Struth! There’s no sataying some people

IN his continuing search for the more weird, wacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says that on a recent flight with Malaysia Airlines from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, a passenger near him complained to the flight attendants that “he had paid a lot of money to fly Business Class, and did not expect to have to eat with his fingers.”

When it was explained to him what the snack was, he still demanded that it be re-presented to him “the right way” –   with a knife and fork.

The attendants returned with his request, but politely pointed out that  “it as a traditional Malay dish, satay is always served on small wooden skewers and eaten with the fingers.”

The passenger remained unimpressed, but David says Malaysia Airlines obviously pleases its other regular “front end” guests: it serves an amazing 20,000 a day of its famous little satay sticks in Business Class on flights world-wide, using its own recipes for beef and chicken marinated in shallots, turmeric, garlic, galangal and lemongrass, char-grilling and basting them over mangrove wood charcoal in their ground kitchens before treating them to a smothering of spicy crushed peanut sauce – and serving with a side of refreshing cucumber, onion and a cube of rice cake.

And yes, for it’s bands of loyal followers in Business Class, the airline invariably has enough of its satay appetisers on board for seconds. (No need to guess who put his hand up for those seconds!)