Paula Kraft, founder and President of Atlanta, GA-based Tastefully Yours Catering.
Salads: too big? too elaborate? too much?

As I thought about it, I realized that our menus didn’t list an old-fashioned garden salad any longer. Of course we'll gladly make a garden salad if requested; we'll even make it as a kit so it can be customized to each passenger or crew member’s personal taste of toppings.

Food is slowly morphing into works of art . . . even for the aircraft. No longer is it the preserve of the 5-star Michelin restaurant, it's also available from aviation catering sources around the globe. This whole idea got me thinking and asking if our menu items should say, ”some assembly required”. Actually, I think that's a frightening thought, especially for those plating food with no specialized training in food presentation. I struggle with those furniture kits that say “easy assembly”, “all parts included”. Rarely do I find them easy and with all the parts included. A

simple teardrop of puree on the plate doesn’t just happen - it's a carefully considered part of the overall design and plan. I've seen many struggle with it.

If you are selecting the composed salads from your catering source, double-check their “kits” for all the necessary components before departure. This is one type of meal that I would leave to the best in the industry . . . the catering sources that specialize in composed kits.

The Niçoise Salad prepared by On Air Dining in the UK, the ribbon salad with chicken roll prepared by Upper Sky in Paris are two catering sources who have perfected the Michelin style kits. Their food is art.

I began to ask flight attendants what their opinion was on the current salad offerings and I was surprised by some of the answers. My biggest surprise was that they wondered if adding microgreens to the top of a single seared scallop qualified it as 'a salad'?

Doesn’t 'a salad' mean there should be some form of salad greens included, and more than just a bite?

Actually the culinary answer is no. A salad can be simply cut fruit, assorted chopped vegetables . . . the culinary definition is broadly defined. Everyone has a different idea of what a salad is and at what point to eat a salad in the flow of a meal. At the beginning, the end, or as the only item served. Salad can be presented as a side portion, an entrée portion, and even as appetizer portions. For me, I would have to say that a salad is a delicious menagerie of things tossed, as gently as holding a

butterfly by its wings, drizzled with a dressing which adds the combining flavor to all the pieces. For me, salad is a comfort food that brings so many sensations to my mind.

I love how each bite holds a refreshing crisp blend of lettuces from all categories - head, loose-leaf, spicy and bitter. For the aircraft meal, it is almost perfect to stimulate the taste buds, to cause your mouth to water as the first bite crunches in your ears. A light splash of lemon juice and light olive oil, maybe a toss of some freshly pinched herbs to heighten the flavor, and you have perfection.

A salad swimming in a dressing only drowns the taste, the texture and the beauty of the salad. Nothing complicated - just simple beauty.

And yes, I do think all food should be eye candy. It should tease you into a taste even for the unknown flavors and textures. I am not just talking about salads, but all foods. Composed salads are painted works of art, teasing you into a touch. It sits in perfect harmony and is an exercise in composition, restraint and balance. A simple tossed garden salad is random art. Salads with leafy greens fall together in a casual beauty. They are perky, jumping from the plate to be tasted. They almost have a rhythm, a musical dance on the plate. I talk with other chefs and they feel the modern cuisine movement is all about being minimalist in design, but I believe that the leafy green salad is exquisitely minimalist.

As our passengers and flight crew strive for healthier meals - lighter meals to keep them from feeling too full, a salad can be a great solution. The toppings and adornments should heighten their appreciation for the flavor combinations found in the salad. A word of caution; just because it is a salad does not necessarily mean that the calories and the fat content are lower than in a sandwich or other food.

Bitter greens such as arugula (rocket), when paired with the sharpness of mizuna, a frilly mustard green, or frisée, and tossed gently together with the sweetness of pea leaves create sensual fireworks in your mouth. The harmony of fruit and berries, mixed with different cheeses, vegetables and nuts added to a mixed green garden salad should complete the flavors and textures you feel in your mouth.

Mixing sweet and sour, crunchy with soft, creamy and lumpy . . . an assortment of tastes and textures creating great dishes. Summer leafy green salads served on a lightly chilled plate with a chilled fork bring back memories from my childhood where I believe I learned to love salads so much. I spent my teen summers in New York State with my great aunt who loved to go into the city and lunch at Tavern on the Green. The salads I had there shaped my idea of perfection . . . the chilled plates and forks presented to us lightly wrapped in a crisp white linen napkin has stuck with me all these years. The lettuces danced in the bowl with bits of curly frisée popping out as the edges glistened with the lightest mist of dressing.

As you indulge your memory of the perfect salad, be specific with your catering sources as to what you want, what lettuce combinations you like. How long are you holding the salad until it is being served? The longer the hold, the sturdier the greens need to be. Do you want a composed salad with some assembly required? What will the final assembly be and how long will it take? What toppings do you want, and how you plan to serve the salad? On a plate or on top of a pizza, or a warm protein on top of the greens? Your final idea for serving will help determine the salad greens needed.

The very delicate lettuces often cannot stand up to the rigors of aviation. They will wilt and get slimy when left to a Ziploc bag too long as part of a kit. If you insist on the delicate varieties of lettuce, ask they be packaged in a boxed lunch container with a food diaper or paper towel in the bottom to absorb the excess moisture which will speed up the spoilage when not refrigerated and kept chilled. Another way to extend the life of the salad greens is to add a heartier lettuce to the mix - especially if you're going to add protein and vegetables over the top of the greens or are placing the salad on top or under heated foods.

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 | 23rd July 2015 | Issue #330

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