Paula Kraft, founder and President of Atlanta, GA-based Tastefully Yours Catering, extols the virtues of everybody's favorite fruit - the apple.
Hello Autumn!

One of my favorite times of the year, a time when the foliage colors change, leaves blow up on the roadways as I drive, and it seems as if there are more days than not filled with a chilled rain.

Root vegetables come into season, squashes and gourds are for sale everywhere from roadsides to markets to farm stand and prepared for every course of a meal service. It's a turning point for more comfort foods, heartier meals for fall and into winter. We see more wonderful rich soups (and you know how much I love my soups). And of course apples, and pears are plentiful.

It's a time that you almost want to hibernate, dig in, snuggle in a soft blanket in front of the fire and immerse yourself in a great book and some steaming hot aromatic cinnamon spiced apple cider. You can feel it, right? Even if you live in a warm year-round climate where you don’t see such noticeable changes, you can see a shift in attitude of people, you can see a change on the horizon.

I have to ask how you think this inevitable change affects menu planning for the aircraft. As you warm the aircraft from the chill in the air, you need to plan on preboard tidbits and beverages that will warm the bodies of those boarding passengers and the flight crew exposed to the changing elements. It a perfect time of year to think about local foods, what is growing in the area where you are departing?

I suggest that we look at apples. Although available year round, their true season is now.

Did you know the apple is thousands of years old? They originate from the Tien Shan Mountains of Kazakhstan between the Caspian and the Black Sea. History records that apples were the favorite fruit of ancient Greeks and Romans. They considered the apple the symbol of love and beauty . . . and charred apples have even been found in prehistoric dwellings in Switzerland. What better food to keep on board the aircraft than such a proven favorite over centuries and one that represents love and beauty?

I suppose I had never given any thought to biting into an apples that centuries ago our ancestors ate as well. In order to appreciate the apple I felt a few trivia facts would be in order:

There are over 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the world. The world's top apple producers are China, United States, Turkey, Poland and Italy which makes it easy to see that the apple is a global food that we all enjoy. I had to include this chart showing a few of the apples because when I saw this chart for the first
time, I noticed there is an apple named Paula Red. Think, my name and my favorite color and a yummy taste all in one!

Apples are regarded as sacred and magical in almost every country where they are grown.

One of the magical properties blesses the farmer who could see light through its branches on December 25, then the farmer would be blessed with a healthy, abundant crop. Apples were also used in money exchanges.

In centuries old Ireland, an apple tree could be purchased only in exchange for another living thing - and in England it was almost sacrilegious to destroy and orchid. In Yorkshire it's unlucky to remove all the fruit off the tree, so a piece or two is always left on the tree as a gift for the birds.

		In the present day, the American apple has been banned from import to the European Union since 2012 because it is treated with a substance called diphenylamine (DPA), which keeps them from turning brown for months at a time when they are kept in storage. Studies are under way to see at what level this substance can appear on apples without being considered toxic.
Apples shared by Chinese  for holiday wishing good things to friends.

Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, and yellows which is wonderful when creating that “pop” of a desired color on your serving platter or as part of your meal. Textures and tastes may vary which also adds to the planning dynamics of the meal. Apples are a member of the rose family. Amazing, right?

If you need to speed up the ripening of apples you have on board, leave them at room temperature rather than chilling them. They will ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.

An apple a day . . .

You have heard the saying, “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.” We can thank the English. The saying originally meant “To eat an apple before going to bed, will make the doctor beg his bread. ”Science is behind this one . . . apples are low in calories, fat free, cholesterol free and sodium free. They are full of fiber (20% of your daily requirements), and numerous anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals. They have potassium, folate, niacin, Vitamin A/B/C/E and K. Unbelievable!!

If this isn’t enough, the apple has been proven to protect the brain from developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Don’t think of tossing the peel from your apple. Two-thirds of the fiber and lots of antioxidants are found in the peel. Antioxidants help to reduce damage to cells, which can trigger some diseases. How can anyone find a better and more tasty and beautiful way to get all of these good things?

Desserts

So, you must be asking, how can I find creative uses for the apple on board? Let me begin with dessert, seriously, why not? An apple walnut cake or tart with a gooey caramel nut topping topped with a scoop of slightly soft ice cream to dribble into the cracks and crevices of the cake. Or the favorite apple pie or strudel? I am getting hungry just thinking about it. Yes, sorry to say, I love my desserts! Imagine a deep dark rich chocolate coating

a dried apple ring for dessert with a cup of coffee? For those savoring a cheese course, think about adding some sliced apple wedges to the cheese.

Appetizers

Let me jump to the other end of the meal - pre-boards or appetizers. Consider perfectly prepared light and delicate foie gras . Apples lightly poached or even crisp fresh slices are the perfect accent. But we are all faced with the darkening of the flesh of a cut apple. I am often asked how to stop this from happening and that's one reason they would rather not have to slice apples on board. You can inhibit this by dipping apples in a fruit juice - lemon, orange, grapefruit, or pineapple - before adding other ingredients.

Foie Gras with Beet and Green

But, what if you are 35,000 feet in the air and don’t have any of these on board. Straight lemon or lime juice will leave a sharp citrus taste and make you pucker up.

I have a solution that we use at Tastefully Yours. We slice the apples and drop them into a can of Sprite Soda, it can be any soda where citric acid is one the first ingredients on the label. This little trick will hold sliced or cut apples overnight without discoloring as long as they are covered. Years ago, I saw another trick about making a beautiful cored apple. Use a melon baller to make a perfect scoop of the seeds and then, using a knife, make a V cut from the stem to the bottom of the cut apple. Before I was taught this while working on a photo shoot for a fruit company, my apples always looked like I had wacked them with a hatchet! 

Salads

And apples in salads. The possibilities are endless. Apple chips can be added to a salad by thinly slicing apple and then baking them between two silpat mats until crisp. They stay crisp for about a week when kept in either an airtight deli container or Ziploc bag. Chopped apples, sautéed apples, all make great additions to any salad.  We do an apple carrot salad made by shredding both and tossing them into a lightly sweetened cream dressing. Kick up the tuna salad or chicken salad by adding diced apples to the mix. Today I made something we call Savannah Shrimp Salad . . . a tart blend of poached shrimp, tart green apples cubes, celery, cayenne pepper, sour cream and mango chutney. Served as an entrée salad on a bed of salad greens with warm crusty bread and whipped creamy butter can’t be topped. Are you hungry yet?

Arugula (Rocket) and apples with lemon vinaigrette.

		Sides And apples as a side dish or an accompaniment. Chutneys are a popular accent for most any meat or fish, apples mashed as a side dish, creamed as a sauce, or as a stuffing.  Apples blend in both flavor and texture for most meats and mix well to calm to sharpness or bitterness of many earthy vegetables. There's nothing on your menu that can’t have apples worked in in one way or another. Incredibly versatile.
The caramel and chocolate covered apple on a stick rolled into crushed nuts that runs down your chin as you attempt to maneuver your mouth around this treat.

We can’t forget about breads either. Have you ever broken into a freshly baked apple muffin with moist bits of apple throughout? Or a croissant folded over sautéed ginger apple slices, dusted with powdered sugar. There is nothing like it. Trust me on this.

Have fun indulging in apples this fall while they are at the peak of their natural season.

Let me introduce myself . . . 

My name is Paula Kraft and I am founder and President of Tastefully Yours Catering, an aviation specific caterer, located in Atlanta, Georgia for over 35 years.

Aviation Catering is a science not taught in Culinary School; it’s a function of experience, experimentation, basic trial and error, with constant feedback from flight crews and clients. It is a two-way communication. It is vital that this information and knowledge be shared throughout the industry. To this end, I have worked as the Chairman of the NBAA Caterer’s Working Group, a subcommittee of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee, the NBAA Caterer Representative to the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee, for 9 years.

Currently I am an active member of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee Advisory Board and the NBAA International Flight Attendant Committee, Women in Corporate Aviation, Women in Aviation International, National Association of Catering Executives, International Flight Catering Association, the International Food Service Association and the International Caterer’s Association.

I have coordinated training programs and clinics for NBAA, EBAA and BA-Meetup conference attendees for over 10 years, created mentoring programs for caterers and flight attendants to broaden their aviation culinary skills, and to assist them in adapting to the unique challenges and constraints found in catering for general aviation. I recognize the need for training and have worked closely with flight departments, flight crews, schedulers and customer service reps at the FBOs to ensure that catering specific training provides information and skills necessary to reduce risk while assisting them in their job duties that include safe food handling, catering security, accurate transmission of food orders, and safe food production, packaging and delivery.

I fell into aviation catering quite by accident. I was the in-house caterer and bakery supplier for Macy’s department stores in Atlanta when catering was ordered for a Macy’s customer which was soon to change my life. After the client enjoyed the catering provided, I was summoned to the client’s corporate office to provide several of the items delivered through Macy’s to the executive dining room. Within a week, I was providing food for the flight department and my first order was for the President of a foreign country (as I was too be told soon after). So, here I am, some 35 years later, still loving every minute of every day in aviation catering.

©BlueSky Business Aviation News | 13th October 2016 | Issue #387

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