24left

Regular meals
First as for salad dressing, it comes in a little bottle. It is a simple balsamic vinaigrette, although a bit on the peppery side.
For the various main dishes I've had (beef, fish, chicken & pasta), none had visible garlic, but either garlic or powder could have been used in the sauces or side veg.

For special meals
You might want to also ask the AC reps. Years ago, one was able to get the actual menu for any of the special meals. Now, the agents do not have them, but the types are listed on AC's website.

You cannot ask for no garlic in a meal. AC does not prepare them.

To be safe, you can do 2 things: make sure they take some of their own snacks onboard. I know pax with allergies who do this.
You can still also order a special meal but stick with something safe, perhaps low salt or lacto-ovo. I would not choose vegetarian as my experience form LHR is the meal I received was Indian curry and I can't eat curry.

Other members here might have additional suggestions.

Stranger

Peppery? I never noticed.

Incidentally, the current (Spanish) one is made of olive oil and vinegar, while the previous (French) one, A l'Olivier, included some other oil. Pure olive should be better obviously. However one side effect: having been kept at low temperature, it more often than not gets served somewhat frozen. Which did not happen with the older one.

24left

Yes, peppery. Brought one home for a family member in the food biz and he agreed. We have a collection of evoo's - some are fruity, some are light, some are peppery, some are best for drizzle and salads, others can be used for cooking. As I'm often reminded, the evoo biz has evolved to be like wine, with tastings and pairings and so on.

And yes, neither of us are expecting this kind of quality while flying (although we all know there are excellent exceptions), but just an opinion - we preferred the previous dressing.

Still, it was just info for the OP who was asking about meals for parents with food sensitivities.

yrp

Thanks 24Left. I hadn't seen any special meal that looked appropriate. She has done a fair bit of travelling recently, normally brings along snacks/food. Just wondered if there were more options in business -- seems a shame to miss out on the meal.

24left

yrp, hi
Based on my TATL and TPAC AC Biz Class experiences, and looking at some of the menus I saved, there are usually 4 dinner choices as I noted in my original reply to you.
In addition, your mom can order one of the many special meals (examples are Hindu, Muslim, Kosher, Pure Veg, Diabetic, Lacto-Ovo Veg, Low Sodium etc)

There are no custom meals, which is why even I carry a back-up (sometimes, my preferred choice of meal is no longer available by the time they get to my pod).

ACYYZ/SD

Our catering reports do not indicate the actual spices used in the food beyond the menu description of the meal (e.g - Curried Chicken). J/C meal standards have recently changed on long-haul/ultra long-haul flight, however YYZ-LHR entrees are pre-plated. The only assurance of having a spice-free/garlic-free meal is to order a FPML (Fruit Platter) or BLML (Bland Meal). Salad dressing is served on the side.

yrp

Thanks! I'll suggest that to her.

riotrainer

Just flew AC 846 to MUC and service was as described

ACYYZ/SD

Bear in mind that any offerings from the regular menu (plated appetizer, dessert, cheese) can augment any special meal offering where available.

Airbus340

Is there a choice of appetizer now? Would love to see a non seafood choice there. The smoked salmon etc doesn't appeal to everyone. I recall there were choices back in the day and served from a trolley. Flying to LHR soon and will post feedback

24left

+1 sort of

On one YYZ-TLV, the smoked salmon was outstanding, both in taste and presentation (the little bit of dilled cream cheese (?) was very nice, but flying with onions is not great, so we all pushed the chopped onion aside.

Sadly, the subsequent flight, the appetizer was some weird fig thing with some kind of deli meat, which I would not eat. I asked the SD how that went and he said no one touched it. Back to the drawing board.

I think it is really hard to offer something that will work for everyone, but it would be great if there was at least a choice of 2 different appetizers.

Airbus340

British Airways seems to do this well in Club. I have had some amazing veg choices for appetizers.

Would like to see a new salad dressing too on AC or a choice. That balsamic vinaigrette is getting tired!

superangrypenguin

Wow, you guys are still using balsamic vinaigrette? What I do is I take a lysol wipe to clean down my seat in J, and then I squeeze the juices onto the salad. Works wonderful, and tastes DELISH.

24left

+1

See my comments upthread (I don't like it because it's peppery and you are right, it's tired)

Stranger

I like it as it is.