Airline menu only offers food that tastes good in the air

British Airways has created the Height Cuisine menu, which features foods selected due to their taste at an altitude of 30,000 feet.

Airline food has long had a reputation for being substandard and there have been numerous attempts to dispel this image, such as Air France‘s giveaway of its gourmet menu in New York. Now British Airways has created the Height Cuisine menu, which features foods selected due to their taste at an altitude of 30,000 feet. The menu is based on the premise that food doesn’t taste the same on the ground as it does in the air, because people lose 30 percent of the sensitivity in their tastebuds when flying. The airline tested several foods and altered its recipes to cater for this decline. For example, the company compared thousands of wines to find the ones that keep a balanced flavor at high altitudes. In order to boost the sweet, sour, bitter or salt qualities of certain foods in the air, the recipes add extra ingredients to bring out the right tones – for example, citrus is added to sour dishes and sharp cheeses such as parmesan are used to create saltier flavors. The new menu also takes into account how the look of food can affect diners’ taste perceptions. The video below explains more about the ideas behind campaign: Height Cuisine aims to alter travelers’ perception of airline food, although the menu is currently only available to First and Business class customers. Airlines around the world – one for inspiration? Spotted by: Katherine Noyes