Have you ever had a meal on an airplane that tasted a bit off? Especially in the past, airline meals were often perceived as bland or even unappetizing. Surprisingly, this isn’t usually due to the way the meal is prepared—it’s about you. Or rather, it’s about the way your sense of taste changes when you’re at high altitude. Your taste perception completely alters as you ascend to greater heights. A regular meal can suddenly taste entirely different. This change in taste offers the master chef of a floating restaurant a unique opportunity to take you on a culinary adventure, filled with entirely new flavor experiences.
What exactly is “taste”?
To explain why your taste changes at high altitude, it’s important to first understand what “taste” actually is. Taste is one of the five classic senses that humans possess. Taste receptors on your tongue and at the back of your mouth allow you to perceive everything that comes into contact with your mouth as taste. If you pinch your nose while eating strongly flavored food, you’ll notice that much of the flavor disappears. That’s because the nose also plays a significant role in tasting flavors. Certain familiar tastes, like cinnamon and menthol, are actually scents. You can only fully taste them if your nose is also involved. We refer to these as secondary tastes. Together, the tastes perceived by the tongue and nose create the overall flavor experience.
How altitude changes your taste perception
Taste is the first sense to be affected as altitude increases. This is related to both the mouth and nose tastes that you perceive. Due to changes in air pressure and humidity, which alter more as you ascend, the way you perceive flavors also changes. However, not every taste is affected equally. At high altitude, the perception of salt decreases by 20% to 30%, and sweet tastes by 15% to 20%. And as humidity decreases at high altitudes, your nose also perceives secondary flavors, such as strong-smelling spices, less distinctly.
Yet, there are some tastes that are hardly affected at all. Sour and bitter flavors remain the same even at high altitudes. Similarly, umami, also known as the fifth taste and found in foods like sea fish, shellfish, and Parmesan cheese, doesn’t undergo any flavor change due to higher altitudes.
A Culinary Adventure at High Altitude
While some flavors might be less pronounced at high altitude, these changing tastes create the perfect conditions for entirely new flavor experiences. For instance, although the taste of umami doesn’t change, the reduced prominence of basic tastes like sweet and salty allows you to experience umami like never before.
And a wine that feels heavy on the ground can suddenly taste fresh and sparkling at high altitude. In short, by playing with flavors, dining at high altitude can become a true culinary adventure. And where better to experience such an adventure than in a hot air balloon?
Dining in a Hot Air Balloon
CuliAir is the only restaurant in the Netherlands situated in a hot air balloon. It offers the ideal opportunity to combine the unique experience of a balloon flight with an exquisite dinner between heaven and earth. It also provides the chance to play with flavors, as tastes are perceived differently at the altitude where a hot air balloon flies.
The average flight altitude of a hot air balloon is between 150 and 750 meters. This offers an incredible view of the landscape, but sometimes the balloon can reach up to 2,000 meters in altitude. You can see for kilometers. Although the altitude is regulated by hot air, a hot air balloon cannot be steered. As a result, the travel distance can vary greatly. Depending on wind speed, wind direction, and glide height, the balloon can travel up to 30 kilometers or cover much shorter distances. Fortunately, the pilot of a hot air balloon knows how to navigate to a suitable landing spot.
An Unforgettable Experience
Before all that, however, a dinner at CuliAir begins on the ground, in a field. While the special hot air balloon is being set up and arranged as a restaurant, complete with a kitchen, you’ll enjoy an aperitif and generous amuse-bouche. Then the hot air balloon gently ascends to high altitude, where you’ll enjoy dinner with a fantastic view over colorful floodplains and vast landscapes.
You’ll savor new tastes at high altitude, the unique silence above the clouds, and a setting sun that paints the sky orange. The dishes are prepared à la minute by a master chef during a balloon flight that lasts a full hour and a half, much longer than other balloon flights. And that’s a good thing, as it allows you to fully enjoy the three-course menu prepared at high altitude and the stunning view.
Once the balloon has found a suitable landing spot, it’s time for the traditional champagne baptism with a festive dessert. After being returned to the take-off location, it’s time to head home. With your head still in the clouds and an unforgettable experience to treasure.