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| Thursday, May 21, 2009 |
| The Airplane Experience |
I remember how excited I used to get about traveling by plane when I was a kid. My mom loved to dress us up all cute. She dressed all three of us girls the same, even though we weren’t triplets. We were all looking forward to a “cool” meal served in rectangular or square dishes and of course we kept our small silverware and salt and pepper shakers. The food was actually good! They even provided wine with meals, for my parents of course, and meals and beverages were always included in the price of the ticket. It was so cool to be on a plane for 7 hours. I don’t remember being scared at all, it was an adventure.
Maybe that’s why I still love traveling by plane today. As soon as I’m done with the entire check-in and security madness, I’m in a total state of relaxation. There’s nothing I can do anymore, it’s out of my control. So I just go with the flow and relax. I also do a lot of wishing: wishing there are no crying babies, kicking kids sitting behind me, a coughing machine, loud gum chewer, heavy breather or smelly person next to me. By the way, I always carry Lavender essential oil with me just in case I do not appreciate my neighbor’s smell. I just dab some under my nose to replace the aroma. Lavender is also known to help relax and promote sleep, so that works for me too.
Luckily when I went to Milan a few weeks ago, the plane was not over booked. There were no screaming babies or any of the other stuff I mentioned before. But I’m also more prepared now. I finally got an iPod where I downloaded Italian music, Italian lessons and meditation sessions. So all the annoying noises can be somewhat controlled. But being a food freak, I was anxious to see what dinner would look like. First understand that the plane was filled with Italians. As the cart came down the aisle, I hear “chicken or pasta”. I’m a dietitian! One cannot just say “how is it prepared?” on a plane. There are only two choices. But I’m thinking, maybe the pasta is mushy by now and I wonder if they used spaghetti or penne? A larger type of pasta would hold better with prolonged heating. And is the chicken in a creamy sauce? Yes, this is what was going on in my head! Finally, the flight attendant gets to me and she gives me chicken because the Italians took all the pasta!
So I lift the aluminum foil off my warm rectangular dish to find a chicken breast with barbecue sauce. Then I wonder what the Italians are thinking about this dish. Being who I am, the “dietitian blogger” reflects on a lesson to learn here. Well, it’s portion control. There was only 3 ounces of chicken, no more, which is perfect. Next to it was about a half a cup of mashed potatoes. Again perfect portion control. But where the Mediterranean diet preacher in me had problems was with the vegetables. There was hardly a third of a cup of green beans, which I ate all of, of course. The salad was pitiful. I didn’t touch the bread and I think there might have been a brownie for dessert. None the less it was a good meal, considering one doesn’t need much to eat when stuck in a seat for 10 hours. So I drank some red wine to make up for my meal’s lack on antioxidants.
As for the return trip, the same things go through my head all over again. So the cart comes down the aisle, “chicken or pasta?” This time I want the pasta, I made up my mind, but no such luck because the traveling Italians took all of them before it reached me. Same little chicken breast with some kind of orange sauce, a rich risotto and mixed vegetables. Portions were all the same again. I was hoping to get better food on the return flight as it was coming “from” Italy. The bread was served with European butter, the risotto was really creamy and there was a fruit cup. So the highlight was the bread and butter.
Yes, things have changed since my first flight to Paris when I was six. You don’t have your own individual little salt and pepper shaker or real silverware that you kept as a souvenir. The food is not the most important feature of the trip anymore and most of the time you have to pay for it in addition to the price of your ticket. But I still love to fly!
Any good (or funny) airline stories? We’d love to hear them!
- Josee
Labels: food for thought, Josee
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posted by My Sensei @ Thursday, May 21, 2009   |
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