Tenth anniversary of Lufthansa Star Chefs gourmet programme

19.08.10

Passengers’ favourite menus on board in September and October

 

Lufthansa is celebrating a culinary jubilee in the autumn: Since the year 2000, the airline has been offering First and Business Class passengers on long-haul flights out of Germany exquisite, inspirational in-flight menus created by award-winning international chefs on a two-monthly rotary basis in Lufthansa’s Star Chefs gourmet programme. Each of the menus bears the signature of its culinary master so that passengers have over time become acquainted with the very special cuisine of the individual chefs and acquired a liking for several of the dishes offered on the menu. 

The result is that in the jubilee months of September and October, the passengers have themselves assumed the Star Chefs’ role after an online ballot on the dish they enjoyed most on a Lufthansa flight. Those favourite dishes, chosen by Lufthansa frequent travellers from the gourmet programme in the cabin over the past ten years, now feature in the menus served on long-haul flights from Germany during the jubilee months.

Starters in First Class range from duck specialities and lentil salad by Daniel Boulud (Restaurant Daniel, New York), Nashi pear with honey mustard sauce, goat cheese and caramelised walnuts by Jin Jie Zhang (Green T. House, Peking) or marinated jumbo shrimps with wasabi and diced mango by Tam Kok Kong (China Club, Berlin). The main dish varies from braised veal cheeks with Tahiti vanilla with chickpea mousseline, flambéed raspberries and broccoli by Sven Elverfeld (Restaurant Aqua, Wolfsburg), roast pigeon in nut crust, quinoa grains with dates and mint by Anne-Sophie Pic (Maison Pic, Valence), South Tyrolean “Schlutzkrapfen”, Tyrolean pasta filled with quark and spinach with a light gorgonzola sauce and spring onions by the South Tyrolean maestros, Karl Baumgartner (Restaurant Schöneck, Mühlen) and Norbert Niederkofler (St. Hubertus, San Cassiano), or alternatively tuna steak served with soy sprouts, sesame and mashed wasabi by Reto Mathis (Mathis Food Affairs, St. Moritz). As a finale, passengers can choose between French white coffee parfait and candied Clementine as dessert by Gérard Rabaey (Le pont de Brent, Brent) or Austrian-style pancake with berry compote and vanilla ice creamy by Martin Sieberer (Trofana Royal, Ischgl). 

In Business Class, too, passengers have chosen a varied and delicious mix of their favourite dishes. The menu, for example, includes veal enhanced by salsa diavola and vegetable salad as a starter by Nadia Santini (Dal Pescatore, Mantua), a main dish created by Heinz Winkler (Residenz Heinz Winkler, Aschau) consisting of jumbo shrimps accented by curry sauce and wheat berry risotto or a dessert of charlotte of yogurt atop blueberry sauce by Thomas Keller (French Laundrey, Nappa Valley). 

Lufthansa is introducing several innovations to mark the 10th jubilee of its Star Chefs programme. Starting in November, the Star chef creating the monthly in-flight menus will be featured more at centre-stage. Aside from the principal aspects shaping his cuisine, Lufthansa will provide passengers with a deeper insight into the chef’s culinary philosophy. Business-Class passengers will be pleasantly surprised by a totally new presentation of in-flight food: They will, for example, be offered a very special salt to take home, if the Star Chef “on duty” is known for using diverse salts to create dishes with his own individual flavour.

Furthermore “Lufthansa Classics“ will be served in both premium classes. Alongside the Star Chefs menus, the airline will offer a monthly choice of classic dishes, such as Wiener Schnitzel (Viennese breaded escalope) or Königsberger Klopse (Königsberg meatballs). To highlight the ten-year jubilee, the Star Chefs pages on the Lufthansa website will also be re-designed and expanded so as to furnish more information and details about the masters of the culinary art and their creations. Business-Class menu cards will be revamped to impart a more emotional appeal and focus more on the fundamental makeup and style of the individual Star Chef’s cuisine. 

Lufthansa is the only airline to completely different menus created by different renowned chefs every two months in the aircraft cabin. It takes meticulous preparation: Before Star Chef creations are served in the cabin, the Star Chef comes together at several meetings with cooks at Lufthansa’s catering arm, LSG Sky Chefs. Understanding each other’s philosophy is a rewarding and interesting experience for both sides: Working together in the process is an immense challenge to both the Star Chef and Lufthansa, but one both partners willingly accept. Dishes of culinary excellence are produced in large numbers but still bear unmistakeably the stamp of a Star Chef’s individual style. Only after a menu presentation demonstrating the successful implementation of the recipes by cooks at LSG Sky Chefs and a finishing touch by the master himself does the Star Chef put his signature to the menu card. 

Deutsche Lufthansa AG
Corporate Communication

 

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