Today we spent a day cooking with James Martin. Yes, James Martin, a TV Chef that makes regular appearances on Saturday Kitchen, BBC1, a popular UK cookery show. Sponsored by Thomas Cook UK, the day was intended to display the partnership of the airline with the Chef to make a difference to airline food. We’ve all tried it. Food that is uninspiring, tasteless and offering no nutritional value whatsoever. Well, it seems that Thomas Cook are an airline trying and (if today was anything to go by) succeeding in setting a new standard.

Now whilst this wasn’t a direct travel opportunity, I think that food is a big part of travel. We visit a country, sample local cuisine and go home often trying to recreate it. Yet the flight is so much of the experience. From when we set foot inside the airport, the holiday experience should start. In-flight meals can help to make or break how you feel when you land yet often leave that full and sluggish feeling.

So today aimed to ensure that Thomas Cook and James Martin demonstrate the changes that they are making, providing good, satisfying food from fresh and tasty ingredients.

Attended by representatives of Thomas Cook, Trip Advisor and other bloggers, James Martin demonstrated exactly the kind of quality and professionalism that can be expected from their new in-flight meals. I can confidently say… it tastes heavenly! Check out the selection of photos below from the day.

The whole day was a fantastic experience, learning tips from a top chef and sampling some fine dishes from the man himself.

The venue ‘Food at 52‘ in Old Street, London provided the perfect kitchen with lots of space to clearly see all the action.

I have to say that following today, I hope to make my next flight with Thomas Cook just to sample delicious food exactly like this! 🙂

What do you think of current airline food? Have you had any particularly good or bad experiences?