Good‘s Peter Smith has an interesting review of the history of airline food, which has never been good and is getting worse (when it’s available at all). In the I Did Not Know That category:
But even under optimal conditions, cooked to the exact specifications of the latest celebrity chefs hired to reinvigorate flaccid airline fare, the taste of food changes when you’re inside a parched, hypobaric metal tube that’s vibrating and humming along at 550 miles per hour.
Recently, Germany’s Lufthansa Airlines conducted research inside a stationary Airbus A310 designed to replicate flying conditions. Deutche Welle reported that flyers said their taste buds felt dulled, requiring 20 percent more sugar and salt (explaining the particular appeal of V-8 or a Bloody Mary).
I haven’t noticed this effect when tasting commodity items that are directly comparable to outside fare, such as Pringles, peanuts, and the like. Also, thankfully, Dewars and Glenfiddich taste just as good — if not better — when I’m crammed into an airplane seat than sitting comfortably in front on my television at home. Or perhaps they’re just more necessary.
via Andrew Sullivan
