07-001 Kosher meal at 30,000 feet

07-001
Kosher meal at 30,000 feet

Let me start this new chapter with something biblical.

 

Ever since the lifting of compulsory quarantine & COVID test in early 2023, my company started hosting meetings and trainings once again. Colleagues from other countries started resuming travels to my hometown. I am happy to see this “Asia’s World City” becoming international again.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-367 (B-HNJ)

Mid July was our department’s turn to host a meeting. The meeting was a five day workshop and we saw many faces coming from all over the world. And it happened that one of the visitors is a Jew.

We have visitors from almost every part of the world before the pandemic. Many of them are religious and observe their own dietary law. I have full respect to people with different religions and always try to provide them suitable food as best as I can.

We have a Muslim community near our office. Finding halal food is not an issue. An excellent Chinese vegetarian restaurant is also round the corner that can fill up the empty stomachs of our Buddhist colleagues. Recently, I even added to my lunch list a nearby Indian restaurant that serves Jain cuisine. But when it comes to kosher, there is a challenge.

Hershey Chocolate is one of the kosher food available in local supermarket

“Kosher food is widely available in this city!” I won’t say that. Not until I found a job in the Hong Kong Tourist Association. Yes, technically you can find kosher food almost everywhere in this city. Many supermarkets here sell snacks or cookies imported from the US or Canada which bear an OU mark on their packages. But when talking about proper kosher restaurants that you can dine in, the choices are very very limited.

It seems that my colleague has already foreseen my difficulties on finding him kosher food. Prior to his arrival, he told me that he can settle on vegetarian. So, we spent our lunches in various vegetarian restaurants around. Problem solved. But still, I need to add kosher restaurants to my lunch list for the next Jewish colleague. Or maybe, I can even bring my wife to try some kosher meals here. But after searching and asking around, the only thing I can find is disappointment.

In a city of over 7 million population, there are only 3 kosher restaurants in the city. Café Seven Zero and Sabra Restaurant are located inside the Jewish Community Centre (JCC) in Central. However, the whole building is off-limit to gentiles. (Well, it is not exactly off-limit but you need to apply before entering the building.) And even if you managed to enter, you won’t be able to get any food as the restaurants only serve Jews.

The third restaurant is on the other side of the harbour, the Mul Hayam Glatt Kosher Restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. Again, it only serves Jews.

As all 3 of them shut their doors to gentiles, locals have no chance to eat kosher meal inside a restaurant in Hongkong, except we have Jews accomplishing with us. However, I found a way to work around. 

Last week, I had a family trip to Taiwan and I ordered kosher meals for my flights.

Also called KSML, a kosher airline meal is an airline meal that conforms to the standards of kashrut. Many airlines offer the option of kosher meals to passengers if ordered in advance, with no additional charge.

Shortly after the seatbelt sign was off, a flight attendant approached me and asked if I would like to have my meal reheated. I said yes and after 10 minutes, she put my kosher meal set on my table. I was surprised to see such a big box in front of me.

My kosher meal on the flight to Taipei
I was surprised by its size!

Passengers sitting around all staring at my lunchbox. I felt a bit embarrassed. And I was quite sure that the flight attendances must be talking about me as I definitely do not look like a Jew. Anyway, let me show you what did my KSML looks like.

The top side of the envelope

The meal set was kept inside a thick cardboard envelope. It was produced by Hermolis, one of the biggest kosher food suppliers in the world. The meal set was cooked in their facility in Wembley, London, under strict “supervision of Kedassia and the London Beth Din”. (Don’t ask me what does that mean.) On the envelope, there is a big red label showing the content of the meal. Red is a warning. It means the meal contain meat. In Jewish dietary law, it is not allowed to mix meat and dairy products together. There is also a kosher seal printed on the envelope.

Red label means the meal is meaty

The back side of the envelope shows the details of the manufacturer, Hermolis

Inside the envelope is a plastic box with all side dishes wrapped in double layers of plastic, served cold. Only the main course was taken out to reheat. But the pack is still sealed under 2 layers of plastic bags. On top of the main course is another label detailly showing the ingredients and nutrition data, with an extra kosher seal on it.

Inside the envelope is a big plastic box with double layer of plastic wraps

On top of the wraps, the box is also securely sealed
Only the passenger is allowed to break the seal or else the meal would be no longer kosher

Another label being affixed on the main course

Kosher certificate

Jewish dietary law forbid using any crockery or cutlery that has been used for non-kosher food. The double layer plastic wraps are to prevent the kosher meal being “contaminated”.

Let me try the starter first. My hors d'oeuvre was Smoked salmon on julienne vegetable salad. Main course was Stir fried chicken, stir fried vegetables & basmati rice. There were also 2 dessert dishes, an Apple crumble and a bowl of Fruit salad.

The hors d'oeuvre -- Smoked salmon on julienne vegetable salad
I like salmon and olive!

The main course -- Stir fried chicken with basmati rice
Each grain of rice is carefully inspected by Rabbi before cooked!

The first dessert -- Apple crumble

The second dessert -- Fruit salad

Both desserts are too sweet for me!

Apart from all these, there was a roll, a pack of crackers and a piece of chocolate truffle. The meal also came with a pack of non-dairy creamer, a pack of non-dairy spread, and a cup of water. All sealed in plastic wraps. I do not know how many plastic they have used to make one set of kosher meal.

Still not enough? There are a roll, a pack of crackers and margarine

Since mixing meat and milk is not allowed in Jewish dietary law,
coffee creamer is non-dairy (parve)

And finally, a cup of water from London

How does it taste?

Quality of Cathay Pacific inflight meals has been deteriorated a lot since the last 2 decades. And you will never get this massive amount of food in economy class, no matter which airline you take. Wikipedia said a KSMLs cost approximately twice as much as standard meals. So, it is my time to rip them off!

But to be honest, the taste was just so-so. The main course was very salty and the desserts were super sweet. I think the meal was cooked in a way to suit the Jewish taste. Also, the meal was cooked on the other side of the globe, London, frozen for several weeks or even months, just recently defrosted and reheated on the plane before placing in front of me. My KSML had an expiry date of May-2024 printed on the envelope. And it was only July-2023. People said kosher food is healthier because their production is under strict supervision. I think this statement is only valid for kosher meal served in Jewish restaurant, not this kind of inflight zombie meal.

I got another big box on my inbound flight

On my inbound flight, I got another Hermolis kosher meal. This time, the label was green denoting the food is parve. Fish is not consider as meat.

And this time, the label on the meal box is green colour

Green label means "Parve", i.e. the meal contains no meat or dairy products

These are what inside the Prave kosher meal box

Hors d’oeuvre was Florida Cocktail this time. Main course was Grilled salmon, egg fried rice, green beans & carrots. Again, there were 2 dessert dishes, Brandy snaps and Chocolate gateaux. The set also came with roll, crackers, chocolate truffle, non-dairy creamer, non-dairy spread, and a cup of water.

Hors d’oeuvre on my retrun flight -- Florida Cocktail

The main course -- Grilled salmon & egg fried rice
I got a whole piece of salmon fillet!
You will never get this amount of food on CX enconomy class!

Fish is not meat. So the label on the main course is green colour.

Dessert number 1 -- Brandy snaps

Dessert number 2 - Chocolate gateaux

This is the chocolate truffle
I snapped this photo seconds before my son grabbed it away!

How can I call this as a workaround? It is only ordering an inflight kosher meal! Remember, Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hongkong. When I was being served with KSML, my plane was 30,000 feet above the high seas. According to international law, any area inside the plane belongs to the jurisdiction of the plane’s registration country. So, technically, I was still in Hongkong. And my air ticket included complementary inflight meal so the plane is sort of a restaurant. I was sitting in a local restaurant, being served with a full set of kosher meal. Not only once, but twice. Mission completed.

See? I was 30,000 feet above the international water while enjoying my kosher meal!

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