Man misses air travel so much, he re-creates his favorite plane food

Nik Sennhauser flew on an airplane for the first time when he was five months old and spent his childhood traveling between Austria, where he attended school, and Bangkok, where his father worked.

“That’s where my love of air travel comes from,” Sennhauser told TODAY Food.

Loading...

Load Error

But Sennhauser doesn’t just love air travel — he also loves airline food.

“I’ve always had an interest in plane food,” he said. “The way food is served on a plane — I’ve always found it fascinating. I was the kid that would spend half the flight sitting in the galley chatting with the flight attendants.”

But when the pandemic brought Sennhauser’s air travels to a halt, he found himself dreaming of airline meals from his Glasgow, Scotland home.

“I used to be on a plane roughly every three weeks, whether to go see friends and family or just to get on a plane.” said Sennhauser, who documents his travels on YouTube. “But I’ve now been grounded for over a year.”

As lockdown continued, Sennhauser, who has collected an airline serving cart, trays and dinnerware over the years, was struck with an idea: He cooked himself breakfast, then plated it like an airline would.

“I thought it was really good fun and it made me reminisce about all my previous trips,” he explained. “Suddenly it wasn’t that painful thinking about travel anymore. It sort of brought joy back to the thought of being on a plane and eating plane food.”

So Sennhauser began preparing, plating and photographing airplane meals at home, sharing photos of them to his Instagram, as first reported by CNN Travel. From waffles and berries with a side of muesli to chicken schnitzel with potato salad, Sennhauser meticulously arranges each tray of food before snapping a picture and sharing it with his followers.

“Recreating plane meals has become a weekend challenge for me and something to look forward to,” Sennhauser continued. “I spend all week thinking about which meal to re-create and finding recipes and then I go food shopping for the ingredients.”

One of his favorite meals he’s created is chocolate mousse.

“I’ve now made dark chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse and milk chocolate mousse and they were all delicious,” he said.

Sennhauser has also enjoyed tweaking what would be considered an economy class meal, such as scrambled eggs with salsa and bacon, into a fancier business class meal by adding additional sides and ingredients.

“I am not a natural cook so making all of this has been a challenge,” he said, explaining he spends about three or four hours in the kitchen making each meal. “I have to find recipes and follow them, which is easier said than done.”

Still, Sennhauser says reconnecting with his love airplane travel has been worth it.

“Plane food to me is not just about the taste of it but also the way it’s presented,” he said. “There’s so much thought and research going into each and every meal, from taste to presentation, storage and the way it is served.”

“When you think about it, you’re sitting in a metal tube that’s pressurized, being flung through the air at 500 miles an hour at an altitude of 30,000 feet. And there’s someone who comes around with a menu to offer you the choice between two hot main courses. If that’s not magical, I don’t know what is.”

Related:

  • More cans of the processed meat product have been sold than there are people on Earth. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    Spam turns 75

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a group of people sitting at a table: A pair of 58-year-old twin brothers who were adopted at age 6 get to meet their biological family despite the pandemic.

    Adopted twin brothers meet biological family for 1st time

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a woman talking on a cell phone: Patti LaBelle shares her favorite Philadelphia restaurants

    Patti LaBelle shares her favorite Philadelphia restaurants

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a little girl standing in a kitchen: Grandbaby Cakes founder Jocelyn Delk Adams teaches TODAY co-hosts how to make the perfect brownie. She also shares a fun way to repurpose the recipe for ice cream sandwiches.

    Jocelyn Delk Adams shares her ‘perfect’ brownie recipe

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • Dolly Parton holding a cup: Dolly Parton launches her own new ice cream flavor

    Dolly Parton launches her own new ice cream flavor

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • Pass the salt and a lemon to clean up your cutting board the right way.

    How to deep clean your cutting board using two simple ingredients

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • Lidia Bastianich sitting at a table with a plate of food: Make Lidia Bastianich’s chicken scaloppini

    Make Lidia Bastianich’s chicken scaloppini

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a person preparing food in a kitchen: Joanna Gaines returns to ‘Magnolia Table’: An exclusive sneak peek

    Joanna Gaines returns to ‘Magnolia Table’: An exclusive sneak peek

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a plate of food on a table: All you need is a few ingredients, a mug and a microwave and voila! Breakfast is done.

    How to make huevos rancheros in a mug

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a close up of a slice of cake on a plate: Egg  vinegar  mug  microwave = poached perfection!

    How to poach an egg in a mug

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • Al Roker wearing sunglasses and a hat: Sheinelle Jones, Dylan Dreyer, Craig Melvin and Al Roker talk about what foods do and do not go well with ketchup. They also discuss the etiquette of putting additional sauce on food after someone has prepared a home-cooked meal.

    Is ketchup on macaroni and cheese a food foul?

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • “Gadget Nation” author Steve Greenberg tells Hoda and Jenna about his favorite products for tough cleaning jobs at home. He recommends an instant rug rejuvenator, a power scrubber for cleaning tough bathroom spots and a disinfecting light strip.

    Try these gadgets to simplify spring cleaning

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a bowl filled with rice meat and vegetables: Make easy meal-prep recipes with eggplant and roast chicken

    Make easy meal-prep recipes with eggplant and roast chicken

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • Alicia Menendez, Grace Meng are posing for a picture: New York Congresswoman Grace Meng joined American Voices with Alicia Menendez just days after the most recent attack on an elderly Asian-American woman in New York City. Congresswoman Meng talks about the fusion between the Asian American and African American communities and discusses how it’s a moment of reckoning for all communities of color. 

    Rep. Grace Meng: 'We are no longer OK with being invisible'

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a dessert on a table: Joy Bauer shares simple ways to incorporate superfoods into your diet

    Joy Bauer shares simple ways to incorporate superfoods into your diet

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • a close up of a slice of pizza on a paper plate: Laura Vitale makes hash brown-crusted quiche for Easter brunch

    Laura Vitale makes hash brown-crusted quiche for Easter brunch

    TODAY Logo

    TODAY

  • More cans of the processed meat product have been sold than there are people on Earth. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
    Spam turns 75
    More cans of the processed meat product have been sold than there are people on Earth. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    TODAY Logo
    TODAY

  • a group of people sitting at a table: A pair of 58-year-old twin brothers who were adopted at age 6 get to meet their biological family despite the pandemic.
    Adopted twin brothers meet biological family for 1st time
    A pair of 58-year-old twin brothers who were adopted at age 6 get to meet their biological family despite the pandemic.

    TODAY Logo
    TODAY

  • a woman talking on a cell phone: Patti LaBelle shares her favorite Philadelphia restaurants
    Patti LaBelle shares her favorite Philadelphia restaurants
    As our new series Reopening America TODAY focuses on Philadelphia and its plans for after the pandemic, legendary singer and Philadelphia native Patti LaBelle shares her favorite foodie spots with Sheinelle Jones, including Booker’s Restaurant & Bar, Little Delicious, ConFusion and Warmdaddy’s. Chef Ben Bynum of Warmdaddy’s showcases some of the restaurant’s soul food.

    TODAY Logo
    TODAY

UP NEXT
Source: Read Full Article