Authentic Chinese cuisine calls for the very best culinary talent: chefs with the experience and courage to tackle dishes that may not make sense in an aircraft setting. The steamed bao (bun), for example, is a staple of the Chinese diet, but its delicate pastry doesn’t cope well with being cooked, chilled and then re-heated 30,000 feet in the air. dnata’s development team in Australia spent months developing a cooking technique which allows us to maintain the integrity of the bao’s pastry and prevent it ending up a stodgy, glutinous mess. The same goes for the savoury rice porridge known as congee. These classic dishes are clear winners with Chinese passengers if they’re done well. With a little innovation, they can be.

Cooking stir-fries in a Western-style frypan will never achieve the same heat and flavour as an Asian wok. Culturally authentic food calls for traditional culinary tools. dnata’s newest catering facilities feature not one, but three, kitchens – Western, Halal and Asian – each of which is designed to create a specific style of food. Even choosing Chinese cleavers over Western-style knives can make a difference. Paying attention to all these tiny details amounts to culturally authentic food. Unfortunately, this isn’t always taken into consideration.

Airlines know their local cuisine. They know their customers’ preferences. In short, they are a caterer’s best ally. We never work off tender documents alone because a piece of paper simply can’t capture the nuances of a specific style of cuisine. Instead, we work alongside a carrier’s internal culinary team to make sure we nail the finer details. This requires going beyond the traditional ‘supplier relationship’ and forming a true partnership; one in which we also educate an airline about Western cuisine and the best way to serve our own dishes.

dnata’s modern twist on Peking Duck pancakes