My expectations were not high for the Ropa Vieja enchiladas on United Airlines, but it turned out they were quite good and will be my go-to dish going forward on domestic flights.
Taste Test: Ropa Vieja Enchiladas On United Airlines
Ropa Vieja is a Latin (some might argue Cuban) dish made with shredded beef cooked with onions, peppers, olives, tomato sauce, and spices like cumin and oregano. This particularly dish was thought to originate in Spain, but appears in cuisine throughout the Latin world and in the Philippines. It is known as the Cuban national dish.
On a recent United Airlines flight, one of the pre-order choices was:
Ropa Vieja Beef Enchiladas
Shredded beef enchiladas served with a flavorful sauce
As someone who loves beef and loves enchiladas, the choice for dinner was very easy.
The meal tray included a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, a bread roll, blueberry cake, and two enchiladas served over rice and topped with corn and a verde (green) sauce.
I may be very easy to please when it comes to airplane meals, but the enchiladas were very good…the sort of comfort food I would eat on the ground. I suspect that most Abuelas can make much better Ropa Vieja from scratch (feel free to send some my way…), but this gringo found the dish very satisfying.
My Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago.
Sounds like a perfect airline dish: reasonably simple, flavorful, reheats well, and not too pricey. Put all that together and there’s a pretty strong incentive to make one that works well on an airplane.
Had this on a recent flight back from PVR.
Honestly thought I’d had my fill of Mexican dishes but the other choices did not sound at all appealing.
Took a chance and was pleasantly surprised!
Now if only they had served it with a flight of excellent Tequila pairings.
Looks lole this is at the top of your “Looks bad but actually tasted good” list.
Nocella on food improvements
https://youtu.be/dpxKLwV83Oo?si=lXmyO5UccWvC_dMf&t=1095
Had this in September and was very happy with it. Best domestic first class meal I’d had in a long time. I second it being a go to dish.
Looks like a shortcut to the lavatory.
Keep it simple, UAL……Crew and pax will be happy on each flt.
As long as it’s not that God-awful Indian food they kept trying to force on pax pre-COVID