Fresh from the printers, Flavour of Flight: The Food and Drink of British Airways is the brand new tome by our very own Captain Al Bridger – and here’s an exclusive extract (and giveaway) just for you

Depicting the evolution of our in-flight meals from more than a century of flying, Flavour of Flight is a delicious walk down memory lane, from the days of Bovril flasks to seat-side beef-carving and Michel Roux’s first class menu. Alongside this detailed and entertaining history, more than 50 easy recipes (tried and tested by Al himself) mean you can recreate what once appeared on board in your own galley this winter.

The 1970s was an age of technology and advancement not seen since the war years. It was also the decade of the rebirth of British Airways as we know it today. ‘BOAC presents an airline better than BOAC,’ the new adverts cheered, with the merger of BOAC and BEA. Greater competition again placed a focus on the customer and their experience, including the in-flight food and service offering.

Average wages in the 1970s increased significantly but inflation was also rampant, peaking at 23% in 1975. Despite this, people were far better off. And while international travel was still beyond the reach of many, a love of food was growing with the rapid spread of restaurant culture. Chains such as Berni Inn were popping up, with classic favourites such as prawn cocktail, steak and the ever-loved Black Forest gâteau gaining huge popularity. Eating at the local pub seems commonplace now, but back in the 1970s it was a new and growing trend, with chicken or scampi ‘in a basket’ a real favourite. People were demanding better food, and an addiction to international cuisine and travel continued to grow.

The incredible and iconic Boeing 747 came into service with BOAC in 1971. Able to carry up to 400 customers, it had twice the capacity of any previous model. BOAC had 15 cabin crew for a very personalised service, setting it apart from its rivals.

The 747 also took a giant leap forward with the huge internal space, boasting two first class and three economy class cabins, with the original aircraft using the whole upper deck as the wonderful ‘Monarch lounge’. This lounge was literally a ‘private club in the sky’ and was extremely popular thanks to its intimate feel. Pat Pearce (former Cabin Service Director and Dreamflight co-founder) recalls one crew member was assigned to work there alongside the three First crew to serve drinks and was affectionately known as the ‘lounge lizard’. Accessed by a beautiful spiral staircase, this lounge truly was a new benchmark in luxury.

Each cabin on the 747 was built to be an intimate and individual ‘sitting room in the sky’. The size of the aircraft also meant the 747 galleys were very spacious and allowed the installation of microwave ovens to supplement the three ovens in the forward galley. This meant frozen food could be heated and prepared in minutes, giving delicious and varied options such as beef stroganoff, duckling in cherry sauce and even sole Véronique. Sadly, these microwaves proved occasionally unreliable and were eventually removed from the aircraft (although I recall their return towards the end of the aircrafts’ life).

Despite the number of customers, the quality of the food and the level of service was exceptional, and flying on a 747 would be the experience of a lifetime for many. BOAC made the most of this with its early advertising.

Concorde was to become the magnificent flagship of the new airline. and the world of breathtaking supersonic flight was no longer the sole preserve of us lucky few jet fighter pilots. It could carry 100 customers at speeds of more than Mach 2 – that’s 1,350 miles per hour – at 60,000 feet, where the sky above is very dark and the curvature of the earth is discernible. The experience was further enhanced by the true style and sophistication on show when flying at the highest levels of the atmosphere. It was a real time machine.

Despite the tight space of the tiny cabin, Concorde had a galley fore and aft with a temporary area set up mid-cabin in flight to provide the food and service befitting the privileged few able to experience it.

The finest wines were served with three-to-six-course meals including such dishes as a gâteau japonais. A trip to New York, at 3.5 hours, now took half the time of the 747, meaning customers spent a large amount of their trip eating. Celebrated French chef Paul Bocuse, who had pioneered nouvelle cuisine, created the first menu and many celebrity chefs were to follow suit.

Concorde purser Sue Drayton recalls the small size of Concorde as “something of an advantage as it allowed you to do at least three things at the same time. Multi-tasking was the aim. Crew could stow a trolley, open a canister and pour a drink all at the same time as it was so compact. A moderate workout but, if you kept religiously tidy, it worked like clockwork.” I think Sue is being rather modest, as preparing the incredible Concorde meals at speed in such a small space took great skill and dexterity. The front galley was also very warm, so if you have a compact kitchen at home and raise the temperature when preparing meals from the book, it will be very authentic.

May 1977 saw the launch of the hugely popular and uniquely British Club Class cabin on 747 UK to US routes. Benefits included a separate check-in, later boarding and earlier deplaning, hot towels and terrific food and drink including suprême de volaille chasseur, American-style apple pie and coffee. Delicious and “a small price for going up in the world”, it was claimed.

Less popular was the experimental ‘Elizabethan’ service, which offered customers food and drink reminiscent of 400 years ago, including ‘posset’ (a British hot drink involving milk curdled with wine or ale) to complement ‘Breast of Chicken Christopher’ followed by ‘Sherborne apple and orange tart’. You must question what they were thinking, but it was certainly very brave to experiment. Plainer food was also offered for those with a more conservative palate.

BEA meals continued the theme from the previous decade with trusted favourites such as salmon mayonnaise, poached breast of chicken with cream sauce and pilau rice, French pastries and sweetmeats. After a decade of incredible advancements, the stage was set for British Airways to drive towards privatisation – another giant leap.

Whether you have a compact kitchen or a more spacious one, I am sure you will enjoy making and eating the dishes featured in my book. Imagine you are en route to New York, Nassau, Bermuda or Kingston while eating your meal, maybe on the iconic Concorde or even the Boeing 747. Quite fabulous.

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This article has been tagged Food + Drink, Culture