French Flight Of Fancy

During the 13-hour direct flight, they will be served exclusive inflight meals designed by young French chef Amandine Chaignot, a chef at Le Raphael, a prestigious hotel in Paris.

She has developed a set of five starters, a selection of five mains and two desserts. The menu will be changed every two months.

Among the highlights are lobster salad with pomegranate and arugula pesto for appetiser, tagliatelle and porcini mushroom, turbot munierre, roasted scampi, milk-fed veal or braised yellow chicken for the main dish and mille feuille hazelnut or mara des bois with strawberry halves for dessert.

“My favourite is turbot munierre with mashed carrot and a combination of vanilla, coconut, kaffir and lime sauce,” said Chaignot.

On the halal requirement, she said: “It was not difficult at all as all we needed to do was to find ingredients to replace items like gelatin.”

For this premium menu, Chaignot worked together with chef Zahiddin of Malaysia Airlines and chef Michel Quissac, corporate chef of Servair and a member of the French Culinary Academy.

The French inflight menu will be served until April next year.