India, Aug. 3 -- The readers of Travel + Leisure Asia spend plenty of time in the sky, and many are familiar with the fact that certain foods can taste completely different at altitudes. It's part of the reason why airplane meals have a less-than-stellar reputation, or conversely, why ginger ale or that can of tomato juice suddenly becomes your in-flight drink of choice.

As it turns out, the shift in taste isn't entirely the airlines' fault. When you're sealed inside a metal tube cruising miles above the Earth, your senses behave differently - and you're not alone in noticing it. I recently spoke with airline culinary teams and food scientists to dig a little deeper into why food tastes so different in the air.

From specialised check-in...