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Topics: Travel, Life Hacks, Food and Drink
Mia Williams
Topics: Travel, Life Hacks, Food and Drink
A travel expert has revealed which meal you should always order before jetting off into the sky after making an insightful revelation.
We all know the kind of reputation airplane food has - kind of bleak, tasteless dishes that have never been introduced to salt.
I mean we get it, cheffing up hundreds of meals for people in the sky, it's not going to be gourmet.
However, there's an interesting reason behind why we find plane food so uninviting, and a travel expert has shared how we can get better bang for our buck!
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Writing for the Washington Post, travel guru David Farley explained: "Airlines’ philosophy of free meals is to offend as few palates as possible.
"Scientific studies have shown that a combination of changes in cabin air pressure and a reduction of humidity while 35,000 feet in the air
reduces our palate’s sensitivity to sweet and salty flavours by about 30%.
"Even loud background noise, such as the humming of a jet’s engine, dulls our taste buds. So, a handful of flights ago, I started experimenting by taking advantage of the special meals that airlines offer."
After exhausting every bland in-flight meal on the menu, David found that one cuisine wasn't at all affected by the air pressure in the cabin.
He discovered that Indian food was an absolute winner, as spice didn't change whether you were 30,000 feet in the air, or on the ground at a local restaurant.
And the best part? Upon getting in touch with his favourite airline, he was told that there wasn't a limit on how many special dishes they could order for passengers on board.
Meaning that he didn't need to worry about about taking the meal away from someone else who needed it for dietary or religious reasons.
"Preordering a special meal on long-haul flights is one way enliven what has become a dismal experience," he said. "So, on my recent Iberia flight from New York to Madrid, I happily indulged in tender chicken curry with rice and a lentil stew - a delicious and slightly spicy reminder that there are still ways to enjoy long-haul flights in economy.
"The same old chicken or fish? No thanks. I’m holding off for lentil beans with a slight kick, curry-accented chicken or whatever Indian-flavoured meal lands in my lap on my next flight."
So there we go, you know what to order ahead of your next lengthy trip in the sky!