Emirates has been recognised in the past for its food and beverage list – and it’s for good reason. The Dubai-based carrier has a huge variety of meals including gluten‑friendly and low‑lactose dishes, however, it also prides itself on its vegan offerings. As such, it has expanded its selection of over 300 vegan recipes with new dishes across its entire cabin and lounges.

“Refined vegan cuisine is an important consideration at Emirates, as numbers of vegan customers continue to rise globally, and many non-vegan customers opt for vegan cuisine when flying, as a lighter option often considered easier to digest,” the major airline said in a statement on Monday.

“Emirates continues to expand its portfolio of vegan cuisine by workshopping new dishes made with innovative ingredients, such as a lookalike solid egg substitute made entirely from legumes, which packs a tasty and nutritional punch for Emirates customers, as well as adding curated vegan meals for children, and new dishes onboard and in lounges.”

A group of Emirates’ chefs gathered in the Emirates Flight Catering Concept Development Kitchen recently to workshop the new dishes. They trialled the new solid egg substitute in a spicy shakshuka sauce and developed a pre-made vegan pastry sheet into savoury vegan cannelloni. 

Credit: Emirates

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The airline integrates fresh produce from Bustanica, the world’s largest hydroponic vertical farm. This farm is a joint venture with Emirates Flight Catering that delivers “pesticide and chemical-free leafy greens like lettuce, arugula, mixed salad greens, and spinach, directly to Emirates’ catering facilities”. It serves more than 400,000 plant based meals onboard every year.

“Last year, vegan meal consumption grew in line with passenger volumes, but in some regions, consumption has exceeded passenger volume growth – such as Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East,” it said in the statement. “Many Emirates cabin crew also follow a plant-based diet, and Emirates has offered vegan meals for cabin crew for the last nine years.”

The popular Middle Eastern carrier recently introduced individual vegan milk servings onboard in Economy and Premium Economy Class, with more than 30,000 customers a month selecting this option for their coffee and tea.

As for the kids, they can enjoy dishes like vegan pizza, sweet and sour vegetable casserole, vegetable fajitas, vegan muffins, cauliflower bites with sweet sauce and desserts like strawberry crumble and vegan chocolate pudding.

Economy class vegan options

Economy passengers can enjoy dishes like crêpes filled with sautéed carrots and peppers, served with roasted potatoes, mushrooms and tomato concassé, or curried vegetable puffs, and chocolate mousse cake with chocolate sauce and blackberry crumble.

Premium Economy

Passengers in this class can opt for dishes like braised mushrooms with vegetables in five spice soy sauce, served with steamed jasmine rice and blanched pak choi, followed by desserts like chocolate tart drizzled in apricot compote or raspberry tonka mousse cake with berry coulis.

Business class

On the pointy end, passengers can enjoy curated dishes including Thai red curry tofu with aubergine, beans, mushrooms and taro in aromatic gravy, served with steamed jasmine rice. As for dessert, they can feast on a tropical coconut pineapple cake or indulge in a chocolate pecan cake.

First class

For those in this class it’s all about an elevated vegan experience like creamy polenta cake with thyme mushroom ragout, sautéed spinach drizzled in a rich root vegetable jus. There’s decadent desserts including the tartness of rhubarb tempered with strawberry charlotte, Chantilly cream and raspberry tuille, or a tempting warm chocolate fondant, dashed with salted caramel sauce and whipped cashew cream.

Lounges

Vegan options can also be found at Emirates’ seven lounges at Dubai International Airport from soya and pea protein crispy pops at the Business Class Lounge Snack Counter, to Baharat and turmeric spiced kofta in coconut gravy at the buffet area.

The most in demand vegan dish in the lounges is the Emirates Green Burger – a soya and flax seed green burger, with a signature sauce and pickled cucumbers.

Vegan options are available to order and pre-order onboard, as well as in Emirates Lounges. Customers can request vegan meals on all Emirates flights and across all classes of travel up to 24 hours before departure. However, on high-demand routes, plant-based meals are also provided as part of the main menu options.

This article originally appeared on news.com.au. It has been published here with permission. 

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