35000英尺上的飞机用餐攻坚战

Subtle wines don't cut it at 35,000 feet. The key at altitude is to minimize any bitterness in red wine tannins, since altitude makes them stand out more, and maximize fruit in white wine, because that gives it more taste in the sky, according to Keith Isaac, general manager of Castelnau Wine Agencies, the wine buyer for British Airways' business class service.
清淡的葡萄酒在35,000英尺的高空行不通。据卡斯特诺葡萄酒代理公司(Castelnau Wine Agencies)的经理基斯?艾萨克(Keith Isaac)称，选择高空酒品的一个关键是红葡萄酒中单宁酸的涩味要尽量小，原因是高度会让涩味更突出；白葡萄酒中的果味则要尽量浓，原因是果味会在高空中让白葡萄酒更浓郁。卡斯特诺葡萄酒代理公司是英国航空公司商务舱业务的葡萄酒采购商。

'Wine could be overly expressive and that is good in the air,' said Mr. Isaac, who so far this year has tasted 850 wines for his airline client. 'To me, above all, it's fruit. I spend all day on fruit.'
艾萨克表示：“葡萄酒的口感可能会过于饱满，这对高空品酒来说是好事。就我来说，最重要的就是果味。我每天都在探索葡萄酒中的果味。”艾萨克今年迄今已经为英国航空公司品尝了850款葡萄酒。

Other airlines say they try to tailor food and wine for parched palates, but most haven't gone down the umami road. United, Delta, American and Singapore Airlines, a carrier heralded for its food, say they serve some foods containing umami, for example, but they don't make an effort to pump up use of it.
其他航空公司表示，他们也针对飞行中的味觉变化尝试了调整飞机餐和酒品，但是大多数航空公司还没有采用鲜味。例如，美国联合航空公司(United Airlines)、达美航空公司(Delta Airlines)、美国航空公司(American Airlines)和飞机餐饮的先驱者新加坡航空公司(Singapore Airlines)表示，他们提供的一些餐点中含有鲜味，但是他们并没有大力推进鲜味的使用。

One reason: Many customers have a difficult time noticing any difference. Skytrax, a London-based consultancy that polls travelers world-wide about airline service, says it has seen 'no visible difference' in customer feedback on British Airways food.
一个原因是：很多客户并不能轻易地发现其中的变化。针对全球旅行者进行航空公司服务调查的伦敦咨询机构Skytrax表示，在客户反馈中，对英航所提供食品的评价“并没有明显的变化”。

Jamie Moore, a London technology executive and top-tier flier on British Airways, says that while food service has gone downhill on shorter flights, he thinks food on long trips across oceans has subtly improved. On a recent flight to New York, 'the beef wasn't quite as destroyed as it used to be,' he said, and the bread rolls were soft, warm and tasty. Business class food, he said, 'tends to be quite good.'
来自伦敦的某科技企业高管、英国航空公司的顶级贵宾杰米?摩尔(Jamie Moore)表示，虽然短途航班的餐饮服务与日俱下，但他认为洲际长途航班的餐饮水平似乎提高了。他说，在最近一次飞往纽约的航班上，“牛肉并不像之前那样难以下咽了”，面包卷也很松软、温热、可口。他说，商务舱的食物“似乎越来越好了”。

Others say it's still airline food. 'My test of a restaurant is simply whether I was served a meal I'd want to go back for,' said Howard Long, also a gold-level British Airways customer, 'and I've never had a meal on an airline I wanted to go back for.'
其他人表示，飞机餐仍旧是以往的飞机餐。同样身为英国航空公司金卡客户的霍华德?朗(Howard Long)表示：“我对餐厅好坏的评判标准就是我是否愿意再回来就餐，而从来没有哪餐飞机餐是我愿意重温的。”

But British Airways is undeterred. Internal customer-satisfaction surveys score food higher, the airline says, and it is continuing what it calls its 'Height Cuisine' effort.
但是，英国航空公司并没有气馁。该公司表示，内部客户满意度调查显示，食物的分数有所提高，并且该公司仍在继续推进其称之为“高空美食”(Height Cuisine)的项目。

Steam ovens have been installed in first class to supplement the convection ovens airlines typically use. The new ovens are a gentler way to heat bread and pastry without hardening them.
英国航空公司已经为头等舱乘客安装了蒸汽加热炉，以取代通常使用的对流加热炉。新的加热炉在加热面包和糕点时不会使它们变硬。

The airline challenged Twinings, its tea supplier, to develop a blend that would work better at altitude. Typically regular tea blends get brewed to taste either too strong or too bland, said Christopher Cole, BA's food and beverage and product change manager. Research took six months, testing with aircraft water and factoring in the lower boiling point of water aboard airplanes.
英国航空公司还要求其茶叶供应商川宁(Twinings)研发一种更适合高空饮用的混合型茶叶。英航的饮食调配经理克里斯托弗?科尔(Christopher Cole)称，一般的混合型茶叶总是泡得要么太浓、要么太淡。研发共历时六个月，实验使用了航空饮用水，并考虑了高空飞行时水的沸点较低的问题。

The airline settled earlier this year on a tea that's a mixture of Kenya, Assam and High Ceylon teas.
今年早些时候，英航决定采用一种由肯尼亚茶、阿萨姆茶和锡兰高地茶混合而成的茶叶。

The next piece of this high-altitude puzzle? Coffee.
下一个需要攻克的高空难题？咖啡。

'We haven't yet come up with something that is noticeably different,' he said. But one promising blend will be tested in-flight after Christmas. With coffee, bitterness really comes through in-flight.
科尔表示：“我们尚未找到解决问题的绝妙办法。”但是，一种很有希望成功的混合型咖啡将在 诞节后进行高空测试。在高空，咖啡的苦味总是特别突出。

'It's a difficult nut to crack,' Mr. Cole said.
科尔称：“这是一块难啃的骨头。”