Return to Stories

Cathay Pacific partner with celebrity chef Daniel Green to create new inflight dining offerings

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced its collaboration with celebrity chef Daniel Green, who is known to the culinary world for his light and clean dining philosophy. Cathay Pacific will be presenting a series of exclusive dishes and drinks, designed by Daniel, to First and Business Class passengers flying from Hong Kong to destinations in North America from August 2016.

A specialist in high-quality, low-carbohydrate cuisine, Daniel believes in "taking the food we love and lowering the fat". The award-winning author of eleven cookery books, Daniel's recipes have been widely featured in magazines in United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Asia and he also hosted a number of programmes for broadcasters such as the BBC, the Asian Food Channel, Fox and Food Network.

By teaming up with Daniel, Cathay Pacific will underline its brand promise of a "Life Well Travelled" by providing its passengers with light and clean inflight dining choices over the coming months. Cathay Pacific believes that travelling well is an important part of living well, and that the travel experience of its passengers will be enhanced by this array of exclusive clean dining options. Ingredients that are typically high in fat, such as cream and butter will be absent from dishes on the menu. By using different fresh ingredients, such as coconut milk to replace the use of cream, for example, Daniel has created clean recipes for passengers without sacrificing any taste.

Cathay Pacific Head of Catering Aaron Claxton said: “At Cathay Pacific, we believe that offering passengers a variety of high quality dining options is of great benefit to their overall travel experience. We are very pleased to work with Daniel, who is known for his low-carbohydrate cooking philosophy. We are excited to be able to present his creations onboard, so that passengers on long-haul flights can choose to enjoy a lighter yet fulfilling meal with a higher ratio of protein versus carbohydrates. We believe these dishes will help keep passengers refreshed throughout their flight."

Featuring three salads and five main courses, Daniel's menu is highlighted by dishes such as "Fettuccine, shitake mushrooms, white wine, garlic, chargrilled fennel and white truffle oil", which proves that cheese doesn't have to be an essential element of a delicious pasta dish – the aromas and flavours of the white truffle oil trumps all! Another dish, "Small roasted pumpkin, Thai red vegetable curry in light coconut milk and Thai sweet basil", uses light coconut milk to lessen the high saturated fats present in regular curry dishes, without sacrificing the flavour of the dish.

Commenting on his collaboration with Cathay Pacific, Daniel said: “It is an honour for me to have this opportunity to work with Cathay Pacific Airways, an airline that takes pride in the quality of its food and the well-being of its passengers. The clean cuisine menu created for Cathay Pacific is one that is revolutionary in the airline food industry and is based on my practice of not deep frying or using butter or cream in my dishes. Dishes are high in protein and low in carbohydrate and will leave passengers feeling satisfied. The menu will showcase how food can be made to an exceptionally high standard, even at 35,000 feet, and will taste how food should – flavourful!"

In addition to the salads and main courses, Daniel has also tailor-made two power drinks for Cathay Pacific, namely “Berries and spinach with maple syrup energizer” and “Vitamin C booster”. The former is a natural energiser and helps rejuvenate passengers upon waking, as it provides all the levels of iron and vitamins that are needed without containing any added sugar. The Vitamin C booster helps elevate the body's resistance to coughs and colds.

About Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific Airways is a Hong Kong-based airline offering scheduled passenger and cargo services to nearly 200 destinations in Asia, North America, Australia, Europe and Africa, using a fleet of around 140 wide-body aircraft. The company is a member of the Swire group and is a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Cathay Pacific has made substantial investments to develop Hong Kong as one of the world's leading global transportation hubs. The airline is a founder member of the oneworld global alliance.

About Daniel Green

Chef Daniel Green was born in London and now lives in the United States. He is highly respected for his healthy eating philosophy and is living proof of how one can be energised by eating the right food. His passion is delivering great tasting food that is also healthy by using fresh ingredients, eliminating the fats yet creating wonderful flavours. He has travelled the world working as a consultant for many respected hospitality brands and is a familiar face on television having appeared on Food Network, Fox, the BBC, Discovery Health, UK Food and many more. He has written eleven cook books with his latest books focusing on the PALEO diet.