BRITISH Airways has chosen its Dubai route to unveil the exciting new British inspired menus that will be served on board during the busy summer period. Michelin-star chef Heston Blumenthal revealed the new menus which have been created by rising star Simon Hulstone. The special menu will be served to more than three million customers on flights departing from London.
Hulstone’s dishes take inspiration from the airline’s menus of the past. Popular ingredients from past times have been incorporated into his menu, with some dishes reinvented for a modern day audience – rich in umami and using local produce. To complement the menu there is a specially commissioned on-board soundtrack which customers can listen to.
He has created four menus, which will be available on long-haul flights from London Heathrow from July in; First, Club, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller cabins. Working with Chef Heston and his experimental team, Hulstone researched food in post war Britain. As food was rationed at the time, ingredients that were indigenous and plentiful such as ox cheek and fish played an important part of people’s diet during these austerity years. Hulstone’s menu reflects these trends, and includes; ‘Rillette of mackerel dressed on a pickled cucumber carpaccio with sour dough croutes’ and ‘Fish pie using sustainable sourced hake, dressed with parmesan pomme puree and a warm tartare sauce’.
Certain cuts of beef were also used at the time, with dishes such as ‘Steak and mushroom casserole’ and ‘Braised beef chasseur with young carrots and chateau potatoes’ featuring in the airlines’ 1948 menus. Hulstone has reworked this chasseur dish for a new audience with umami rich ingredients, to become ‘Potted braised beef with a potato and horseradish topping, served with hispy cabbage, baby carrots and roasted shallots with a rich jus’.
For desserts, tinned fruit was a common theme both on board flights and also as part of the regular diet. Hulstone has attempted to pay homage to this in some of his dishes including a Lemon curd cheesecake with raspberry and basil compote.
Frank van der Post, British Airways managing director of brands and customer experience, said: “We are very proud to be quite literally bringing a taste of Britain to our customers! We have a very proud heritage with our in-flight menus, which Simon and Heston have tapped into in a credible and exciting way.”