Welcome to the dawn of the intelligent, well-read home chef. A cook that wants to experiment with different cuisines, innovative dishes, and newer concepts in today’s fast paced age. Which explains why gourmet recipe kits have flooded the market today, each one offering different dishes, but demonstrating the same underlying concept of empowering the home chef.
What is a DIY gourmet recipe kit? A box that contains the exact measured ingredients, a step-by-step recipe, that helps you create a restaurant quality dish at home. It completely eliminates the hassle of scouting for recipes, narrowing down ingredients, purchasing those ingredients from your nearest market – your personal shopper cum cooking teacher – all packed in one box. Having reviewed and ordered from a number of companies that provide this service – I must say I am hooked! It works perfectly for a career woman like me, who loves cooking but somewhere falls short of the time to do so.
I recently got to try the Burgundy Box , another DIY meal kit that recently hit the market. They sent over a Chettinad Egg curry kit that I whipped up. What really excited me about this one was that the recipes were curated and created by Chef Ajay Chopra, who believes that ‘AnyBody Can Cook’. The Burgundy Box experience was lovely in every way – an exciting recipe, easy to follow directions, excellent quality ingredients and a delicious end product. Here are five reasons why you should consider ordering from the Burgundy Box. And why I most definitely will order again.
1. The Perfect Package
I really loved the gorgeous, ‘burgundy box’ that was brought home, containing all the ingredients meticulously and individually packed. Small points such as the oil being packed in a spill proof bottle, the vegetables coming in a zip lock bag showed the amount of thought that went into the packing and transport of the ingredients. What I loved was that each individual ingredient was named and numbered, makes it all so easy for the beginner cook.
2. Quality and Quantity
I personally loved the freshness of all the ingredients – everything from the chettinad masala, to the boiled eggs felt and smelt fresh. Also the quantity of all the ingredients were pre-measured perfectly, so the hassle of measuring ingredients is thrown right out of the window.
3. Ease of Cooking
The box said 18-20 minutes of cooking time, and honestly that was all the time it took. The eggs came pre-boiled, the coriander was cleant, the garlic was perfectly julienned – it leaves you with very little, or almost no prep to do.
4. MasterChef Worthy Dishes
The recipes are created by Chef Ajay Chopra, who requires no introduction here. That is clearly demonstrated in the choice of dishes on the website, and the intricacies in the recipe.
5. On The Side
Imagine I’ve whipped up this delicious looking egg curry, but don’t have rotis or rice to eat it with. The Burgundy Box took care of that too, and sent some parathas on the side to mop up the curry. The other boxes also have parathas or crostinis on the side, depending on what you order, ensuring you dig into a complete meal once you are done cooking.
I see this concept picking up in metros, especially among the younger, working lot – where one wants to have a home cooked meal but does not want the hassle that comes with it. For someone who is an intermediate or an experienced cook, the concept of gourmet DIY boxes may work for the novelty factor, but may not be something you would fall back to everyday. With a rotating menu, and tons of options, I see myself ordering one of these boxes once a month. On the days I am dog tired and do not want to slave over the stove.
Check out Burgundy Box on their website www.burgundybox.in
(The author was sent over a complimentary Burgundy Box to review. The views are unbiased, and completely her own).
