Airline passenger news and views

Another TV show with superstar chef messing about with pots and knives. Nothing apparently new there, until we realise he is cooking at 35,000ft.

The programme in question is part of Heston Blumenthal's new Channel 4 series, 'Heston's Mission Impossible', where, with his usual taste for limit situations, Heston reinvents the cooking approach of great British institutions - British Airways among them.

This is a good reminder of the always fascinating world of in-flight food: the long forgotten complimentary meals, current overpriced mundane snacks or, borrowing Raymond Chandler's words; the stuff dreams are made of.

Surely BA's First Class belongs to this last category. Travelling on it means being spoilt for choice: from the seafood based meal "Catch of the Day" to a ritual afternoon tea inspired by The Dorchester hotel in London.

Surely such an experience would compensate the alleged change that taste buds experiment in a plane environment. If they are also well washed with free champagne cocktails, being on earth or sky would be the last of the diner's concerns.

Haute cuisine onboard is not an oxymoron then. There is even bibliography on the matter, like the exclusive "Above & Beyond, A Collection of Recipes from the Singapore Airlines Culinary Panel."

Created by ten of the world's top chefs, including Gordon Ramsey, the book describes dishes like braised ox cheeks with buttered young vegetables or artichoke salad topped with fresh black truffles.

We can now land to the harsh reality many of us may face. Far below the nearly science fiction described before are the nothing-to-do-with-its-name dishes offered by low cost airlines.

Our senses and pockets could be at risk with them, but our health too. The meals offered by these companies tend to be rich in saturated fat, a factor that may lead to blood clotting.

According to Sarah Stanner, of the British Nutrition Foundation, in an article published by The Times: "While no specific clinical research has been done to find out if one-off fatty meals in-flight will push you over the edge and trigger DVT, in theory eating fatty meals could make a difference."

We can always opt for the bring-your-own-food-option. It may be a less glamorous offering than Heston's or Ramsey's, but certainly a more realistic.