【轻松英文阅读】飞机餐

 Airline food has a bad rap, but it doesn’t completely deserve it. When we fly at high altitude we simply can’t taste as much. The main reason is the low humidity in the airplane cabin, which causes our sinuses to dry out. The humidity is kept around 4% to prevent corrosion¹ inside the plane. According to some estimates, we can lose up to 30% of our sense of taste in such conditions. At the same time, the low humidity dries out food very quickly, which robs it of flavor. The noise of the jet engines does not help either. It has been proven that loud noises can reduce appetite. That’s why the best restaurants are kept so quiet.

 

With all these factors, even food that tastes good on the ground will not tastes good in the air. Moreover, since there is no room to prepare food on a plane, it all has to be prepackaged and frozen on the ground and then reheated before serving. By the time it gets to the passenger, it has been through a lot.

 

Recently, airlines have been working hard to overcome these problems. One strategy has been to offer food with rich spicy² sauces like in Indian cuisine³. Another has been the use of umami (Click here to read more about umami.) –the savory⁴ taste in soy sauce, seaweed, or mushrooms. It appears that it survives the ride better than other flavors.

 

So next time you are having a meal up there, you might want to be a little more forgiving and stop and think for a moment about the modern-day miracle of eating anything flying at 900 kilometers per hour, 10,000 meters above the earth.

1 corrosion   

n.腐蚀，侵蚀；渐渐毁坏，渐衰

参考例句：

• Corrosion is not covered by the warranty.腐蚀不在保修范围之内。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

2 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

3 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

4 savory   

adj.风味极佳的，可口的，味香的

参考例句：

• She placed a huge dish before him of savory steaming meat.她将一大盘热气腾腾、美味可口的肉放在他面前。
• He doesn't have a very savory reputation.他的名誉不太好。