Blue Apron - Looking for Help in Working on Ethnic Dishes Rooted in Backstories

[Anthemoney]

Hi All,

 

I'm working on a Blue Apron (meal kits) for ethnic dishes rooted in food stories by people who have had them. I'd also like to add a culture component such as regional facts, postcard-like photos and a Spotify playlist. In my own experience, I've always had a hard time finding authentic, tasty food and usually have had to rely on people I trust to guide me.

 

I'd love to learn more about how you all go about cooking and eating ethnic foods, and what you love and hate about the process. Feel free to let me know what you think and let me know if any of this is interesting. Thanks!

 

Best,

An

 

Edited February 5, 2016 by Anthemoney (log)

[Deryn]

You have a lot of reading to do, Anthemoney. EGullet is full of what you seem to want to know because people from around the world have been talking about their ethnic food loves and travels and recipes for years here!  I don't want to sound rude but there is a load of material here on this site already - waiting for you to find it. I may be wrong (someone will correct me if that is the case) but I am not sure most of us want to regurgitate a lot of it in this thread for what sounds like a commercial concern - that would be making us do the work for you, wouldn't it?  That said, welcome aboard and I wish you well.

[Anthemoney]

Thanks Deryn! Sorry to bother everyone regarding the cooking question. I'll comb through the threads to learn more about everyone's ethnic food preferences. 

 

I'd be curious, though, whether others on this forum would be interested receiving the culture aspect (e.g. food stories from chefs and other foodies, facts about the dish and region, etc.). If this type of question doesn't make sense for EGullet, I really apologize and please disregard this message.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Anthemoney (log)

[Smithy]

Oh, I think a lot of the members here enjoy reading the cultural aspects of food.  I personally am one who enjoys cookbooks as much for the associated stories as for the recipes themselves.  Is that what you mean?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

@Anthemoney I suggest you start by reading the dinner threads (in the Cooking forum) going back several years.  If you are more interested in a specific cuisine peruse the Regional Cuisine forums.

 

Of course the cultural aspect of food is interesting to us.  Fascinating to me, anyhow.

[heidih]

52 minutes ago, Anthemoney said:

I'd be curious, though, whether others on this forum would be interested receiving the culture aspect (e.g. food stories from chefs and other foodies, facts about the dish and region, etc.). If this type of question doesn't make sense for EGullet, I really apologize and please disregard this message.

 

I think most blogs and sites that do this regularly (and there are loads and loads) tell  real story along with a recipe What you linked was jokey - a Vietnamese person being shocked by Korean bbq - makes no sense.  Seems you don't have the background and are reinventing something already all over the net.

[huiray]

54 minutes ago, Anthemoney said:

...to learn more about everyone's ethnic food preferences...

 

That implies that you think most folks do think of food other than the "standard stuff" (what is that, please?) to be "ethnic".

 

 

55 minutes ago, Anthemoney said:

I'd be curious, though, whether others on this forum would be interested receiving the culture aspect (e.g. food stories from chefs and other foodies, facts about the dish and region, etc.).

 

That means you think "culture aspects" of the food is outside of the usual experience of folks you are acquainted with, or that you expect to be the folks here on eG. I would suggest that is not true, and I would also suggest that you examine what *seems* to be your preconceptions. Is there any notions about Western European food that you might have in mind as "The Norm"?

[Deryn]

Anthemoney - I too love to know as much as I can about the foods people enjoy in all parts of the world, including regional differences even in countries whose food is familiar to me - and the reasons why those foods are prevalent and passed down over the years. I am glad my first reply didn't put you off completely (it wasn't meant to). I didn't mean to suggest that you go away or that your efforts here would be fruitless but merely that it would seem a monumental task to ask us to generally provide that kind of background in a nutshell in a single thread.

 

Perhaps a bit more 'direction' from you would help. Maybe if you asked more specific questions about a particular culture or style of cooking or dish, some will be able to give you some background or point you to past posts that they think might be useful to you. I might recommend, though I am not sure it would be completely relevant to any particular dish/kit you want to provide background for, Luizhou's very fascinating Dong Art thread for instance (not to mention many others he has written which have given us all a lot of insight into Asian cooking, etc.).

[blue_dolphin]

7 hours ago, Anthemoney said:

...

I'd love to learn more about how you all go about cooking and eating ethnic foods, and what you love and hate about the process.....

 

 

If I was using a Blue Apron-like service to provide ingredients and recipes for ethnic dishes and received a "culture card" like the example, which seems very shallow and uninformative, I would really question the value of the entire service from the authenticity of the recipe to the quality of the ingredients. 

 

I think the general concept you describe is interesting.  It can be daunting (although also part of the fun) to shop for and invest in many unfamiliar ingredients needed when cooking a new ethnic cuisine for the first time so getting just the amounts needed, presumably selected by someone knowledgeable in that area would be a plus.  Including some background cultural info would appeal to me as well.  As heidih pointed out, such information is readily available on the Internet, so I think it would have to be very well researched and presented if it is going to add value.  Something like the example you provided would only cheapen the product, in my opinion.

 

I interpreted the section I quoted above as asking how we have gone about preparing meals from cultures other than our own, presumably involving unfamiliar foods and ingredients.  If that is the case, I think it's a fair question.  I've been lucky to have had friends who invited me into their homes, fed me, taught me and helped me find supplies and equipment.  I admire the fearlessness of others here who embark on a study of books and Internet research and begin to cook dishes from cuisines they have never actually seen or tasted.  It can be quite an undertaking and I can see why someone might want to try something like a Blue Apron kit to dabble in an unfamiliar cuisine before diving in on their own.  

 

 

[Anthemoney]

I've removed the demo culture card as it is not good enough yet.

[Lisa Shock]

There are also copyright issues involved with using people's stories. Just because a work is online does not make it copyright free.

 

Sounds to me like your employer is trying to get away with not hiring real food consultants by going on an online fishing expedition.

[Deryn]

It seems to me that Blue Apron has a target audience already - because apparently you are making some sales. And further it seems that the kind of information you are seeking might best be sourced from your actual customers - at least initially. I would hazard a guess that most people here are not your customers, nor very likely to be in future - because many of us already know how to cook, love to experiment with cooking, collect cookbooks and cooking paraphernalia, are good at improvising in the kitchen and read about/do our best to learn about cuisines around the world on an ongoing basis. Many of us are fearless when it comes to food and kitchens, and our larders are packed with ingredients from cuisines around the world.

 

Most of us here probably don't want to be coddled as we prep a meal ... we want to explore on our own. If we don't know how to make something or can't quite imagine how something might taste, we often come here as a start to an extensive research project that will show us what is possible for us to achieve in our own homes or what we may like or not like. Or we just try it and sometimes report our successes or failures for others to read about and learn from.

 

We may mail order for individual ingredients that are difficult to source locally if need be but (at least in my house) the more the better - I don't want to not have leftovers to use in a different way as my whims dictate. For me, sometimes the chase for exotic ingredients is as much fun as the final use of same. If you send me a teaspoon of dried oregano, I will feel cheated, not thrilled that I have nothing to store or throw out. I want those extra celery tops to throw in tomorrow's soup with the left over chicken bones. I want some extra saffron, a pile of thai peppers, much more of that forbidden rice than you sent that was exactly measured at 1/2 cup per person so tomorrow I can invent my own dinner from the leftovers.

 

Who do you see as your customer base? Young, urban professionals with little time to cook or shop and/or who are bored with MickeyDs or even the local Asian restaurant offerings? College students (well, the rich ones anyway), bachelors and bachelorettes wanting to host a 'home made' dinner party in their first tiny, ill equipped apartments to impress their friends or family? I know that I have seen ads showing wives and husbands happily making these pre-measured meals in their designer kitchens together (family bonding time!) while the children play quietly in the family room beside them - but are those double income, young parents really most of your customers or do they usually just grab a pizza on the way home from a stressful work day? Have you broken into the market of elderly widowers who have just lost their wives and are just now trying to learn to cook for themselves? I think it more realistic that the first example or two that I listed are (and will always be) your real market - and they are the ones you should be talking to.

 

I am just not sure that we are the demographic you should be talking to for answers to your questions, though I know, if you have specific things you want to know about once you have narrowed your topics, there is a lot of material here that can be used to flesh out whatever it is when you know what it is you want to know from us.

 

I suggest you monitor carefully what kinds of dinners your own customers are actually buying from you and then ask them what THEY would like to cook but find difficult to try for whatever their reasons are. And find out those reasons - a tagine is not necessary to cook Moroccan dishes but they may not know that or they may want to buy a tagine for authenticity or table decoration purposes. What cuisines do they see as exotic? Have they always wanted to try a nut and bug based dish they have never heard about from darkest Africa? Or do they just want a decent version of Pad Thai - a name they are already familiar with but which has as many recipes as there are families in Thailand. Or do they just want to try a particular regional (US) dish they have never tried but which is full of familiar ingredients - a knock off perhaps of one done in a famous restaurant or area - but can't figure out how to do it in a small NYC apartment or don't want to spend a fortune and then find out they hate it?

 

I think you think you know what it is you are trying to do/what you are seeking here - but I am not sure it is what you need. Perhaps you should rethink this a bit and then come back again with more specific questions.

[Anthemoney]

Thanks so much Deryn! I actually do not have customers as of yet and am still exploring possible fits. I mentioned Blue Apron as I may try to build something somewhat similar but wanted to see whether my ideas make sense. 

 

And you're very much right regarding the customer base. I'll try to reach to those who are more new to cooking and certain foods and perhaps want to learn. Thanks again for your considered and detailed thoughts!

[LindaK]

Anthemoney,

You should read through the many week-long food blogs that eGullet has hosted.  Lots of insight into how members from various culinary cultures cook at home.  Plus the many questions/comments they get will certainly tell you something about what others want to know about the cooking and the culture.

 

Index and links here.

 

good luck!

[Anthemoney]

Oh, wow. That's a great resource. Thanks Linda!

[heidih]

As to a Blue Apron model- the folks I know using it or contemplating it have no interest in learning how to cook and that whole back story thing would be of little interest. They are educated professionals with no free time. . They are looking for nutritious fresh meals they can assemble after work, kid activities and the like.  The other group are the elderly whose kids see this as a way for the old people (I say that with a smile) to avoid complicated shopping but still have a fresh meal and a little cooking play time.

[gfron1]

My thought after reading through this - good for you Anthemoney for hanging in there. Its always hard to enter an established community. We do welcome folks into the forum every single day, but once we know that someone is going to be making money off of our knowledge, and they haven't invested in the community's knowledge base (take, not give), then we get a bit touchy.

 

I want to point out a small version of a model that might be of interest. I don't know that your target market is interested in reading a story or essay - the whole point is convenience right? Askinosie choclates offers just a brief snippet of info that makes the chocolate more interesting. I could see you sending a bibimbop package with a "trading card" of either someone important to the origins of the dish, or maybe a daily Korean working person who might eat it and a short quote about what it means to them...tied to a website with more info for people who actually want to take the time to learn more. 

 

As to reading these forums - they're too big to just jump in. Instead of the dinner forum suggested above, I would go into the regional cuisines where it will be more digestable. Maybe the Pad Thai topic, or Ethiopian. Lots of info, but less overwhelming.

Edited February 6, 2016 by gfron1 (log)

[Anthemoney]

Thanks for your encouraging words, gfron1. I see what you I mean about being a taker and hopefully can counter that a bit - I just discovered the Beautiful Cookbooks series. You all perhaps have already heard or gone through them, but the series is new to me and seems like a good resource.

 

Askinosie is a cool shop with an impressive background information section. And a trading card sounds fun. I'm inspired by Humans of New York and will see whether I can create a food version of that. 

 

There's certainly a ton of information here and regional threads sound a like a good place to start. I'm taking it in slowly.

[Tere]

I read this thread and I keep thinking of what Steirereck in Vienna did when we visited a few years ago https://www.steirereck.at/en/restaurant/.

 

With each dish a little card came talking about the food provenance and inspiration. It also had a number which related to when the dish was created which I wouldn't think you would need. It was a bit over the size of a business card but definitely added something to that experience. 

 

I wouldn't think you would want to overwhelm people with information (if they are truly interested they can internet) but a starting point might be good?

 

I also recommend the food blogs, that's a really good suggestion.

[Anthemoney]

Hey Tere, glad you liked that educational experience. I think I may reach to some food bloggers and see if there's any way to collaborate.

 

And I agree with gfron1 and heidih that being as easy as possible is the biggest key.

[huiray]

On 2/6/2016 at 7:56 PM, heidih said:

As to a Blue Apron model- the folks I know using it or contemplating it have no interest in learning how to cook and that whole back story thing would be of little interest. They are educated professionals with no free time. . They are looking for nutritious fresh meals they can assemble after work, kid activities and the like.

Also like with plated dot com. In fact, their Chicago Tribune-sponsored promotion (I'm not going to post that here) places all their emphasis on busy young folks (the underlying suggestion is professional-types) using as the lede-in blurb that you are running late midweek, you pop into the supermarket and grab stuff and then botch dinner with a burnt and tasteless meal. Hey, leave it to them to deliver to you (for a price, of course) preplanned wunnerful meals crafted by chefs etc which you assemble and cook easy-peasy following the instructions. And so on. Much like Blue Apron.  On plated dot com's website they have a picture of "Our Team" in which out of 88 folks pictured on that page to me maybe a handful are over the age of 40 and those are all high-level people (and maybe the co-founder). I would peg most of them to be mid-20's to early-30's.

Edited February 8, 2016 by huiray (log)