Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
Jeff Mauro won the seventh season of the Food Network Star competition and his career has taken off from there. I’ve met Jeff many times and always get a kick out of his humor, warmth, and food. He has collaborated with United Airlines for several buy-on-board sandwiches. I’ve tried a few including the Chicago Bagel Breakfast Melt (review here). His latest is the Chicago Patty Melt and it looks pretty darn good (better than what I’ve been served in Polaris®). Jeff is humble and approachable. When his latest creation for United’s Bistro on Board menu was being discussed on Reddit, he jumped in with a behind-the-scenes AMA.
Mauro described the new Patty Melt as one of his favorite sandwiches ever and said he’s especially proud to bring it to the skies. The sandwich starts with a Certified Angus Beef pub burger, seasoned with Mauro Provisions’ signature Black Powder rub, then topped with mild craft giardiniera, caramelized onions, and American cheese, all served on marbled rye bread.
Developing an airline meal, however, isn’t as simple as making a great sandwich on the ground. Mauro explained that he works with a long-established, family-owned airline catering company based near Chicago, where the kitchens are equipped with replica aircraft ovens to simulate the onboard cooking process. Because taste buds can be affected at altitude, recipes typically require a 10 to 12% increase in seasoning (particularly salt and spices) to ensure the flavors stand out in flight.
He also highlighted the logistical challenges of airline catering. Every sandwich is flash-frozen, shipped to distribution centers, thawed about 24 hours before departure, and ultimately heated onboard by flight attendants. While variations in heating can occasionally affect the final product, Mauro said he’s personally eaten at least a dozen of his sandwiches during flights and has only encountered one disappointing serving, which he believes was due to a production issue.
As a Chicago native and frequent United flyer, Mauro said seeing his name on the airline’s menu never gets old. When asked why he chose American cheese instead of Swiss (a traditional Patty Melt ingredient), Mauro had a practical answer. While he admits Swiss has its fans, he prefers American cheese because it melts more consistently throughout the airline catering process to help ensure passengers receive the best possible sandwich at 35,000 feet.
Anthony’s Take: The Patty Melt is Mauro’s fourth sandwich to join United’s Bistro on Board lineup and is now available on eligible flights across the airline’s network (over 1,190 miles when pre-ordered). I’m going to need to try this one.
(Image Credits: Jeff Mauro and United Airlines.)
User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
