Foto: Andrejs Terentjevs, f64
airBaltic’s Business Class passengers enjoy some of the best meals in the skies. The menus are specially developed for airBaltic by Mārtiņš Rītiņš, executive chef at Riga’s renowned Vincents restaurant and chairman of Slow Food Riga. Rītiņš creates his exclusive menus using organic, seasonal produce, employing traditional recipes and gourmet cooking techniques. Throughout the years he has formed strong ties with Latvia’s farmers and growers, whose products he individually selects for his menus. Starting from this week, in honor of Martin’s Day, through November 18, airBaltic will be featuring goose on its flights. Wingtips sat down with Rītiņš on his name’s day to talk about his work with airBaltic, the history of the Slow Food movement, and how airBaltic passengers are helping to support Latvian farmers and rescue engendered plant and animal species.
How did you start working with airBaltic?
Originally Mr. Flick invited me to come and do the catering for Business Class. This was many years ago. I initially said no, because I know how difficult it is, how extreme the circumstances are. Airline catering doesn’t usually have a good reputation, no matter which country you are in. But then when I heard a rumor that airBaltic was going to be flying to New York. I was in Washington when this was being discussed, and I said to Mr. Flick, “Maybe you need some good food on those long-haul flights!” And he said, “Mārtiņš, yes! I’ll take you up on your offer. But you can start now locally!” I said OK, and we started a year and a half ago. But my main condition was that we could transform it all into local produce—not overnight, but slowly, slowly. This is airBaltic, so it should be Baltic food on the flight—of course, Latvian food as much as possible.
How did things go in the beginning?
It was very, very difficult in the beginning. We needed to do a presentation of twelve different starters, twelve main courses, and twelve desserts. That’s more than I have in my restaurant! It was also very difficult to get the farmers to produce the quantities that we required at that certain time. That means everything has to be seasonal. For instance, now, in November, we don’t have tomatoes anymore and we don’t have cucumbers anymore, because they are not in season. And when I say local produce, I mean farm produce—traditional, not conventional. So the beginning was very difficult, but it’s getting easier and easier. We’re working a year ahead now, because the farmers were never prepared to grow so much in such a short period of time. We’re talking now about what they are going to grow for next year, so that we have enough to fill a rotation for Business Class. That’s quite a bit. I think it’s good for airBaltic that we are presenting local produce; it’s also good for the farmer. The farmer is guaranteed that the produce he’s grown will be used and will be sold, not just given back to the farm animals—which happens quite a lot. It’s quite sad to see mountains of produce given back to the animals. It’s good for the animals, of course, but it’s not good for the farmer. He can’t survive that way.
What is the philosophy of Slow Food?
It’s simple: Local, seasonal, traditional. And fair to the farmer. Because these massive big companies are not fair to the farmers. Slow Food also tries to preserve different engendered species. Every day, many species of plants disappear. We know that birds are disappearing and animals are disappearing, and soon, in fifty years time, there will be very little left of what are grandparents knew, what went on their table. One example is spelt—plēkšņu kvieši in Latvian. It’s the oldest grain in the book, and was found in the pharaohs’ pyramids. You can’t mass produce it and it’s very stubborn, but it’s very healthy. You can’t grow full heads of it, so it’s not commercially practical. But this is a grain that also grows long and tall, so it’s also used for thatch roofs. But if spelt disappears, thatched roofs will disappear as well. There are only two farms left in Latvia that grow spelt. Slow Food has a seed bank where we try to save what our traditional ancestors were growing and eating.
Do you employ any of these traditional species in airBaltic menus?
Yes. We serve chickens from the only organic chicken farm left in Latvia, Laukuļi. These chickens are used for the main courses on airBaltic menus. The eggs from the farm are also used—airBaltic gets organic eggs for breakfast. So we are helping to keep this farm on its legs. The same is true for lambs: we use only local lamb. But it’s very difficult, because during the fifty years of Soviet rule a whole generation disappeared, traditions disappeared. We have to start to bring it back, because if you look at restaurant menus here, almost all of their products come from places like Poland, Thailand, and Holland. Very little is actually local.
Have there been any difficulties in your process of merging the Slow Food philosophy with airline food?
The difficult is that farmers are not used to delivering sixty kilograms of lamb in one shipment, or delivering eighty kilograms of tomatoes to the flight kitchen in one day. They are not used to that, but they are very excited. That’s why I say that it’s a long process; it’s going to take a few years before we get everything that we want for onboard catering at airBaltic.
What do airBaltic Business Class passengers have to look forward to in November?
I think we may be the only airline in the world to serve goose on the menu! Goose is a bird that grows very slowly. It is very flavorful, and is usually served only at special events—you don’t eat it every day. We will be serving goose for Martiņdiena [St. Martin’s Day, or Martinmas] and again at Christmas. The geese come from two farms—one is in Aizpute, near Liepeja, and the other one is on the road to Tervete. I was there last Tuesday. I know both of these farms, and have been working with one of them for many years. We get barley from them, wheat, and vegetables. Next year we are going to go to Latgale to get geese from there, too, because I need maybe sixty geese from these farmers at time. Nobody has been doing that! The goose in Latvia was becoming extinct, because there was a massive influx of them coming from Poland—frozen geese from Poland that had been in warehouse freezers for who knows how many years. They are dry as a bone—you might as well serve bones instead of goose. So airBaltic is helping to revive something as common as geese and even chickens back into our natural habitat.
You were recently at the Salone de Gusto gastronomical fair in Italy, where you brought some of your favorite Latvian products—birch juice, chicory coffee, dark bread—and showed them off to European distributors. Are there any plans to include these unique Latvian products in airBaltic’s menus?
Yes. We are working now on meadow tea—lauku teja. We are working to put them into bags, and have been experimenting for six months. I’d like to see meadow tea on the flights, rather than tea from the people who advertise on British television. It’s a specific thing. People know Earl Grey and pekoe tea, but we want to show them what’s grown here. Chicory coffee may be a little more difficult, because there is no caffeine and this is caffeine-free. But I put it in the desserts. We are working on how to put birch juice into bottles. There is commercial birch sap, but it’s very bad. I want the natural juice, where nothing has been adulterated and the life span isn’t something like two or three years.
Are there any other new products in the works for next season?
We’ve got the rotation in place now for the winter. But it’s difficult to do a presentation for airBaltic a few months before it goes into effect, because it’s not in season. So we have now been allowed to get closer to the date. Before, lots of airlines planned their menus a year ahead of schedule. But you can’t do that with seasonal produce; you have to wait for when it shows, and when it shows it goes out to the flight.
So airBaltic passengers are not only supporting local farmers and agriculture, but also enjoying seasonal produce that is absolutely fresh.
And you know that you aren’t eating any “E”s [preservatives]. It’s guaranteed that you won’t get any of the “E”s found in supermarket foods.
You mentioned that tomatoes and cucumbers are no longer offered in airBaltic’s Business Class menus because they are not in season. What seasonal products have replaced them?
Products like beetroot, cheeses, and pumpkin. It’s a challenge for me to find different ways to serve pumpkin. We have pumpkin panna grata, which is grilled slices of pumpkin with olive oil. We use olive oil in all of our foods; it’s healthier and doesn’t clog up your arteries. It’s much better for you than commercialized vegetable oils, which aren’t good for you—that’s guaranteed. Then we get local hard cheese, parsley, breadcrumbs, and garlic. We sprinkle that on top and roast it again, so it comes out very crispy. That’s just one recipe for serving pumpkin. We also serve berries like chokeberries, viburnum berries, and rowan berries, which grow in the wild over here.
What kind of cheeses do you use?
I use specifically one. There is lots of Latvian cheese, but lots of them are factory cheese, which aren’t very flavorful; they are quite bland. We use cheese specifically from one farmer in Latgale. He has twelve cows, and he does two cheese for the flights. One of them is Rušona cheese. It’s like a young virgin cheese, which is what I call it now. It’s a soft cheese. And from the same farm we have a local cheese that’s not a mozzarella but, rather, a Martinella. They named it after me—it’s an official registered trademark now: Martinella Cheese. It’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic. It’s made with organic milk, and they make it just for the restaurant and for airBaltic. It’s quite exclusive as well; you won’t find it in the shops. We also use a cream cheese made from goat’s milk on a farm in Madona. It’s pure, and there has been nothing added to it.
Today is St. Martin’s Day, and you will be serving goose on airBaltic flights. Are there any special traditions that people observe on Martin’s Day?
Martin’s Day is the day when all the farm jobs are finished. Traditionally it was the rooster whose head they chopped off. But when the Germans came in, the goose came into being. The tradition is that the goose is presented on the table just like the haggis is in Scotland. It’s a special event; it’s not an everyday thing. On the farms they eat goose, but city people usually don’t. City people eat goose only once a year, on Martin’s Day, so it’s a special event. People have a full house on that day, and it’s just as popular as Valentine’s Day here. It’s also our Halloween: you get dressed up and go from house to house. But that’s something that has disappeared, the traditional Martin’s Day ķekatas [a procession of mummers]. Martin’s Day is when all the farms jobs are finished, so the farmer gets to celebrate as well.
During upcoming days we will post mouth-watering photos of meals on airBaltic Business Class November menu. So, come back here soon, but only do so on full stomach :)
Tags: business class, catering
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