I, like most people, want my holiday to last for as long as
possible. Flying with TAP Portugal means the Portuguese experience can begin
from the moment you set foot on the aircraft and ends when you land back home.
The warm welcoming smiles of the friendly and attentive crew
give you a taster of the Portuguese hospitality that is going to greet you in
Portugal.
Price is a major factor when choosing an airline, but for me
in-flight service, reliability, comfort and, most importantly, knowing that I
am in safe hands are my main concerns.
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| Flying with TAP Portugal www.flytap.com |
I have flown TAP on several occasions and have found that
the flights are on time and boarding never stressful. I like the fact in Lisbon
they check your passport and ticket when you are sitting down at the gate – if
you don’t arrive last minute – so you don’t have to struggle getting your
passport out again when you board the plane.
As is the case with most women, I often take more clothes
than I probably need, you know that feeling “just in case”. With TAP, not only
are the fares good value, it also includes one checked
bag so I don’t have to leave stuff at home that I might need. It also gives me
room in case I want to go shopping. In the Alentejo, there are plenty of wines
and olive oils tempting you to get out that credit card.
The seats have plenty of leg room and, thank goodness, there
is nobody trying to sell you scratch cards or something similar every minute,
so you have plenty of time to relax with a coffee and snack (my tuna
sandwich coming back from Lisbon was better than the ones I get in the
“high-street” sandwich shops back home).
If you fancy a glass of wine with your meal you can be
assured you are going to get some corkers. Portugal has been making wine since
time immemorial. They have plenty of indigenous varieties as well as growing
many non-indigenous types such as cabernet sauvignon which can often be found
in a blend. So it is no wonder that the Portuguese consider it a requisite with
a meal.
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| The warm welcoming smiles of the friendly and attentive crew www.flytap.com |
Pairing the right wine with the dishes served is of upmost
importance for TAP. “Our on-board wine list reflects our quality, richness and
variety,” says Ricardo Dinis, TAP general sales manager. "Our new TAP Executive Wine List
was selected by a panel of experts, oenophiles and oenologists from Brazil and
Portugal.”
What makes TAP stand
out is the investment it is making in creating food and wine that is even
more appetising.
“ A group of journalists and food and wine critics was
invited to do an exhaustive tasting until they found the best wines that would
later be consumed in economy and business class on medium and long-haul
flights,” says Dinis.
If you thought wines and, for that matter food, taste
different when you are above the clouds, you are not wrong. Research indicates
that your sense of smell and your taste buds react differently at high
altitudes. Studies also indicate that hearing and even the colours of the food
can play a part in how you perceive taste.
The conundrum of why
many of us want to drink tomato juice in the air maybe explained by this. It
has been reported that German scientists discovered that the red stuff tastes
more pleasantly fruity at higher altitudes.
As soon as you enter
the cabin your sense of smell changes and as the plane climbs and the air gets
drier your body dehydrates making your taste buds less sensitive (we are said
to lose 30 per cent of our sensory ability).
Studies indicate
that we find sweet and salty flavours less intense when we are in the air, so a
lot of salt and spices are added to the airplane food to compensate.
“Our sense
of smell becomes less sharp and a dry mouth cannot capture [the] more subtle
flavours because we produce less saliva, which is needed to activate the taste
buds,” explains Dinis.
Another factor to consider is that health and safety
regulations mean that food cannot be cooked on a plane. Therefore the ingredients used have to be
suitable to being prepared on the ground and being reheated on the aircraft. By the time the meal gets
to you the flavours and aromas will have altered slightly from
when it was originally cooked.
This is why TAP is always keeping abreast of the latest
developments and looking at the studies about how the aircraft cabin
environment and altitude affect how food and wines are appreciated in the
skies. “White wines and young, aromatic fruity reds work better at altitude
than wines that are more alcoholic and complex, with wood notes and more
aggressive tannins,” reveals Dinis.
While experimenting with different wines in the air, you
might discover a gem you have never tried before.
By Daralyn Danns
