Picture this: you are stuffed inside the dark fuselage of a noisy aircraft, squished between two passengers. As you endeavor to fit your pillow on the tiny table and fall asleep, a flight attendant materializes in the aisle, cruelly waking you up by explaining what is on the menu loudly to you neighbor and proceeds to offer something to you despite it being midnight on your schedule.
In this arguably inhumane experience, we turn to food, the source of energy and divine joy, for temporary comfort, only for it to laugh in our face. You see, the main dish embodies the dramatic contrast between expectation and reality. When I opened the lid of a box that contained what the attendant claimed to be “eggs,” I saw lying before me the palest scrambled eggs I have seen in my life; it was impossible to tell if they were white or yellow. Alongside this unpalatable-looking blob was a moist white sausage that was 80% water and 20% meat and some undercooked potatoes with eggplants. In shock, I pushed the tray away when the little fruit dish caught my attention. It had some interesting orange cubes that were surprisingly hard and tasted like ginger – a treacherous dish. But the roll, as the true star of this meal, saved it against all odds by being the only edible thing on the tray.
Gross as this is, it is not entirely the airline’s fault. At 30,000 feet, the air in the cabin is very dry, even drier than in the desert, and this reduces our sense of smell and therefore our sense of taste, especially for saltiness and sweetness.
There are many more factors to how airplane food tastes, and it can greatly depend on the airline you fly with. However, next time you fly, bring some snacks with you and just be thankful for having a full belly.
