Airline menus being enlarged

Press, 10 December 1983, Page 14

Airline menus being enlarged

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

Travellers flying the Tasman can look forward to a bigger and better range of menus from Air New Zealand’s catering kitchen at Christchurch Airport. Twenty invited guests were given a taste of the fine new flight fare at a special luncheon served, at ground level, at the airport on Thursday. The new menus will be introduced to flights from December 19. Qantas and Trans Australia Airlines flights from Christchurch are also catered for by the kitchen.

Guests yesterday were served a selection of gourmet dishes from one of the new first-class menus. Examples of hors

d’ouvres, including smoked salmon, king prawns, and pate, were followed by three main dishes — crayfish thermidor, chicken sandeman, and venison allemande, with grape salad, potatoes, carrots, and asparagus.

Strawberry pavlova and fruit flan were offered for dessert.

Wines included Montana Sauvignon Blanc 1982 and Marlborough Cabernet Sauvignon 1980.

They complemented a meal prepared almost entirely from South Island produce. Improved menus will be also offered to business and economy-class passengers. The flight kitchen, which employs about 52 people on shifts, produces about 3500 meals a week.