Heston Blumenthal tackles airline food

Mmmm.

Remember the Fat Duck. Hope the same thing does not happen mid Atlantic – could the loos cope?

This is on tonight at 9pm,Channel 4

Heston’s Mission Impossible – the BA episode – cooking gourmet fare in a metal tube at 37,000 feet – is premiered tonight (Tuesday) Channel 4 9-10pm

I must admit I am not really looking forward to watching this show tonight. Personally all the shows in this series have not really been a success. I wonder if this will actually do the firm more harm than good.

Nasal douching. Who knew…..?

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hestons-mission-impossible/4od

Ugh! What a show. I thought the crew, whilst funny, were not very receptive to change. I think they made it more difficult that it should have been, just to keep things simple for themselves in the future.

And the guy from Gate Gourmet should be looking for a new job – as head chef, he should understand and be working on improvements in every direction. Instead, he seemed stuck in a rut and lacking imagination. His cheeky grin throughout didn’t help matters – looks like his interaction with Heston was the high point of his life, in my opinion.

BA should be pushing the boundaries in all cabins, but especially in Club, where cutbacks of the past few years are very noticeable, particularly with food and wine. Bringing something different, whimsical, tasty, fresh and new to the menu will, I’m sure, be a welcome change for regular travellers. Let’s hope BA listens and acts…

I agree entirely with the comments above.

I never actually appreciated how complex delivering a Club World service is from such a limited galley; though I have to say it does normally appear to be more effortless than that crew made it appear.

Lots of flapping and concern over workload, rather than passenger service focus.

However, the crewmembers were delighted by the feedback from passengers, which does go to show if crew could become proud of the food they served, and indeed the airline for which they work, then it might improve service perception on the part of passengers.

I was SHOCKED by the gategourmet guy – Steven Walpole – who never considered how his food actually tasted at altitude, I mean what DOES he spend his days doing?

Why oh why are BA staff tasting the menu ON THE GROUND. I mean DUH! That sort of idiocy makes me mad!!

All dishes should be tasted in pressure chambers, with noise (apparently it affects taste too..) and should be reheated in the convection ovens used on board most aircraft.

Surprised they didn’t have Heston on board the new 777-300ERs with the new steam ovens in First, and an opportunity to showcase the new products in F, W and Y.

What BA – and most airlines – need to do is to ditch these celeb chefs and put the money into some really excellent food technologists; people like Heston but without the ego and paypacket who can really improve the taste and moisture content of simple dishes.

Also for someone from BA to work directly with the crew to understand how their lives could be made as easy as is reasonably possible, while ensuring they understand and are proud to serve the food on offer.

I haven’t done a BA longhaul for a few months, but by all accounts the food, especially in Club World, is not what it should be.

It’s good to hear that there are to be improvements in the on board premium cabin food service, slated for introduction around May. It can’t come soon enough.

Now, where do I purchase a “nasal douche”?