at something less than sea-level pressure, wikipedia says 6,000 feet for Concorde at which the boiling point for water would be about 94°C. Would this be sufficient to produce a coddled egg rather than a boiled one?

I was wondering if Concorde had a pressure cooker. Have just read Souleater's suggested solution which as a bonus would prevent the galley filling with steam.

 

[EnolaGaia]

The airline whose food most impressed me on long-haul flights was FinnAir. The runner-up was Air France.

Based on a tip from a fellow passenger I adopted and used a strategy that worked well for me back when I did a lot of long-haul flying.

I would make the extra effort to request a special meal with my initial reservation or later using the airline's online registration system - always a "vegetarian" option, preferably the cold / salad & fruit sub-option. This option selection didn't cost any more, so long as it was done in advance.

This had the twin benefits of ensuring a relatively fresher meal package and a lighter meal that wouldn't weigh heavily or generate gurgling in my guts. I always found the fresh / veg & fruit option the most refreshing divertissement when trapped in a seat for hours.

This option never failed to be tasty and fresh (unlike some of the warm meals I had to endure).

This strategy also afforded me an enhanced backup capability in case of meal coordination failures. If my special meal was missing or accidentally given to someone else, the attendants would make up for the mistake by giving me extra treats or upgrading me to a substitute meal from first-class. If they screwed up my advance request, I ended up eating even better.

 

[Mythopoeika]

A microwave may be able to boil water even at low air pressure.
Don't quote me on this (I am not an authority on the subject).

 

[Mythopoeika]

The airline whose food most impressed me on long-haul flights was FinnAir. The runner-up was Air France.

Based on a tip from a fellow passenger I adopted and used a strategy that worked well for me back when I did a lot of long-haul flying.

I would make the extra effort to request a special meal with my initial reservation or later using the airline's online registration system - always a "vegetarian" option, preferably the cold / salad & fruit sub-option. This option selection didn't cost any more, so long as it was done in advance.

This had the twin benefits of ensuring a relatively fresher meal package and a lighter meal that wouldn't weigh heavily or generate gurgling in my guts. I always found the fresh / veg & fruit option the most refreshing divertissement when trapped in a seat for hours.

This option never failed to be tasty and fresh (unlike some of the warm meals I had to endure).

This strategy also afforded me an enhanced backup capability in case of meal coordination failures. If my special meal was missing or accidentally given to someone else, the attendants would make up for the mistake by giving me extra treats or upgrading me to a substitute meal from first-class. If they screwed up my advance request, I ended up eating even better.

The Finns beat the French at food?
They must hate that.

 

[oxo66]

A microwave may be able to boil water even at low air pressure.
Don't quote me on this (I am not an authority on the subject).

According to other sources and here Stack Exchange, airliners don't have microwaves. They cook or reheat meals in convection ovens.

 

[Mythopoeika]

According to other sources and here Stack Exchange, airliners don't have microwaves. They cook or reheat meals in convection ovens.

How odd.

 

[kamalktk]

Adopted Glaswegian Nik Sennhauser loves flying and loves in-flight meals so much he's been recreating them for his own enjoyment.

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-57411754

"...I found it fascinating that you got on a plane at two in the morning and an hour later someone came round and served you a three-course meal.
It was like a wee performance on the plane. It was like entertainment."

These days the pandemic has drastically reduced Nik's chances of getting on a plane and tucking into an inflight meal...

..."Being a plane geek I have a trolley filled with glasses, plates and cutlery," said Nik, who bought the authentic inflight items online.

He now spends Sundays recreating meals for himself and his husband Graham. Nik bases his creations on photographs he took of inflight meals served on his travels to and from Europe, Asia and the US.

They include lobster thermidor, meat patty and gnocchi, and fried chicken with waffles, roasted potatoes and grilled peaches. But Nik admitted he enjoyed the eating far more than the preparation of his meals.

"I don't like cooking. It's not my thing," he said...."

(Photo: Nik Sennhauser)

That looks nothing like any airplane meal I've ever had. Are we sure he just doesnt like eating good food and happens to put what he cooks in little plates?