This was published 1 year ago
Forget caviar: Neil Perry reveals simple dish first class Qantas passengers demand
Qantas' inflight steak sandwich was once removed, then promptly reinstated following protests from its first-class customers.
Forget caviar and lobster – Neil Perry has revealed the most beloved Qantas plane food of the last 25 years, and it's a simple steak sandwich.
The dish has been a near-constant of the national carrier's first-class menu since it was introduced 25 years ago. Qantas only once tried to remove it; the sandwich was promptly reinstated following protests from its flying elite.
"It's just one of those things. It's great comfort food. When we started flying it 25 years ago people weren't doing things like that on aeroplanes," said the restaurateur last week, at an event marking the Sydney chef's milestone silver anniversary with the carrier.
Qantas' culinary director Neil Perry has picked a selection of the airline's most popular dishes to return to lounges and inflight menus.
Perry, who is the owner of Margaret and Rockpool Bar & Grill restaurants, said one of the keys to the dish's success was nailing its basic components.
"We flew the best bread," said Perry, adding that other airlines are still not flying decent bread.
"When we came to the airline, I said the Qantas cornerstones are: great bread, great salad, ripe fruit – which you didn't very often see on an airline – and fantastic cheese. Those were the cornerstones that we built everything around.
Qantas' crab and sweet pork salad with green mango and nam jim dressing will temporarily return to first class lounges in November.
"It really made a massive difference to have a beautiful baguette, fantastic piece of steak, tomato and chilli relish – and people have jumped on it," said Perry of the first-class favourite.
Perry also revealed Qantas' chief executive Alan Joyce's favourite inflight dish – a light garam masala coconut fish curry with noodles.
"It was a classic Rockpool dish that went so perfectly with the broth, keeping the fish so moist and the broth being so full flavoured," said Perry, who said it's also a personal favourite of his.
Qantas is reintroducing a selection of Perry's most popular inflight and lounge dishes from the past 25 years throughout the month of November, to celebrate the historic milestone partnership with the chef.
Among the retro classics that will make a temporary return to first class lounges across Australia is crab and sweet pork salad with green mango and nam jim dressing, a duck ragu with pappardelle, and a torta di Verona, which Perry describes as a tiramisu-like dessert.
In Qantas' domestic and international business lounges, a range of the chef's favourite dishes will also make a comeback for a limited time.
Guests can keep an eye out for the return of Qantas' fettuccine with ragu bolognese from the early 2000s, inspired by Perry's trips to northern Italy; a New York-style ciabatta meatball sub with tomato ragout first served during the chef's early years with the airline; or a kung pao chicken bao with Sichuan pepper and cashews, a menu regular since 2012.
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