In the past I have been disappointed by the poor quality of airline food. Much of it is indigestible, and frequently, it is unrecognizable as well. I now think that I was taking airline meals far too literally. It occurred to me, on my most recent trip, that my dissatisfaction stemmed from the expectation of actual food. When, really, eating on a plane is much more abstract than that. I believe the items you are served are intended only to evoke a nostalgic sense of foods you have previously experienced. To illustrate, I will describe a performance of "Breakfast" which I attended on a recent flight:

The initial movement consisted of a yellow, orange, and brown disk about the size of a hockey puck, but crumbly, with an elastic top surface which served to hold the item together. This was, I believe, intended to represent scrambled eggs, while the orange topping could be interpreted as cheese. This was accompanied by a diamond shaped brownish wafer which bore a subtle resemblance to some substance I had encountered in my youth. However, even after considerable reflection, I couldn't place it. The passenger next to me suggested "hash browns" as a possibility, but I couldn't see any connection. I'm not even sure that what I remembered was food. There were other items involved in the experience: a small container of thick fluid which evoked in me a strong sense of yogurt; some light green chunks that, in appearance, and texture, strongly reminded me of honeydew melon; an item that was clearly intended to suggest a muffin and a small container of a thick substance that you might mistake for a speadable condiment, but which shared more attributes with boot polish - admittedly for a light yellow boot.

When interpreting such a production, remember that this is a limited metaphor, and that resemblance can not be safely stretched to other characteristics - taste, for example. The pleasant pursuit of calling up cherished memories of quality eating experiences of the past is a tricky and delicate matter that can be easily spoiled by an ill-considered act such as unintentional consumption of the product.