A dash of Sri Lanka, Emirates style
Win a chance to see how the world’s largest international airline produces Sri Lankan delicacies like fish ambul
thiyal and chicken curry. Scientists concur, but it does not take a genius to know that food stirs not just our taste buds but our memories too, which is why a lot of effort goes into the planning and execution of airline menus, especially at Emirates.
It does have to cater to the taste of a cosmopolitan customer base, but it is not uncommon to find dishes like pol roti, kiribath, fish ambul thiyal, red chicken curry, pol sambol and watalappan on board the world’s largest international airline, offering piquant and colourful Sri Lankan staples on flights linking the Indian Ocean region to the world.
Emirates serves more than 110 million meals a year with the same attention to detail in First, Business and Economy Class. Catering for more than 55 million dine-in guests a year travelling to and from 158 cities across 6 continents, no one understands global culinary trends better than Emirates as it serves destinationinspired cuisine onboard the world’s largest flying restaurant.
With a catering investment of US$1 billion per year, Emirates runs a round-the-clock kitchen with 1,800 chefs based in Dubai whipping up 12,450 recipes. The airline caters to 520 flights a day with authentic local cuisines giving customers a taste of the destination they are going to.
In the thick of all this is Chef
Ehsan Hassan, one of 177 Sri Lankans
employed at Emirates Flight Catering, or EKFC as it is referred to. Proud of his country, Chef Hassan sports two Sri Lanka flags embroidered on either side of the collar of his starched white chef’s tunic, as he goes about the work he loves – working with the Emirates
Flight Catering team to prepare Sri Lankan food that evokes the sensory delights of the paradise island that is his home.
But how does Emirates prepare fish ambul thiyal, Sri Lankan chicken curry
and kiribath in Dubai for thousands of passengers? How does the airline ensure the consistency of the dishes? Does it have its own unique recipes?
To give the foodies among our readers the rare opportunity to see inside the world’s largest flight kitchen and to experience first-hand how the Emirates Catering team and Sri Lankan chef Ehsan Hassan work their magic, the Daily Mirror Life is collaborating with Emirates to offer one of our readers the chance to win a trip to Dubai with accommodation and a visit to Emirates Flight Catering included. The Emirates recipe for fish ambul thiyal is published in the inset to this article, with one ingredient omitted.
All our readers have to do is to guess the missing ingredient and send in an entry using the coupon published or via email to lifedm123@gmail.com. Online readers may also participate. The recipe and the coupon will be repeated every Thursday for three more weeks. The final winner will be selected at a draw of all correct entries. For the full terms and conditions applicable to this competition, please visit