JAL is working with the Mie Prefectural Government and Nagoya Air Catering to serve a range of limited time inflight meals on international flights operating out of Chubu Centrair International Airport. The meals will be made from approximately 40 ingredients and food products from Mie Prefecture and will be served from 1 December to 28 February.
The release states it’s the first time in six and a half years and nine months that a dedicated Mie menu has appeared on JAL international flights from Centrair.
On the flights to Honolulu, Business Class has three dishes. The Japanese is Niihime Kumano sea bream with a thickened Mie nabana sauce. The Western is Matsusaka beef stroganoff with saffron rice and breakfast prior to arrival is Tamaki koji French toast with maple syrup. Economy Class has the Matsusaka beef keema curry.
Flights to Tianjin and to Taipei (Taoyuan) have a different menu. Business Class on both routes has Ise Umaine pork and Aosa seaweed porchetta with harenohi tomato sauce, salmon meunière with Niihime citrus basil sauce and a cheese risotto with Iga rice “Mie no Yume”.
Economy Class has grilled chicken with Aosa seaweed butter sauce and simmered Ise Umaine pork with Japanese style Meyer lemon sauce. The Business Class menu on the return flight from Tianjin is the same as on the outbound. On both Business and Economy the main courses vary each month from December through to February.
Other Mie ingredients on the menus are Matsusaka beef rib roast, Ise Umaine pork shoulder loin, Iga Koshihikari rice specially cultivated, Amanatsu citrus, amatsu-otome strawberry, Amano Iso-shio sun-dried salt and Niihime juice.
On the relevant routes leaflets in both Japanese and English will introduce the ingredients and will be provided with the meals. JAL will also be sharing stories of the local producers on its social media.
At the JAL Sakura Lounge in the Centrair International Terminal you can pour yourself some ‘HANZO Tokubetsu Junmaishu Iga-Ukon Nishiki’ from Ota Sake Brewery in Iga City, Mie Prefecture from 1st December to 31st March (while stocks last). The junmai is made with Ukon Nishiki rice (a very rare heritage rice which was nearly extinct), Mie yeast and Iga spring water from the ground.
JAL and Mie Prefecture signed an agreement on food and tourism in December 2015. Nagoya Air Catering produces JAL’s in-flight meals at Centrair and has been developing menu concepts which make use of the food resources of the Tokai region.
Photos: Japan Airlines
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