Last week was the launch of My Food Bag, with much hoot and holler on social media and the press. Backed by business heavyweight Theresa Gattung (ex Telecom CEO), serial entrepreneur Cecilia Robinson and Masterchef's Nadia Lim being the face of the business it sure packs some business punch already.
The idea is simple: depending on which bag you choose, every week or fortnight My Food Bag will deliver you ingredients and recipes for four or five dinners the next week.
The Classic Bag ($179) will feed four or five people for five meals (around $8.95 per person per meal) and the Gourmet Bag ($139) will feed two people for four meals (around $17.40 per person per meal).
What you get
I love it that all meat is free range but would like to see if they can make the fruit and vege organic too where possible. The difference between the Classic and Gourmet bags, aside from the number of meals it makes and mouths it feeds, is that the Gourmet bag is more artisanal. The Gourmet bag this week included goodies like a bottle of balsamic glaze, capers, Paneton sour dough and The Village Press harissa and tapenade. I would love to see what the Classic Bag contains to compare, so if you have a photo, please let me know on Facebook, Twitter or email.
The quality of the goods is very good. All of the fruit and veges are nice and fresh and the meat is vacuum packed so it will last the week. I had two little niggles from this week's bag however, the harissa paste leaked a little and the meat juices also leaked a little... not sure how this was possible with them being vac-packed? The other niggle was that the truss tomatoes and lemons weren't ripe enough. The tomatoes arrived in what I would call 'just red' condition and weren't ripe enough to use on the days that Nadia suggested (the first two days). Instead I've used tomatoes from my garden and I think the supplied tomatoes will be ripe enough to use by the weekend - a week after delivery. And the lemons... well bought lemons never seem ripe enough in my opinion.
Apart from these two little things, so far so good. I'll post what leftover ingredients I have at the end of my trial, I suspect I'll have a few goodies left in the fridge.
Day one - baked fish and fennel with salsa cruda and olive butter toasts
Monday night is my yoga night, so rather than having dinner at 4.30pm, I hit the kitchen at 8pm (hence the poor lighting in the photo, sorry).
Prep and cooking - The recipe was easy to prepare and I was surprised that it took bang-on 30 minutes from getting the first ingredient from the fridge to plating up. I had to cook the fish for another few minutes but it was still within the 30 min threshold.
Taste - A nice light meal but packed full of summer flavours.
Portions - I had to make myself another slice of toast but it was otherwise a good portion size.
Day 2 - Harissa roast chicken with bulgur wheat salad
One thing I'm noticing is that Nadia's recipes don't use the stove much. This is not a bad thing, but just a different way of doing dinners than I'm used to.
Prep and cooking - I marinated the chicken in the morning and popped it in the fridge. If I had remembered to bring out the chicken 30 minutes before I started cooking so the chicken could warm up a little, the cooking time again would have been 30 minutes. This meal instead took 45 minutes. Nadia's salads are easy and tasty – just a bit of chopping with some interesting ingredients.
Taste - The chicken was favourful and even though the recipe's salad made a decent amount for two, much to my surprise Mr H and I finished it off.
Verdict - Maybe I have a bigger appetite than Nadia, but I was a little hungry by 8.30pm. An addition of a slice of that olive buttered toast from last night would have kept my tum happy.
Day three - Lamb, beetroot, hazelnut and feta salad
This was our favourite meal of the week - both Mr H and I are suckers for fresh beetroot so it's not surprising that this was our favourite of the bunch. But the combination of seared lamb, tangy rocket, hazelnuts and feta made it an interesting and filling dinner. Yes, this meal filled me up!
Day four - Butternut, courgette, tomato and basil risotto
Every week, My Food Bag ends with a vegetarian meal. A great idea, considering the logistics of having meat in the fridge for four days and also opens our eyes to some d'lish vege meals. I wanted to like this meal, I really did. But I didn't. The recipe told me to make the risotto in a different way than I usually do it, but I followed it anyway because wanted to follow Nadia's recipes to the tee. Perhaps her method may have been a bit quicker than mine but the result was a dish that tasted like boiled rice with boiled butternut.
Final thoughts
After my four Gourmet Food Bag meals, I had some leftovers - some very nice leftovers! The only thing missing from the photo is the half loaf of sourdough bread - we ended up eating it throughout the week for breakfast and as supplements to dinner when I was feeling a bit peckish. I imagine things like the balsamic glaze will last a while and will help jazz up my non-Food Bag meals.
I did a rough estimate of how much the supplied groceries cost and it came to just over $110. Allowing $10 for delivery, that means you pay around $19 for Nadia's expertise and recipes. I was surprised that the costing came out that close. Considering it means that you don't need to think about what to cook for the week, it's a convenience that I'm sure people will like.
Some things I would love to see, is the use of more local producers where possible. I noted that the feta was from EuroDell, which imports goods from Europe. Wouldn't it be great if local cheesemakers like Zany Zeus, Clevedon Valley Buffalo Cheeses and Il Casaro are used in My Food Bag?
Other suggestions I have seen on Twitter include things like:
- the use of organic fruit and vegetables where possible
- gluten free food bags
- vegetarian food bags
- food bags for single people
- Classic food bags for couples
- custom food bags to cater for allergies
At the end of my Food Bag week, I asked myself a couple of questions:
- Is My Food Bag of good quality and is it good value for money?
- Would I get it again?
Yes, I think the produce given in My Food Bag is very good, the veges and meat are very fresh and other products are of very good quality. Yes, you do pay a premium for the recipes and convenience but this model would appeal to some people, even if they don't get a delivery every week.
Would I get My Food Bag again? Yes, I think I will. I want to try the Classic Bag even though we are a household of two people. I imagine we could get a delivery once every couple of months or so and have it like a treat.
From what I've seen on social media, people are enjoying the convenience and flavours of the meals. It's a great concept and I wish My Food Bag all the best. I look forward to treating Mr H and myself to our next My Food Bag!
Thanks to My Food Bag for supplying this week's Gourmet Bag for me to trial.