British Airways serves fish and chips in the skies

British Airways is now offering a fish and chip supper on-board some flights. But is it a good idea?

British Airways' decision to serve piping hot fish and chips high in the sky has been given the thumbs up by the head chef at one of Britain’s best chippies.

With a little help from Whitby

Stuart Fusco (pictured above) – Chef Director at the Quayside in Whitby, which was named ‘best takeaway fish and chip shop’ at this year’s National Fish & Chip Awards – has been helping BA with their batter recipe. It apparently took a lot of perfecting to allow the resulting fish and chips to survive at altitudes of up to 35,000 feet.

From late July, customers on board BA’s longest short-haul flights from Heathrow to destinations such as Athens, Larnaca, Istanbul, Sofia and St Petersburg have been given the option of fish and chips as their inflight meal. It’s a sustainable cod fillet with a batter taste-tested by Stuart, served with chunky chips, vinegar, ketchup and tartare sauce.

“It’s a real honour to have been asked to taste test BA’s first ever fish and chip supper,” says Stuart. “Cooking up a good batter on board presents some unique challenges, but fish and chips is one of our most iconic British dishes so passengers expect it to be as good in the air as it is on the ground.

“They’ve created a delicious meal to rival even the best fish and chip shops, which is very impressive at 35,000 feet.”

Full flavour is crucial

Sinead Ferguson, menu development manager at BA, added: “We know our customers love comfort food and expect it to be done well when they fly with us – and full flavour is crucial given that your tastes buds are reduced by more than 30% at altitude.”

“We pre-fry both the fish fillet and the chips, and the length of time we do this for is fundamental to giving the chips and batter that desired crunch. During trials our fish supper was met with resounding approval by our customers.”

But lovefood remains a little sceptical – can fish and chips reheated and served at such high altitudes really taste as good as what you get from the seaside? And just how powerful an aroma will 200 passengers' fish and chip tea create?

Would you order British Airways’ fish and chips? Share your feelings in the Comments box below.

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