To meet the needs of increasing vegan passengers, and accommodate those who prefer vegan cuisine’s light, digestible nature, Emirates is introducing a bevy of new recipes. The airline tapped into chefs’ creativity, producing dishes with egg substitutes made of legumes and vegan meals for kids. Here are some highlights.
Emirates chefs workshopped for the new recipes
To commemorate “Veganuary” — a decade-long initiative highlighting veganism’s benefits — Emirates brought together a collective of chefs at its Emirates Flight Catering Concept Development Kitchen. There, they experimented with ingredients and workshopped new dishes.
Results included a new solid egg substitute in a spicy shakshuka sauce and a premade vegan pastry sheet developed into savory vegan cannelloni. Emirates offers more than 300 vegan recipes on 140 global flights.
The vegan offerings use the finest ingredients sourced worldwide, like plant-based proteins from Beyond Meat in California, soybean protein from Arlene in the UAE Singapore, and pressed tofu from Qian Ye in Japan. In addition, the airline now offers vegan meals for children, including sweet and sour vegetable casserole, pizza, muffins, and vegetable fajitas. Passengers can order onboard or pre-order their meals, and also enjoy them in Emirates lounges.
Not only that, but Emirates vegan meals are available in all classes and can be requested up to 24 hours before departure. The airline serves more than 400,000 vegan meals per year, and as passenger volume has grown, so has vegan meal consumption. In some regions, demand has outpaced passenger volume growth, like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
In Economy class, passengers can enjoy crêpes filled with sautéed carrots and peppers, served with roasted potatoes, mushrooms and tomato concassé. Premium Economy passengers get the option of braised mushrooms with vegetables in five-spice soy sauce, with steamed jasmine rice and blanched pak choi, and desserts like chocolate tart drizzled in apricot compote or raspberry tonka mousse cake with berry coulis. Business class travelers can try Thai red curry tofu with aubergine, beans, mushrooms and taro in aromatic gravy, served with steamed jasmine rice. In First Class, there’s creamy polenta cake with thyme mushroom ragout, sautéed spinach drizzled in a rich root vegetable jus, and more.
