Turkish Airlines food

[PAXboy]

Am considering using them for a long haul trip later this year but am concerned the food will be too spicy for me. I do not eat any food from the eastern Med. I've looked at menus in search (as TK does not detail them) and they look like they have a good selection. Any experience of the Biz class meals? Is there a 'Western European' option?

Thanks.

[Hotel Tango]

Don't know if you've seen this:

turkish-airlines-business-class-experience (http://www.loungebuddy.com/blog/turkish-airlines-business-class-experience)


Of interest is this extract: "Skychef will come around to take your order, and they will be more than happy to comply with special requests, such as preparing your meat to your desired temperature. They can also provide recommendations and offer suggestions to suit your personal taste buds".

Edit: The above link produced with the kind assistance of PDR1

[PDR1]

Don't know if you've seen this:

URL]

Sorry, still haven't worked out how to highlight the link on PPRuNe.


For the link above you just need to put it in the form below, but with square brackets (because this forum doesn't parse the "code" tag properly):

{url=<web address to be linked>} TEXT YOU WANT TO SHOW HIGHLIGHTED {/url}

So that would be:

{url=http://www.loungebuddy.com/blog/turkish-airlines-business-class-experience} THIS LINK {/url}

Replace the curly braces with square brackets and it looks like this:

[url=http://www.loungebuddy.com/blog/turkish-airlines-business-class-experience] THIS LINK (http://www.loungebuddy.com/blog/turkish-airlines-business-class-experience/")

HTH,

PDR

[Hotel Tango]

:ok: Thank you PDR1. The only problem now is whether I'll remember for next time ;)

(I've made a print out).

[PAXboy]

Thanks to both HT and PDR1. No, I had not seen that info. The TK website has many photographs but not so much explanation as other carriers. I have seen the images of the chef as part of the crew but how and where they fit it - was not given! I shall read now.

[Phileas Fogg]

I flew two round trips UK/TAS/UK with Turkish (a long time ago), I don't recall their food being any different from all the rest.

[eastern wiseguy]

AirlineMeals.net - Airline catering * the world's largest website about airline catering, inflight meals and special meals (http://www.airlinemeals.net)


Have a look on here .

[ExXB]

In the reply box there is an icon that looked like a globe, with a chain below it. Copy your url to your clipboard first, then click on globe icon and then paste (Don't duplicate the http//, the default entry) your url.

Bob's your uncle!

[Hotel Tango]

Thanks ExXB. Yep, I did see that and tried it a couple of times but it didn't work for me. Obviously I didn't do it correctly! Will try again next time!

[vctenderness]

I have a home in Turkey so frequent visitor. Turkish food not particularly spicy. Peppers are used a lot but they are mostly the mild kind not the South Asian type.

I have not used Turkish Airlines but use Pegasus a lot their meals are quite bland such as steak and chicken with vegetables.

I would not worry too much as airlines tend to cater for International tastes rather than just their own.

[PAXboy]

Many thanks to all for the great information. I knew that some websites host pictures of food but had not realised how extensive they had become.

I won't bore you with the things I can and cannot eat but the 'international' menus of the last few years have been giving me problems. There are many international foods that I don't eat and have found myself unable to accept either option. Typically, one option is spicy (all the fashion) and the other is pasta based. I am allergic to spices and cannot stand pasta - so I eat several rounds of cheese and biscuits! As happened to me on a PER~MEL 3hr sector in March (Y cabin).

Here is an exchange from my regular beat on VS in PE from a couple of years ago:
"Sorry but I cannot eat either of those"
Kefuffle and senior CC arrives with an arched eyebrow and I explained about the pasta and spice: "Why did you not order a special meal then?"
"Because VS has never presented me with this option before. In the 25 odd years that I have been using your airline, I have never found a meal I could not eat - until today. Besides, a special meal can also contain pasta and spice!" CC's eyebrow relaxed and they found a spare meal from Upper.

So when selecting TK, I am particularly anxious as many of their illustrations show their own cuisine (understandable) and I cannot eat any of it. The pictures are one thing but it's the ingredients that count! The info about the Sky Chef was MOST helpful as the TK website referred to them but did not go into the kind of detail that, say, SQ does. When planning that trip, their website was brilliant and TK could take a lesson. If I do use TK, I shall find this thread and report back.

I have bookmarked the information pages, even though one of them was fawning over TK so much that they are either looking for advertising or freebie upgrades ... :rolleyes:

[easyflyer83]

I mean this in the nicest possible way, fussy eaters (and theirs nothing wrong with being one) should always bring a bit of something they like to sustain them.

[PAXboy]

No offence taken ef83. If my body allowed me to eat a bigger range of food, I should be delighted but it's been like this since I was a baby. With something like pasta (which everybody says is so lovely) it just makes me gag and has from the day I was first presented with it.

As I said, until recently, there was not a problem but many airlines have joined the trend to put pepper and spices in food. This is OK when they state in advance that they have dones so but it is uncomfortable to bite into a meal to find that it has 'cracked black pepper' in that was never mentioned.

Whilst I am happy to supply my own food in LCC carriers, I do expect that a business cabin and fare will be able provide me with some standard food. There are far more things that I eat, than I do not.

[ExXB]

How easy is it to take food and drink through security? Airside choice can be good, but usually not.

[PAXboy]

Well, airside, they have followed fashion of providing Asian, Meze, Fusion, etc. When in transit at SIN this year, there were dozens of food stalls and not many that I could eat at! On the way back we went into a Lounge - and most of the food there was of the same category!

That's why I say that, in 50 years of 'Paxing All Over The World', I have only started to have problems in the last five years as the ground level food fashions have got into the airlines.

[Mark in CA]

Guess it depends on what you consider spicy. I've heard people say ketchup is spicy. Do you mean spicy as in hot, or spicy as in flavorful or well seasoned? Middle Eastern foods, for the most part, fall into the latter category.

[PAXboy]

Well, the human palate is a weird thing. Certainly what I cannot tolerate, others think is mild. One friend thought that they had put 1/10 amount of Coriander. Yet, the moment I walked into the kitchen - I could smell it and it was overpowering, it was 10/10. Yet, Coriander is a herb not a spice!

Without bothering you with too much further detail, the best example of the way that British foods have changed is the use of spices and pepper (+ others). They say it's to add zing and flavour and various other PR rubbish, I think a lot of it is to perk up poor quality ingredients! And fashion is a big part of it. There is a well know manufacturer of Pasties and they changed the recipe by increasing the black pepper, so I no longer buy them. I even found a supplier of sandwiches to a well known petrol chain that adds black pepper to 'Egg & Cress' sandwiches. So even buying a sarnie in the departure lounge is a problem as I would have to open and sample it!

The core of the problem is the ingredients that they do NOT mention on the menu (like pepper) because it is considered 'normal' and not the kind of thing people will react badly to. I have often had to send restaurant meals back to the kitchen because the lavish description in the menu omitted the words 'features cracked black peper'. Yet, when the meal is served I can SEE the pepper in the food.

I have met many other people with a similar reaction to spice and I repeat, there are more things that I eat than I do not but even walking past an Indian restaurant in the street - with the smell coming from it - makes my stomach churn.

[Hotel Tango]

PAXboy, that your palate/stomach cannot tolerate many ingredients is one thing, but to to challenge the use of these ingredients in food is a different debate. The bottom line is that no chef in a decent restaurant today is going to send out a bland plate of food. Since top chefs are now involved with producing airline food, I guess the same applies in those kitchens too. So, I can understand and sympathize with your predicament when on board a flight because of course the meal has already been prepared, but don't turn it into a culinary debate ;)

Perhaps, in all seriousness, you should consider requesting a special meal now that a good majority of food doesn't suit you. Equally, perhaps airline chefs should ensure that all flights have a number of "plain" dishes available.

[PAXboy]

HT I gave more information as someone asked. I have no quibble with culinary fashion, only that many places take great time, words and effort to tell you about the food/wine but they do not mention all the ingredients.

I know that, regrettably, my body will not accept certain foods but, if I asked for a special meal - how would I know what it would taste like? There is no way of presampling them and so I might find that I could not eat it - which would irritate the staff as much as me! Incidentally, if I was to bore you listing the meals I enjoy, you would find that I do not eat bland meals. I realise it might come across as such.

[Metro man]

Ordering a "BLAND" meal from the special category would probably get you something suitable for your stomach. Most major airlines have a decent list available of everything from Jain to low salt. Usually the meals are of a higher standard than normal food and you get served first.

Prisons that have to cater for Jews will usually order in from an outside supplier as there are so few of them doing porridge that it isn't worth having a specially certified kitchen. Other prisoners have been known to claim to be Jewish in order to get better food.

[evansb]

Many non-Jewish airline passengers have also been known to order Kosher meals. A top travel web site suggests ordering Kosher meals in their "travel tip" section. Nice piece fish, maybe a brisket even..

PAXboy's revulsion to specific cooking odors suggests a possible psychological aspect to his food preferences, as well as physiological..

[PAXboy]

This is not about airline food, so stop reading if bored!

evansb
PAXboy's revulsion to specific cooking odors suggests a possible psychological aspect to his food preferences, as well as physiological.Interesting, with one type of food, I have always thought that the case: Pasta and it relates to a very bad boarding school. Fortunately, our parents realised it quickly and took my brother and I away. But I cannot eat any kind of pasta.

However, with the other two categories, the revulsion is instintive.

I recall the first time I encountered spices. I was 11 years old and (on a holiday) we visited the Durban Indian market. After the halls of fabrics and so on, we entered the food hall and I well remember the piles of brightly coloured powders. Immediately my stomach heaved and my nose felt like a thousand daggers were attacking it, I turned and ran.

I have never liked the smell, leave alone taste, of things bitter. From an early age (probably five, certainly for as long as I can remember), my brother had enjoyed supping our father's beer and I found it revolting. Likewise coffee. When I was about 15, I was offerred a cup of coffee by friends of my parents at their home. I thought that I'd better try this (to be sociable) and because everybody said how wonderful coffee was. I took a small sip and felt it go all the way down. I had to prevent myself going to wash out my mouth (it was a very polite dinner party!) and I felt ill for a couple of hours - that was my first sip of coffee and my last.

The same goes for bitter chocholate, whereas I have never found a limit to how much sweet chocholate I can eat. For some reason this includes drinks made of Grain, such as whiskey as well as beer. Whereas I can easily drink Grape alcohol. That said (!) my tongue likes dry red wines but NOT dry white wines. I don't know why but that's how it is. Fortunately, plenty of red wine in the world.

So, that's why I say that my body knows what it cannot accept and warns me by smell and look. I have met a number of other people who are also repulsed by spice and bitter. I have described it: My sense of taste is so far up the 'sweet' end of the scale that I cannot take ANYTHING even slightly bitter.