Heston hits the heights for another mission impossible

NOT many chefs have faced the challenge of serving food for 100,000 customers a day at 35,000ft, so when Heston Blumenthal asked British Airways if he could try it, the airline jumped at the opportunity.

The experiment is part of Heston’s new Channel 4 programme, Heston’s Mission Impossible, where he pushes the boundaries of food development across a number of great British institutions.

In the one-hour programme with British Airways, Blumenthal tackles the very specific issue of what happens to food and the ability to taste at altitude, combined with the confines of an aircraft’s galley area.

In the behind-the-scenes programme, Heston works with British Airways cabin crew members Jackie Simister, from Manchester, and Simon Curley, from Barnsley, as well as Steve Walpole, the airline’s development chef at their long-haul catering supplier, Gate Gourmet, to develop a meal that tastes as good in the air as it does on the ground.

“It was fantastic to work with Heston; he wasn’t at all as you might imagine,” says Simon, BA’s cabin service director, who commutes from his home to Heathrow.

“We spent about six months filming with him and he was genuinely surprised that food does taste different at altitude, which is just one of the challenges that we face every day.”

Simon, who works on BA World Wide long-haul flights, says Heston quickly appreciated what the crews are up against.

“We have a very small galley and only a reheating oven that is set to one temperature. There were things that he wanted to do, which we tried to explain to him just weren’t possible on an aeroplane.”

While airline food is often much maligned, Simon, who has worked for BA for 18 years, sticks up for it.

“On a long-haul flight, we serve two hot meals. In Club World, passengers have a choice of four dishes, and in First Class, it is an a la carte menu.

“I think people really like to see behind the scenes of what we do. It is challenge serving decent food at 30,000 feet, and I do sometime think that people forget that, but we don’t often get complaints.

“The food can look and taste wonderful when it is created at Gate Gourmet, but by the time it is reheated on board, it can be a different story, so it is not easy creating dishes which will transport and reheat well.

“One of the main problems is fish, and this is something that Heston looked at. Reheating fish can be very difficult. Heston’s challenge was to come up with something that wouldn’t lose its appeal. ”

Mark Hassell, British Airways’ head of customer experience and a tasting panel judge on the show, said: “There is a real science to food at altitude, and with his innovative and creative approach, Heston’s work has been really interesting to us.

“We have very high standards when it comes to our food, and Heston has not only been asked to impress British Airways, but, more importantly, our customers. Ultimately, they will be the judge of Heston’s final creation.”

The result remains a secret at this stage, but if Heston’s endeavours prove successful, then British Airways’ customers will be in for a treat.

“I cannot say what he came up with, but it was a very interesting experience and we had a lot of fun, which I think will, hopefully, come across in the programme,” says Simon, a trained nurse and florist who is also a magistrate in his spare time.

• Heston’s Mission Impossible is on Channel 4 on Tuesday March 8, at 9pm.