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For Untapped Cities readers, Blue Apron is offering 25% off your first order using this link: www.blueapron.com/untapped. Plus, enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a free box of three meals for two!
I’m one of those New Yorkers that cooks one dinner party a year. The rest of my eating regimen at home consists of “meals” cobbled together from Gourmet Garage runs, takeout and occasionally whipping out some Asian family recipes (in other words, stir fry). My boyfriend Augustin, on the other hand, brings with him the French tradition of entertaining at home, cooking meals from scratch and getting experimental with ingredients. We’re part of a Brooklyn-based community shared agriculture program but we were also looking for something through which we could easily make a complete recipe, without crucially missing ingredients, in the midst of our busy schedules.
Enter Blue Apron. A box with ingredients for three meals arrives at your house each week. The ingredients are measured exactly, along with recipes prepared by a top chef, and step-by-step visual instructions. Delivery is free and everything is packaged beautifully. I’m not sure I really understood the concept of “fresh” ingredients until I saw what came in the box. Blue Apron’s suppliers aren’t the local grocery stores, but they’re using the same suppliers that serve restaurants like Jean Georges and other high-end restaurants. Everything is sourced locally too.
To a discerning audience of French visitors, Augustin tested out the Chopped Mexican Salad with Chicken & Corn, followed by an entree of Pork Chops with mashed sweet potato, roasted broccoli and herbs. At the end of the dinner, our guests asked how they could sign up for Blue Apron too. The next night, we served the Spaghettini with shrimp, chilies, mint and lemon with success to a globetrotting French magician, accustomed to performing at high-end dinners, his latest event at the Norwood Club in New York City.
Best of all, Blue Apron is only $9.99 per meal, and we learned by doing. In making the dish, we discovered that Long Island corn is especially sweet this time of year, and have followed the technique of husking fresh corn in salads ever since. The pork chops had a subtle hint of maple sugar, officially ringing in fall at our place.
As a test, the third evening we went to Whole Foods to purchase the same ingredients and recreate the spaghettini. Accounting for the exact amounts required in the recipe, the same dish for two at Whole Foods comes out to almost exactly the same price–$21.56 compared to the $21.75 for Blue Apron, both including tax. More importantly, however there was no comparison between the freshness of the products. Every ingredient in the Blue Apron box was perfect and selected for flavor leading to a more perfect dish.
Blue Apron is based in New York City and is currently delivering to the Northeast region. Manhattan deliveries arrive on Tuesdays, all other areas on Wednesdays. There’s no commitment plan, you can can cancel anytime with 6 days notice. For Untapped readers, Blue Apron is offering a 25% off your first order using this link: www.blueapron.com/untapped. Plus, enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a free box of three meals for two!
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Get in touch with the author @untappedmich.
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