I had read a lot of this thread before my self-imposed ban on accessing eGullet to concentrate on work and get rid of my backlog. Not there yet but I've allowed myself a short visit this afternoon nonetheless.
And so to 'recipe boxes'. I note that a number of members have tried Blue Apron, that isn't available to us in the UK . The main players appear to be Hello Fresh and Gousto unless you live in the London area where choice multiplies significantly. I know that Hello Fresh is available in the US and Canada, Australia and some European countries. I'm assuming that Gousto is UK only on the basis of a quick glance through their website.
Each of the companies enrols customers to a subscription so you need to be proactive and cancel any weeks you don't want delivery. All of that is clearly stated across the websites but reading the customer comments on Trust Pilot and Facebook a lot of people overlook the requirement and so end up with fools they didn't want.
On joining Hello Fresh you receive three vouchers that you can pass to friends so they can claim a free introductory box. We received such a voucher from a friend and I am certain that we would not have tested the company otherwise. We gave out our own vouchers in turn, in fact we got five vouchers in all, the additional vouchers as compensation for a burst container of turmeric that had distributed itself across everything in it package.
We specified 3 meals for 2 people as the basis of our subscription (thinking we would be cancelling on receipt of the free stuff). We also said that we didn't want any fish or shellfish (has to be both). There is no opportunity to opt out of pork but you can register for vegetarian only meals. One chooses the meals one wants out of a range of around 8.
Hello Fresh does not allow choice of delivery day, it depends where you live so for us it is Tuesday. The box of food is very well insulated with recycled wool to keep meat etc sufficiently cold. We have now enjoyed 4 boxes and found only a couple of recipes that we didn't particularly like. We did eat them so they weren't that bad. My main concern is that the meat is not organic. Chicken is labelled 'High Welfare' but I don't know what that means.
We have found the recipes very straightforward, they take 30-40 minutes to prepare on average but much of that time is spent chopping! Servings ae not huge but they are sufficient for 2 adults who enjoy their food. We have enjoyed certain recipes enough to make them again. I wish they listed the ingredients to their spice mixes together with weights. I wrote to suggest that they allow customers to purchase additional spice mixes via the loyalty points that appear to be generously allocated. Unfortunately the only item in the reward range useful to us is a tea towel. I guess we might end up with a great many tea towels unless they expand the range.
Recipes we have cooked have included:
Cajun pork with bulgar wheat and garlicky spring greens - wonderful
Pan-fried Chicken with new potatoes green beans with garlic; tarragon sauce (ingredients provided to make sauce, not a 'heat and eat')
Toulouse Sausage Cassoulet - really good but either the plate in the photograph is from a dolls tea set or there has been a 'cut and shut' to extend the length of those pictured. Very nice none the less and we have repeated the recipe from scratch.
Chicken Shawarma with Dukkah Courgettes and Chickpeas - really good, especially the roasted spice covered courgettes. We didn't grow courgettes last year because we couldn't eat them fast enough to avoid waste the year before. With this recipe to hand we will grow one courgette plant. Again, I am annoyed that I haven't received a response to my request to buy the mixed spices or to obtain them via loyalty points.
Moroccan Steak with Lemon Couscous - they use Flank steak but we haven't had any difficulties with that. Other members complain that it is tough or similar. Personally I'm glad we have rediscovered the cut, we bought this for casseroles years ago when money was tight but we had got out of the habit of buying.
Mushroom & Panactta Gnocchi - I was dubious about this but I did try to keep an open mind when tasting. This is the only HF meal we haven't finished because we weren't enjoying it. The sauce was delicious and we will make that again to accompany perhaps new potatoes when Jersey Royals finally reach us. I found the gnocchi without any interest
Chicken Saltimbocca with butternut and garlicky beans. - Excellent, we have made two other variations and both were also good.
Iranian Lamb Stew - Great, will certainly make again
Steak Tagliata with rosemary roasted potatoes and a peppercorn sauce. Another hit, flank steak was again the star ingredient.
Content of Hello Fresh box - 3 meals for 2 people. Add items except meat, cheese, cream etc are packed together in the brow n bags. Labels colour code to recipe care.
Gousto box arrived this morning so nothing has been tried as yet. The chilled items were in a recycled wool package and accompanying ice blocks had not even started to melt.
As you can see Gousto had packed 'refrigerator' items in an insulated bag but the rest of the stuff was mixed together for the buyer to sort out.
Having done my sorting I packed the ingredients for each recipe into a different bag so that they will be easily accessible on the day we decide to cook them. I suppose the one advantage of this is that checking all of the ingredients on arrival will show any omissions. A friend didn't realise that he was missing something until he was ready to cook his dinner. Fortunately Hello Fresh refunded him for the price of that entire recipe.
The photo above shows the ingredients for a chilli type meal that we plan to dine on tonight. The wooden spoon was a free gift. There was little written information in the box, certainly there was no evidence of free boxes for friends (even 1 free box would have been nice to pass on. All but 1 of the people we gave our Hello Fresh vouchers to has gone on to buy their own membership. The fifth person plans to do the same but his daughter is dangerously unwell so his mind is elsewhere for the moment.
On a basis of our experiences to date I would recommend Hello Fresh while making sure that the automatic subscription is made clear to the recipient of the advice. I haven't cooked a Gousto meal yet so please accept this as a view based only on delivery, unpacking and condition of the goods once separated from the box.
If anyone is interested I will report further after trying the Gousto meals. I also plan to try Simply Cook, a company that puts together aromatics etc to support a recipe provided. I don't know which countries it serves but it seems to be another subscription offer. A friend tried the company and was pleased with the results.
We have found the Hello Fresh support team extremely helpful and responsive.This makes a big difference especially as we live in a rural area.
I am rarely certain where in the forum a post should be entered, I hope I have got it right this time but of course I will remove anything deemed off topic or inappropriate.
