I have
to admit that when I receive emails asking me to do reviews I
normally tend to pass on them because the product just doesn't appeal
to me, but when I received an email telling my about a new venture
called ChefButler I was genuinely excited.
ChefButler is a new company based in Toronto that provides a monthly
subscription box featuring, you guessed it, food! But it's not just
any old food, it is a specially designed 3 course meal for 4 people
centered around a specific theme that changes from month to month.
Included in the box are all of the pantry ingredients required to
make the dishes, along with recipe cards, a shopping list for your
fresh produce, a game plan to make sure everything runs smoothly and
a few fun facts about the meal and cuisine. As mentioned the themes
vary but what I really liked about the sound of this product was that
the goal of the company is to provide you with hard-to-find
ingredients that you generally can't source from your local
supermarket and therefore enable you to make meals in the comfort of
your own home that you perhaps wouldn't generally get the opportunity
to try. Any spices that are included are freshly ground right before
they are sealed and sent to you to ensure you get maximum flavour.
To be
honest I have seen similar concepts before (where you get the
measured out spices for 1 meal), however they have generally always
focused on Indian Curries so I love the idea here that it is for a
wide variety of cuisines. Thankfully though Indian is on the list
because I do love a good curry!
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| My lovely Silver Box of Delights! |
I was
absolutely delighted to receive my box which came courtesy of a
courier company directly to my door! After opening the initial
packaging I was delighted to discover a beautiful silver box inside
containing all of the ingredients I needed for a Jamaican meal.
Aesthetics wise it is certainly beautifully packaged and presented
and for that reason alone it would make a wonderful gift idea. Upon
opening my box which felt like unlocking a treasure chest full of
wonderful delights, I was instantly met with a fantastic aroma of
allspice – an essential Jamaican ingredient! At the top was an
envelope inscribed with November on it and inside was my promised
recipe cards and instructions, shopping list and a welcome note with
all the essential information and a game plan.
 |
| A Foodie Treasure Trove! |
The
recipes are clearly printed on little cards that are colour coded to
match the ingredients that go with that particular recipe (since
there are some duplicates of ingredients for the different courses) -
they really have thought of everything! So looks and presentation
gets top marks but what about the actual recipes? After-all there is
no point in having a monthly subscription if the recipes don't
deliver.....
