The Jewish Chronicle
Delicious dining delivered
With restaurants still locked down, JC Food samples a few of the tasty takeouts that can be brought to you
June 4, 2020 13:26
7 min read
With restaurants still locked down, JC Food samples a few of the tasty takeouts that can be brought to you
June 4, 2020 13:26Many caterers, short on simchas, have swiftly pivoted their businesses to stay afloat. The JC has been reviewing some of the delivery services, so you can choose which one’s for you:
Reut Grant is the Israeli balaboosta behind food delivery service Sweet Little Tutti. Although the Mill Hill-based mother of three has been cooking for private customers for several years, she had limited her orders to fit around her young family. Now she has stepped up supply to meet lockdown demand.
Grant has lived in the UK for 15 years, but remains full of passion for the Middle-Eastern food with which she grew up. Her Yemeni heritage feeds through into her colourful, spicy Sephardi menu. Her meat is kosher and so is her (unsupervised) kitchen, from which she makes Friday-night food under the Sweet Little Tutti brand.
Her baked chicken burgers were zingy with lemon and loaded with herbs; meatballs in a super-savoury tomatoe-y sauce were declared “Even better than your meatballs!” by my son (hmph). Honey soy chicken was sticky, sweet and full of flavour; aubergine curry was rich with peanut and coconut creaminess.
The turmeric-yellow mejadra (rice and lentils) had a strong curry flavour and made a tasty side; as did tomato-sauce-slathered green beans, pleasingly al dente. Salads were bright and colourful. Quinoa, dotted with bright butternut and shiny pomegranate seeds, was a winner with my husband. I loved the roasted cauliflower, grape and walnut.
A comforting taste of a place I’d much rather be.
Find Sweet Little Tutti on Facebook: @sweet little tutti
Another Middle Eastern treat was delivered by Yoram Janowski, co-founder of Keff, a new business serving stylishly branded pots of Israeli dips. Israeli-born Janowski has recently left a career in commerce to set up shop selling his favourite food, hummus. His recipe has been honed over the years and perfected after time spent cooking with Halil, an Arab Israeli whose food he discovered in Carmel Market.
Keff’s food is all vegan and gluten-free. The flavours are fresh and punchy — you can taste all the individual ingredients. Smooth, creamy hummus had some grainy chickpea texture; spicy tomato matbucha included small chunks of pepper and tomatoes and even the smooth tahini sauce was no shrinking violet. A fresh, green aubergine dip was satisfyingly smoky and flecked with hot red chilli.
On the side were pillowy soft pittas – made the Israeli way. The smart, resealable pots — helpfully labelled with full nutritional values — were perfect for our socially distanced picnic during a sunny half term.
Find Keff at keff.co.uk
I was transported straight to Tel Aviv by an artistically presented box of delicious Yemeni treats from another Mill Hill-based Israeli, Stav Gal. Gal worked in security before she did an about-face into catering a few months ago. She makes the most beautiful boxes which, she says, are mostly being sent as gifts.
Her gift to me was two mallawach — Yemenite flatbreads, which arrived with little pots of grated tomatoes; grated hard boiled eggs, spicy pickled mini cucumbers and hot vinegary peppers — the sort you’d find on the side of your plate at a char-grill restaurant. Four cute mini spinach and feta bourekas formed from crisp, fried filo completed the main course. To finish the light meal, there were fresh apricots and dates, plus some mint to make tea. It felt like a mini-holiday.
Find her at theartisancookery.co.uk
Hands up if you are so over making Friday-night dinner, now Covid-19 has forced us to cook seven days a week and sometimes twice a day. And coupled with the hot weather, I just can’t face making chicken soup (my husband insists on chicken soup rain or shine) - so how happy was I when I heard all my prayers were about to be answered, thanks to Hello Kosher by Eat Me Events & Jason Millan.
Two of the UK’s leading caterers, Eat Me Events and Jason Millan have collaborated to deliver innovative and delicious meals to your door, to be enjoyed fresh on a Friday night, Saturday and maybe, if there are leftovers, Sunday too.
Well, it was a banquet to behold. We started with chicken soup with kneidlach and lokshen. Now, no one’s chicken soup is quite like Grandma’s, but this came a close second. The soup was followed by yet more, including chicken yakitori skewers, mini spring rolls, lamb kofta and chili beef skewers, all with the most finger-licking dips.
We then had a 20-minute interval - not due to the cooking, that part was simple. Hello Kosher delivered the dishes in foil containers with clear instructions. No, we had to give ourselves time to digest the first two magnificent courses before we sat down for the next feast.
I actually don’t think we could choose our favourite (well apart from the super-super-delicious braised sweet and sour red cabbage – I could have consumed a tureenful of this, it was so tasty). The honey and lime grilled chicken was delicate and perfect alongside the roast potatoes with herbs and garlic. For the fussier of the family, the chicken schnitzel was ideal and the Mediterranean vegetables added zing to this. We also sampled the delights of pan-seared duck breast (so moist) and pulled beef (succulent).
But even these might have been surpassed by the dessert. Sticky toffee pudding was pure indulgence but so, so wonderful and, I’m reliably informed, the chocolate fondant (in its individual container, ready to be popped into the oven with no MasterChef calamities) was mmmmm and oooohhhh. They also sent little chocolate cake pops, just because, which was such a nice touch.
All dishes (between £4 and £14 per head) serve one person and in some cases will extend to two plates.
Extra helpings:
Order via www.hellokosher.co.uk, 020 8167 1680
(While at all times following Government guidelines - friends came one at a time, in hour-long slots and social-distanced in an outdoor space at the front of the house.) Everything one thinks to do for a birthday celebration is out the window… restaurants, parties, gatherings… nope! So instead, being a Jewish mother, I concentrated on food.
I enlisted the help of many businesses that have had to adapt to the current climate; some sold in Selfridges (Blondies Kitchens), others catered for bar and batmitzvahs (Alex Nitka and Fel’s Honeypops), while others have seen this as an opportunity to expand their social media following and in turn grow their new business (Lollysbakes).
Before Covid-19 you probably saw Blondies Kitchen in Selfridges (London and Birmingham) or followed them on the Instagram page @blondieskitchen but, with Selfridges’ doors firmly closed, what was it to do? It widened its delivery area from London-only to nationwide, so everyone can now receive its delicious cookies and newly launched cookie dough rolls, which you bake at home.
For my daughter Bex’s birthday we got a Nutella stuffed personalised cookie, the Ready To Bake Cookie Dough Roll and Bake at Home Cookie Dough box of three. Wowzers, the house filled with the most amazing smells and for sure the cookies were fresh, delicious and greeted with cheer from all those who ate one – ten out of ten.
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Established two years ago, this family-run business offered fun desserts fit for any celebrations, including bar and batmitzvahs, but with large gatherings cancelled, this had to be put on hold. Not to despair, the business quickly adapted to the new norm and now offers the same range, but delivered to your door.
We were greeted with a boxful of warm waffles with a variety of toppings, old-fashioned candy floss and popcorn and a letterbox treat box filled with prepacked sweets and chocolates. All putting a big smile on the birthday girl’s face
Extra helpings:
or call 07539 372939
With a background of training at Le Cordon Bleu (2015) followed by two years at Soho House and a passion for baking, Lollysbakes was established in 2019, baking celebration cakes as well as cupcakes, brownies and her famous apple pie. With the arrival of lockdown, Lollysbakes took off. With amazing Instagrammable images of cakes and cupcakes – and an equally amazing taste when you bite into them, I had to order cupcakes, brownies and an apple pie (for myself, because I am such a cool Mummy).
The tie-dyed cupcakes with happy birthday messages were sublime, brownies were gooey and so indulgent (and gluten-free... who knew?) and the apple pie, too, was everything I wanted it to be.
Extra helpings:
Originally a financial broker, in 2014 Alex retrained at Leith’s School of Food and Wine to become a professional chef. Pre-Covid, Alex catered for celebrations, afternoon teas, intimate dinner parties and bar/batmitzvah Friday-night dinners. When Covid stopped these celebrations, Alex had to rethink her next move.
Loyal customers called, wondering if she’d deliver an afternoon tea box to friends celebrating an anniversary and from that moment, the inquiries haven’t stopped.
While it was my daughter’s birthday, I too wanted to celebrate and ordered Alex’s afternoon tea in a box. This included the freshest of traditional sandwiches, home-made scones with cream and jam in separate pots, lemon possets, macarons and bite-sized carrot cakes and flapjacks.
With these laid out on the best china, I was able to escape the 14-year-olds’ celebrations and all thoughts of Covid-19 and, for a lovely moment, sit back and enjoy the sunshine with a delicious tea for two
Extra helpings: