Sky-high cuisine takes off as THAI launches new menus

Bangkok (September 24, 2003) – If your thoughts of airline cuisine bring to mind images of rubbery omelette and flaccid chicken, think again – if you fly on Thai Airways you could soon be treated to some of the best cuisine in the air.

Speaking yesterday after receiving the Business Traveller magazine’s award for ‘Best Cellar in the Sky’ for champagne, airline president Kanok Apiradee said that Thai Airways was aiming to become a service leader in the airline industry by launching a range of new services, in particular by offering new menus to impress passengers.

Giving a mouth-watering run-down of the new menus, he said that on routes to and from Europe, First Class passengers would be served with traditional fayre such as British beef pie and Rheinischer Sauerbraten, while passengers on Australian routes would be wooed with baked lamb ribs, beef wellington and baked salmon.

On its routes to India, he said that the airline had teamed up with the Mrs. Vinder Balbir, the proprietor of the eponymous restaurant in Bangkok to offer food including kesari rice and mixed vegetable curry, while passengers to and from Japan could enjoy such delicacies as boiled rice with salted fish, grilled beef with teriyaki sauce. Passengers on Chinese routes, meanwhile, would be able to taste some of China’s most famous foods, including beef fried with black pepper and Hong Kong braised beef.

Mr. Kanok said that the airline was also launching a ‘Charms of Thai food’ menu, with Thai favourites such as prawn salad, chicken in coconut milk, loofah fried with prawns and egg. In addition, it would provide a special Thai menu to mark the 150th anniversary of the reign of King Rama V, offering passengers a rare chance to sample some of the former monarch’s favourite foods, including roast duck curry with apple.

This menu would be offering on flights to European countries which King Rama V had visited – the UK, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy.

Also on the menu for First Class passengers would be food including catfish salad and pumpkin in coconut custard.

The airline has also recently launched an inflight catalogue of One Tambon One Product (OTOP) goods, giving passengers a chance to purchase traditional Thai handicrafts and other goods while in the air. OTOP products also form the basis of snacks given to the airline’s domestic passengers, including candied pineapple, banana chips and sesame-coated cashew nuts.

Mr. Kanok said that the airline planned to use OTOP goods as raw materials for the airline’s catering services and as utensils used on Thai planes.

Source : TNA