100 Days of Travel Sketchbooks Project
DAY 6 – Which meal? Non-Veg, Lacto-Veg, Hindu or Jain?
We have flown with Virgin Atlantic before, but in the other direction towards the United States, so we didn’t know what kind of food to expect on a flight to Delhi packed mainly with Indian passengers. To be honest we were just thankful that there was going to be food at all! (yes, pointing at you, British Airways)
The meal service started with a dizzying array of special meals being distributed. The main choice was Non-Veg (chicken – never pork or beef), Lacto Veg/ Hindu (very likely to contain eggs, panner, ghee or the unidentifiable white cheese they seem to like), and Jain (similar to Vegan so no dairy, but also no root vegetables as their religion tells them not to harm plants that grow beneath the soil. That includes garlic, ginger and onions – the staples of most Indian food that we have eaten). Trevor was glad that he hadn’t added to the chaos by asking for a gluten free meal, and happily munched on his own oat cakes and snacks instead of the breads.
In-Flight Meals on Virgin Atlantic
As you can see, the in-flight meals on Virgin Atlantic were pretty amazing, although that corn salad thing in the bowl was rather interesting as it was served cold, but to me it should have been hot. The lunch snack was a samosa with tomato ketchup sauce served with a cup of tea and biscuits, (I am presuming this is traditional, as we have had similar on the Indian trains). Nothing was super spicy, like you get in the UK, although they did supply a portion of killer lime pickle, just in case you felt the need to blow your face off.
Unlike being in India, there was plenty of alcohol to be had, although you were only allowed wine with your meal, but you can drink as much gin as you liked at other times. I had a cheeky extra Bombay Sapphire & tonic, to help me nod off for a while, so I was ready for the madness of the arrival into Delhi airport.
Next stop : The big smoke of Delhi
