세계 최악의 기내식들, "한국급식 먹어봐"

［헤럴드 경제=채상우 인턴기자］장시간 비행 중 소소한 즐거움인 항공기 기내식. 간혹 외국 항공사 항공기를 타다 보면 예상치 못한 기내식에 이 작은 행복이 망가지는 경우가 있다.

18일 영국 데일리메일(Dailymail)은 최악의 기내식을 선정해 보도했다. 이는 기내식 관련 정보를 공유하는 SNS인 '에어라인밀스(AirlineMeals)'에 게시물을 참고한 것으로, 이곳에는 2만6000여 장에 달하는 기내식 사진이 올라와 있다. 이 중 몇몇은 눈을 의심케 하는 외관으로 누리꾼들의 실소를 자아낸다.

에스토니아항공(Estonian Air)의 기내식은 먹다 남은 음식을 연상케 한다. 이 사진을 올린 회원에 따르면 메인 메뉴인 발틱청어(Baltic herring)는 싸늘하게 식은 상태였고, 오른편의 감자 샐러드는 재활용한 듯 보였다. 콩 몇 개가 섞인 볶음밥도 차갑긴 마찬가지였다고 불만을 토로했다.

중국 해남항공(海南航空)의 기내식은 잘 못 만든 자장면 같아 보인다. 외신은 "밤 늦게까지 술을 마시고 취한 취객이 게걸스럽게 먹을 것처럼 보이는 음식"이라고 이 항공사의 기내식을 표현했다.

이탈리아의 알리탈리아항공(Alitalia Air) 기내식에 대해 한 회원은 "저 검은 소스는 도저히 먹을 수 없는 것처럼 보인다"고 말했다. 실제로 이 기내식은 한눈에 봐도 식재료를 분간할 수 없을 만큼 형편 없는 모습이다. 함께 나온 커피도 도저히 마실 수 있는 상태가 아니었다고 회원은 전했다.

몰타의 국적항공기 몰타항공(Malta on Aeroflot) 기내식을 먹었다는 한 회원은 "입 속에서 세계2차대전이 다시 벌어진 듯 했다"는 표현으로 그 끔찍한 맛에 대해 설명했다.

최악의 기내식 사진을 본 누리꾼들은 "이걸 먹으려고 돈을 내야 하다니", "영국인이 조리 담당으로 있나", "나 이 기내식 사진들 모두 프린트 해 놨어, 요즘 다이어트 중이거든" 등의 반응을 보였다. 한국인으로 추정되는 한 누리꾼의 "복에 겨웠네, 한국 학교 와서 급식 한 번 먹어봐" 라는 댓글을 남기기도 했다.

앞서 북한의 기내식이 온라인에서 화제가 된 일도 있었다. 햄버거에 맥주 한잔이 전부인 고려항공의 기내식이 유튜브에서 최악의 기내식으로 뽑힌 것. 그 후 고려항공은 닭고기 카레와 생선튀김, 슬라이스 햄, 빵 등 푸짐한 기내식을 선보여 명예 회복에 나섰다.

doubleu@heraldcorp.com

Buckle up for the worst in-flight meals in the skies: Disgusted passengers share photos of their airline food disasters

By Laura Pullman

PUBLISHED: 01:03 GMT, 18 September 2012 | UPDATED: 06:51 GMT, 18 September 2012

The on-board service for plane passengers has improved immeasurably over the years.

These days fliers typically have more precious leg-room, the latest Hollywood blockbusters on demand and - for the lucky few in first class - the unbridled joy of fully-reclining seats.

But despite all this progress, airline food can still be the stuff of gastronomic nightmares, as these stomach-churning photos show.

Unidentifiable: An Air Botswana passenger had trouble describing this grim-looking meal....'Meat something with vegetable something', was their suggestion

 

Underwhelming: A vegetarian passenger was unimpressed with this dubious cheese omelet offered up on a United/Continental flight

When it comes to their culinary offerings airlines have never had the best of reputations. Indeed, for some, just hearing the words ‘in-flight food’ can be enough to make them involuntarily wretch and reach for those paper sick bags from the seat in front.

 

Disgruntled fliers fed up with the ubiquitous solid bread roll, unidentifiable slab of meat and tasteless helping of desert are increasingly sharing photos of the dodgy food they've been served online.

AirlineMeals is one such site where passengers post pictures of their grim-looking meals, mark them out of ten and name and shame the airlines.

Marco ‘t Hart, who set up the AirlineMeals ten years ago, told CNN that the site became successful because of the unpopularity of certain foods.

Now the site has more than 26,000 photographs of meals – both foul and fantastic - snapped on 600 plus airlines.  

Foul: When it comes to food airlines have never had the best of reputations but this meal served on a Estonian Air flight looks especially offensive

 

Repeat offender: It seems cheese omelets should be kept off airlines' menus. The passenger served this on an Ukraine International flight decided to steer free of the sausage too

 

Suspicious: 'The salmon was the same age as my grandma', a disgruntled Aeroflot passenger wrote about this meal

 

However, this selection of photographs showcases some of the grimmest grub on offer. From ancient looking slabs of salmon to congealed meat stews, these airline meals look spectacularly awful.

One flier, who uploaded a photo to AirlineMeals, vented their fury about Estonian Air food: 'What was in the meal? Very good question! Starter: cold rice with a few peas, sweet corn, and olive skin. Main course: I believe it was cold Baltic herring (those three pieces of gray, slimy things on the left), potato salad (recycled, I think), lettuce (left by the snails as being inedible), piece of tomato ( for color), bread roll (warm on arrival, but overdone in microwave, so solid within a few minutes). Dessert: able to break this stodgy, doughy thing into pieces, but no flavor at all, so not sure what it was supposed to be.

One far-from-satisfied passenger had trouble describing their meal on a Air Botswana flight: 'Meat something with vegetable something. [...] The drink was some fluorescent green soda.'

Questionable: 'It's supposed to be aubergine, I guess. Coffee came right out of the engine, undrinkable,' an Alitalia passenger wrote about this meal

 

I think I'll pass, thanks: An Alitalia passenger served this meal wrote,'The menu sounded fantastic and the crew did their best to offer good service, however, that did not make up for the poor quality of the meal, which was cold and tasteless'

Another flier, this one was jetting from Moscow to Malta on Aeroflot, photographed a suspicious-looking salmon main course. They wrote: 'The worst I’ve had from Aeroflot. The salmon was the same age as my grandma . . . lunch was poor and not fresh. HORRIBLE!'

Besides a particularly gross looking meal, a Ukraine International passenger wrote: 'The most striking thing about this meal was the lurid yellow color of the omelet. Decidedly unnatural, but perhaps this was the caterer’s attempt to support the Orange Revolution in Kiev. Sausage was pure plastic, so I didn’t touch it—and I wasn’t sure why it was split down the middle . . . to reveal its meat-free content perhaps?'

Naming and shaming: Airlinemeals is a site where passengers post pictures of their grim-looking meals, mark them out of ten and name and shame the offending airlines

 

Foul fry-up: Slimy bacon? Check. Solidified scrambled egg? Check. Soggy sausage? Check.

 

Unappetizing: This meal seemingly goes for quantity over quality

 

Dodgy: Looking on the bright side, at least the little portion of Greek salad looks edible

 

Unappealing: This looks like something a drunken student would wolf down after a night out..