Eddie’s food annoyances: people who complain about airplane food
Adeline loves food, lots of it and often, both at home and out. Usually that goes well, but sometimes it doesn’t. In the series Eddie’s food annoyances, she shares her observations. This time: about people who are always bitching about the food on airplanes.
In front of me, on the shitty little table, a scene of fragrant pasta unfolds, with on the side a tapenade, some olives, a piece of cheese and, for those who fancy it, a freshly baked bread roll. If you didn’t know better, you’d think I was in Italy, but no – I’m on an airplane. And I’m not only suffering from flight shame, but also airplane-food shame. I hardly dare say out loud that I actually find this pretty damn edible.
A cube of Beemster cheese
Indeed, you wouldn’t even feed some of the things on the tray to your pet. For example, I have two stuffed peppers in front of me that I don’t entirely trust. But the sort-of-Italian olive and that cube of Beemster cheese were nothing to complain about. For the main course, I got tortellini pommodoro, which may sound a little too fancy for the pasta with cheese and tomato it actually was, but it was mostly just perfectly good food.
And for anyone who’s always whining about the disgusting meat: these days, you simply get to choose between vegetarian and something that tastes like chicken. There’s really nothing to nitpick about there either. There are also people who turn down that warm bread roll; I have a message for them: you’re not right in the head, because this might well be the tastiest thing of all.
Generous airplane meal
If I have to name one thing I was un poco disappointed by, it would have to be the Coke Zero. You’d think something from a can couldn’t go wrong, but it turned out otherwise. In the air, I always get an irresistible craving for something fizzy and lemonade-like. So with my generous airplane meal, I ordered something carbonated. The result was meagre. I got only three small sips in the little glass, and now I’m possibly even more desperate for carbonation. The other thing that could upset me is knowing that two rows in front of me, in business class, they’re dishing out a little menu from De Librije*** accompanied by a glass of champagne. But then I should have sat there.
Friendly, smiling service
But no, then there are those sour complainers who think airplane food is beneath them. It’s too salty, which it has to be, otherwise your food tastes like nothing in the air. There’s too little of it, it’s put together strangely, but above all, the problem is that it’s airplane food. People, for goodness’ sake, be glad that at an altitude of 11,000 metres you get something decent and warm to eat. That they even give you a glass of wine or beer with it if you want one, and that they do it all with a smile. I’m telling you: you can’t find such friendly, smiling service in Amsterdam’s restaurants anymore. You’d almost book a flight just to experience it again.
Obviously, we’re not talking about those disgusting, soggy rolls with plastic cheese and sandwiches soaked with salad that you’re allowed to buy on intra-European flights, because those are simply inedible. Honestly, if I didn’t turn into a bottomless pit on travel days, endlessly echoing no matter what you throw into it, I still wouldn’t eat them even if they paid me. But otherwise, I simply shouldn’t complain, and neither should you.
Read also:
- Eddie’s food annoyances: those restaurants where you get far too much food
- Why some people shouldn’t be allowed to use a self-checkout
- The most disgusting dining scene in a restaurant ever
