Noshing in the Friendly Skies

Airplane food is a beast all it’s own. It’s dreaded by most and ranks only slightly higher than hospital food. I used to look forward to the food cart rolling down the narrow aisle; as a child I was intrigued by the tiny cups and plates, when I grew older I learned to carefully weigh my choice between pasta or chicken, and eventually I experienced true joy when something was actually good, like the teriyaki chicken on Japan Airlines. Sadly, nowadays food has been eliminated on most North American flights (that’s right, it’s coach class over here!), so eating in the air usually means brown bagging it or grabbing a something from the airport food court.

On a recent trip home from San Diego, I was faced with the situation of dishing out $9 for a sad-looking airport turkey sandwich. Refusing to do so, I decided to board the plane hungry and foodless, a dismal combination. If I was flying Porter this would have been okay, but here I was boarding a Delta Air Lines flight unsure of their food offerings.

When the attendant rolled the cart down the aisle, she informed me were no meals available for purchase on my flight. The complimentary cookies (which were a tasty ginger snaps), pretzels or peanuts were not enough to keep my grumbly stomach from disturbing my fellow passengers. So I took a gamble and dished out $5 for the Flight Delights Snack Box. Expecting a cracker and maybe a piece of cheese, I slowly opened the package.

Hot diggity damn! This was the snack motherload! That tiny box felt like a circus clown car as I pulled out delight-after-delight. It felt like someone from Pusateri’s put together a basket of gourmet treats. The first to go were the bagel chips and Copper Cowbell Asiago Cheese Spread. It was the most substantial option and that schmancy spread from (with questionable nutritional value) really hit the spot. Stacey’s Simply Naked Bagel Chips were a great snack and I’d happily eat them on land.

Next up were the Oloves, touted on the package as green-pitted olives with an Italian twist, dressed in a light vinagrette. I’ve never seen this product before, but loved the packaging and found them bursting with flavour. I ripped open the bag of Sahale Snacks Pomegranate Cashews, glazed with Vanilla. These were a bit too sweet for my taste, I prefer my nuts salty. There was also Mariani Dried Cranberries and Pineapple, a piece of Dark Chocolate Nougat and miniature playing cards. Sure, it’s no trayful of teriyaki chicken, but whenever your expectations are exceeded on a flight, you grin, take it…and eat it.