The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Johann Lafer cooks for Singapore Airlines: star chef reveals kitchen secrets

2022-07-19T15:28:24.376Z


Johann Lafer cooks for Singapore Airlines: star chef reveals kitchen secrets Created: 07/19/2022Updated: 07/19/2022 17:21 By: Juliane Gutmann The Butcher's Block, one of six top restaurants in the "Raffles Hotel" Singapore, focuses on avant-garde gourmet dishes prepared over a wood fire. Chef de Cuisine Jordan Keao (left) led Johann Lafer behind the scenes. © Gutman The cooperation with Johann


Johann Lafer cooks for Singapore Airlines: star chef reveals kitchen secrets

Created: 07/19/2022Updated: 07/19/2022 17:21

By: Juliane Gutmann

The Butcher's Block, one of six top restaurants in the "Raffles Hotel" Singapore, focuses on avant-garde gourmet dishes prepared over a wood fire.

Chef de Cuisine Jordan Keao (left) led Johann Lafer behind the scenes.

© Gutman

The cooperation with Johann Lafer should make the flight experience with Singapore Airlines even more special.

Will his creations arrive?

The star chef asked personally.

The Airbus A380 weighs 560 tons, is 73 meters long and 24 meters high - the equivalent of an eight-storey house.

Looking at the colossus leaves an astonished expression on the faces of children.

Even "big" passengers are inclined to classify it as unable to fly when they see the two-story giant.

But the largest and heaviest passenger plane in the world takes up to 509 passengers from A to B. At the beginning of July, the Austrian top chef Johann Lafer was one of them.

His mission during the non-stop flight from Frankfurt to Singapore: to prepare his own creations in the galley, as the galley is called on the plane, and to get feedback from the passengers.

We finally have the opportunity to make German cuisine known worldwide.

Johann Lafer, Austrian star chef & entrepreneur

Working with Singapore Airlines is not new territory for Lafer.

In 2018 and 2019 there was a short cooperation between the top chef and the airline.

But now, after the Corona lull, Johann Lafer can prove himself for a whole year with his gourmet on-board menus for first and business class on all flights from Germany.

It was a long road to get there.

"It took us 17 years to convince Singapore Airlines of the German cuisine on board," explains Johann Lafer with a mischievous look at the spokesman of Singapore Airlines, who accompanies his culinary trip to Singapore. 

Menu by Johann Lafer: Singapore Airlines brings chef on board

View photo gallery

Gourmet menus on the plane: this is how Johann Lafer adapts the recipe

The cooperation with Singapore Airlines is more than just another business relationship for Johann Lafer.

"In contrast to other European cuisines such as Italian and French, German cuisine plays a subordinate role worldwide," says Johann Lafer: "For me, the cooperation with Singapore Airlines is a great opportunity to present the advantages of German cuisine to a larger audience to be able to."

No sooner had the A380 lifted off the ground surprisingly gently than the field test began for Lafer.

He quickly familiarizes himself with the galley, has the staff carefully explain the organizational processes to him, and then devotes himself to the plates on which he lovingly drapes his creations.

Like spare ribs coated in a spicy marinade, which he carefully places on a bed of cabbage.

The sense of taste is different in the air – dishes need to be seasoned more

John Lafer

also read

The five most beautiful beaches in Europe for the summer of 2022

Largest cruise ship "Global Dream II": First trip leads directly to the scrap yard

Johann Lafer personally balances the plates for four passengers in business and first class.

The feedback that the star chef gets is good: the meat is tender, the temperature is right, the seasoning is excellent.

After the meal – and in the absence of the chef – some rows of aircraft also discuss whether lighter fare wouldn't make more sense on a 12-hour flight and little exercise.

Singapore Airlines wants to address such concerns with the book-the-cook option.

This gives passengers the opportunity to choose a different meal up to 24 hours before the flight.

However, only those flying in a suite, first class or business class.

Johann Lafer prepares an exotic "ham salad" for the passengers in the galley.

© Singapore Airlines/Peter Tomasch

Johann Lafer on current nutrition trends

But what actually makes a good kitchen?

According to Johann Lafer, in addition to the use of high-quality ingredients and the avoidance of artificial flavor enhancers, finely tuned flavors are also a guarantee of a successful meal.

Current nutrition trends also have an influence.

The trend is currently going back towards regional cuisine: This is sustainable and thus benefits the local environment and economy

John Lafer

Johann Lafer: "Food brings people together"

When Johann Lafer talks about recipes, food and the kitchens of this world, it is difficult to capture him.

Regardless of whether it is about their own stock line, typical Asian dishes such as chicken rice or the quality of rolls: Johann Lafer sees the world of cuisine not only through the eyes of a professional chef: "Food brings people together - all classes, all nations. "

Travel is also important for the star chef to get new inspiration.

In Singapore, Lafer used the time on site to visit the star restaurants on the one hand, but also to visit the hawker centers that are typical for Singapore.

These centers serve as “community dining rooms” where people from different backgrounds come together to eat together.

A hallmark of the multicultural city-state of Singapore, where Chinese, Malay, Indian and other cultures meet, the Hawker Centers have been designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. 

Impressions: Hawker Center in Singapore

View photo gallery

Hawker Center for everyone and Michelin-starred cuisine at the Raffles Hotel

In the noisy hustle and bustle of the hawker center, Johann Lafer talks shop about the aromas in the rice, the umami taste of oysters and the spiciness in Asian dishes that would knock many Europeans off their feet.

Meanwhile, a different aromatic scent fills your nostrils every few minutes, and the noise levels draw people even closer together—except for those who don't want to talk.

Then, in the evening, the blatant counter-program: Johann Lafer feasts his way through multi-course menus from the restaurants in the “Raffles Hotel”.

In the 5-star hotel in colonial style, guests can dine in the steakhouse "Butcher's Block" or in the "Osteria BBR" by star chef Alain Ducasse.

On his last evening in Singapore, Lafer decides to go to the "yì" restaurant,

Johann Lafer in conversation with the chefs of the "Raffles" restaurants in Singapore: from left Johann Lafer, Pierre Burgade, Kuldeep Negi and Natalino Ambra.

© Gutman

"Cordyceps flowers (mushroom type) and spinach rolls, Hokkaido scallops in sesame sauce", "Golden roast duck with roses and fermented bean sauce with pancakes", "Steamed spotted grouper with abalone (snail type), mushrooms and Iberian ham on top a lotus leaf” to the dessert “Hokkaido milk quark with pieces of ginger and peach and fragrant flowers”: After the 8-course menu in “yì”, Johann Lafer returns to Singapore Changi Airport.

This time not with the A380, but with the Airbus A350 – not the largest, but currently the most kerosene-efficient aircraft on the market.

Note to our readers:

The trip on which this article is based was partially supported by airlines, hotels, tour operators and tourism agencies.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-07-19

You may like

News/Politics 2024-01-29T13:38:24.019Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.