Festive loaves and where to find them

    

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Jack's Flight Club ✈️ Travel News & Inspiration

Season’s greetings, JFC-ers!

You’ve no doubt already made the first (maybe second, third?) of 20-odd trips to the supermarket this week. You’ve bought too many mince pies - just in case someone pops round - but maybe not enough potatoes if you want to have both roasties and mash. Don’t worry, everyone will be full of chocolates by the time dinner rolls around, anyway.

The good news (or bad, depending on just how much of a Grinch you’re feeling) is that you don’t have to miss out on a good feed if you’re flying over the holidays. The Points Guy has served up a platter of everything you can expect from the major airlines, but we’ve got a little amuse bouche to tickle your taste buds.

It’s traditional Christmas fare on most long-haul flights - BA, Lufthansa and co. are all dishing up turkey and all the trimmings, with Virgin Atlantic throwing in a butternut squash and mushroom wellington for good measure.

Meanwhile, the promise of Emirates’ dessert selection is nearly enough to make us hop on a last-minute flight to Dubai. We’re talking Christmas pud with crème anglaise (aka fancy custard), Santa-shaped redcurrant and chocolate mousse cake, or ginger cake covered in dark chocolate ganache. Yummmm!

If those options don’t quite do it for you, upgrading will get you festive cocktails, salmon and Yule logs as well. It’s almost worth it just for access to the airlines’ premium lounges, which open up a whole new world of festive feasting. Lufthansa in particular are showing off, with venison goulash, beef roulade, German pastry platters, and one of our absolute Austrian favourites - Kaiserschmarrn.

Now our stomachs are grumbling, and we can’t stop thinking about all the exciting foods being eaten around the world. Thankfully, the Huffington Post has done some leg work and rounded up traditional Christmas meals from around the world to keep us going.

To all of you celebrating, we wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a peaceful Yuletide. And all the best for 2023!

Warm wishes and festive flying,

Jack

Festive Loaves And Where To Find Them

 

Something To Dunk That In?

As if they knew we’d need something to dunk all that bread in, Atlas Obscura have been dipping into the world of perpetual broth. We look at it like that soup our granny fed us 3 nights in a row, adding random veg and leftovers as she went along - that, except over decades, or maybe even centuries.

They zero in on two likely, yet vastly different, points of origin - France or China. On the one hand, you’ve got the French pot-au-feu, traditionally a never-ending vat of soup that was standard peasant food in the medieval times. On the other, you have the Chinese tradition of making a master stock, or lou</a , which is used repeatedly to braise and poach meats.

The technique pops up throughout the history books, including on the United States’ pioneer trail and in WW2 Normandy. You’d think that food hygiene rules would have done a number on it by now, but you’ll still find kitchens in Bangkok, Tokyo, New York and beyond serving up decades of flavor in one spoonful.

Our Pick Of The Clicks

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.

A study by Upgraded Points has uncovered how early you need to arrive at various US airports in order to make your flight.

Chicago O’Hare comes in worst at just over three hours needed to move through the airport, check in and go through security procedures. Los Angeles and JFK aren’t far behind, but it’s Columbus, Ohio you want to visit for a swift one-hour airport experience.

Fingers crossed Santa gets us one of those suitcase scooters…

While we’re all in agreement that global warming is a bad thing, Swedes are following the old, "when life gives you lemons," mantra, except with grapes.

Vineyards in the country have expanded by 50% in the last two years, with sales of local wines doubling over the last five years as well. Experts reckon demand will only keep growing, so we’ll be heading to Sweden for a bougie vineyard tour sooner rather than later.


Security staff at an Alaska airport were shocked to find 28 knives in a passenger’s carry-on bag earlier this month. When questioned, the passenger claimed he didn’t realise that his knife collection wasn’t welcome onboard, and begrudgingly left them behind.


India has announced it will be randomly testing 2% of travellers entering the country for COVID-19. The government hopes to keep on top of any new variants entering the country ahead of a busy festival and tourist season.


One former flight attendant has shared their wisdom on how we can get bumped up to first class. Aside from being flexible and making use of loyalty programs, their top piece of advice is to be nice. Yep - apparently a simple "hello" or having a box of chocolates on hand for staff can go a long way.

Sounds a little like bribery to us, but then again, we’re back here in economy!

And finally, one traveller’s Christmas wishes all came true when she was sat behind a Golden Retriever for their transatlantic flight home for Christmas. We hope she had a pocket full of treats for that really good boy!