Emirates launches new Moet & Chandon designed Business Class dining experience

Emirates has launched a new Business Class dining experience that lets customers enjoy 18 new dishes paired with exclusive champagnes onboard across most medium to long haul flights.

Customers can check their menu in advance of flying, to see which dish has been expertly paired with an exclusive Champagne. The new dishes are marked with a crown icon, indicating that they are part of the pairing menu.

Designed by Moet & Chandon’s head chef of Michelin star renown, Jean Michel Bardet and Emirates’ vice president of Culinary Design, Doxis Bekris; each of the new dishes has been perfectly paired with an exclusive champagne, serving up the ultimate culinary collaboration in the sky.

The 18 new starters and main courses allow Emirates’ Business Class customers to enjoy an expertly curated champagne and cuisine pairing for the first time in the air. The menu spent more than a year in development between Emirates master chefs and the Maison of Moet & Chandon in France, as the award-winning chefs were challenged to create refined dishes of culinary excellence with premium ingredients, that can also be scaled to meet the demands of the world’s largest international airline, serving 149 meals every minute, and totalling more than 77 million meals every year.

New culinary creations in Emirates Business Class

The new paired dishes include starters like poached scallops served with green melon, blanched kumquat, lemon gel and roasted almonds, exquisitely paired with Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2016, where the delicately salted scallops complement the flavours and reveal the elegance of the cuvee.

Green melon and kumquat enhance the radiant bouquet of the champagne, while basil adds a final contrasting touch. The new creations include vegan dishes too, like silken tofu, sliced and served with poached asparagus, soy emulsion with olive oil, lemon gel and cashew cream, paired with Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial – where the tofu is marinated in lemon juice and soy sauce, revealing the brightness and umami dimension of Brut Imperial. Dill introduces a vegetal contrast, while cashew cream adds a final creamy touch, bringing the dish to a harmonious finish.

Main courses are set to impress with pairings like roasted duck served with braised aubergine and chickpeas with raz el hanout-spiced couscous-jus and cherry tomatoes, paired with Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial, where the symphony of couscous flavours dances with the structure of red wine, and spicy notes add a touch of intrigue. The delicate acidity of cherry tomatoes weaves through the dish, complemented by Rose Imperial.

Another main course to look forward to is the succulent roasted turkey, sliced and served with sage chicken jus, mashed potato, braised fennel and almonds. This dish is paired with Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2016 – where the radiant bouquet is highlighted by the delicate vegetal notes of fennel, and the sage chicken jus imparts a sense of umami, culminating in a harmonious pairing.

Seared Chilean Seabass will be a hit for seafood aficionados, paired with Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial and served with artichoke puree, lemon grass sauce and buttered sugar snap peas. Artichoke puree brings smooth texture and subtle taste harmonising with the Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial’s elegance. Sugar snap peas add a crisp element enhancing the sparkling texture. Finally, lemongrass sauce provides a fresh connection, amplifying the Champagne’s brightness.

There are also vegan dishes, like braised lentils with coconut served with steamed basmati rice, spiced cauliflower with green peas and naan, paired with Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial. Coral lentils have a beautiful texture that plays with the elegant effervescence of the Rose Imperial, while curry seasoning complements the fruity bouquet with a soft spiciness, and coriander creates a delicate contrast.

Culinary excellence at 40,000 feet

Over the year of development, the chefs collaborated and connected between France and Dubai, to create the dishes together. While Chef Jean Michel was challenged to pair the flavour profiles of dishes innovatively and bring out the notes of the exclusive Champagnes onboard Emirates, the Emirates team were adeptly managing the issues of scale, and ensuring the dishes could be prepared for the large numbers of customers onboard, travelling to a myriad of global destinations.

Together the chefs brainstormed the ways in which premium restaurant quality cuisine could be recreated for the inflight experience – taking into account the impact of altitude, scale and pre-preparation of the food before loading onto the aircraft. The chefs also had to consider the ways in which Emirates’ world class cabin crew would be able to plate the food onboard, ensuring the Business Class customer has an outstanding experience every time.