Happiness is homemade. This is true. If lockdown has taught us one thing, it is to fall in love with our own cooking all over again. No more excuses of not having the time to make your own soup or bake your own bread.
The best of both worlds is having homemade meals cooked by someone else delivered to your home during lockdown. It’s also a saving grace for those who love hearty food, but can’t fry an egg to save their life.
The idea of devouring comfort food in the comfort of your home without the hassle of preparing it from scratch, sounds really appealing. It’s also as easy as click, click, pay, heat and eat.
The Kitchen Collective is known for hosting interactive cooking classes and offering studio space. It’s possibly the most amount of fun you can have cooking, while learning new techniques and methods. We highly recommend it as a team-building (in the future) or as a re-socialising experience because we are in desperate need of one of those.
They’ve had to reimagine their offering and have started an initiative to bring a range of mouth-watering favourites right to your doorstep. The most versatile aspect is that you can order a few options and keep them frozen until you are ready to thaw and eat.
“We are making hearty, home-cooked meals for you to freeze so you can eat well and eat healthily, without having to spend hours in the kitchen. Our meals are lovingly chosen and prepared using top quality ingredients and conveniently frozen into various portion sizes for you to choose from. The shops are a stressful place right now- excessively long queues, minimal ingredients on the shelves and the risk and stress of contagion,” says Kitchen Collective.
You can choose from a range of tried-and-tested recipes ranging from chicken, fish, beef or vegetarian dishes and sides.
I opted for the lasagne, because who doesn’t absolutely need a slice of neatly stacked meat and pasta, drenched in a creamy white sauce and cheese in their life right now? My second choice was truffle mushroom risotto. If you add the word truffle to mushroom, I am going to order it regardless.
The menu offering is versatile, you can choose between a meal for two, four or family-size. The meals were delivered on the same day they were ordered, adhering to strict lockdown protocol. The instructions are very simple to follow, thaw the meal on the day you would like to eat it, then heat through in an oven and serve.
If you love pasta, the lasagne is definitely for you. The portion for four was more than plenty for a family of four, even with seconds. When your kids lick their plates clean, that’s one of two indicators. Firstly the food was outrageously good, and secondly they are sick of my cooking. Who could blame them?
The meals, although frozen, have retained all the ingredient’s integrity. The mince was moist, flavourful and delicious, and the lasagne sheets were cooked through perfectly. I truly appreciated digging into the meal, knowing I was spared from creating all those components by myself. I prepared a quick salad to pair with the lasagne and it was a healthier option than greasy takeout.
Two days later, I thawed out the truffle mushroom risotto and reheated in the oven. It was decadent, fragrant, and every bit as truffle-delicious as I hoped it would be. The major drawcard is the lush amount of mushrooms in this dish which made it that much more meaty.
Options range from curries to The Best, Extra-Buttery Butter Chicken Curry to Classic French Beef Bourgignon. The meals are priced very reasonably and are dependent on portion size. The convenience and taste is worth every penny you pay. Orders over R400 are delivered for free.
How to order
- They live on Uber Eats.
- You can order and pay directly on the website www.thekitchencollective.co.za/meals, with free contactless delivery on all deliveries over R400. Delivery to Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Pictures: Nidha Narrandes & supplied