Jetsetting with ... celebrity chef Neil Perry

Singapore — When it comes to celebrity chefs working their magic in the air, few can rival Australia’s Neil Perry of Rockpool fame who has been working with Qantas since 1997.

In fact, Perry revealed his team of 10 Rockpool consultants and they create more than 800 recipes for Qantas International First, Business and Domestic Business in-flight menus every year.

“A huge amount of coordination happens behind the scenes when it comes to putting a quality meal on a plane. It is close to an 11-month process to implement a menu change, which changes four times a year for every season,” he explained.

“The chefs try up to 90 recipes before deciding on the final dish. Recipes are then developed and tested in controlled environments to ensure they can be translated into the catering centres around the world and most importantly, on board. Chefs from the catering centres work alongside the Rockpool team to add their advice from a catering centre perspective.”

The latest winter menu was also launched last month and includes the likes of green curry, lamb biryani and baked gnocchi.

If these dishes seem unusual for airplane food, Perry pointed out how customers are more well-travelled and savvier, and what is served up in the air needs to evolve as well. “Customers expect fresh, contemporary food. We update our on-board and lounge menus seasonally and work with local producers and suppliers to deliver restaurant-quality meals.”

Q: How do you accommodate travellers’ sensitivities, such as the need for gluten-free food?

A: We offer a large variety of different dishes to Qantas customers. In Business, we offer a mix-and-match menu so customers can eat as much or as little as they like. We offer more hearty meals like slow braised meats, or something lighter like steamed fish or salad. Customers are also able to pre-order meals based on their dietary requirements.

Q: How do you decide which dishes from Rockpool, Spice Temple and Rosetta make their way onto the in-flight and/or Qantas lounge menu?

A: It’s a hard decision! However, we choose dishes that we know will taste just as good in-flight. Some things work better in the air than others.

Q: Which ingredients or flavour profiles are you currently obsessed with?

A: I use chilli in everything I cook at home, and I couldn’t live without salt. My favourite restaurants are those that serve Asian cuisine — I love Korean, Chinese, Thai and Japanese. My restaurants, Spice Temple, in Sydney and Melbourne, represent everything I love about the intricate Asian cuisine. For the last 20 years, I’ve visited Hong Kong at least annually looking for inspiration, new flavours and styles for the Qantas menus and the Rockpool Group of restaurants.

Q: Rockpool, while famed for being a Sydney must-visit for the past 27 years, is closing down and will be replaced by something more casual called Eleven Bridges. But you’ve also opened Rockpool in both Perth and Melbourne.

A: As with any successful business, it has been a natural progression ... opening outlets in other major cities around Australia. We’ve also recently announced we will open Burger Projects in Brisbane, Queensland, and are on the hunt for sites on the Gold Coast and north of Brisbane. Serene Lim