I confess that I don’t understand people who don’t enjoy cooking. For me, cooking is relaxation and a way to express my creativity away from a computer screen.
I worry about those folks who love to eat but hate to cook. I think they’ll end up with a rusty gut from all those ingredients on the back of the packet that you can’t pronounce or spell without writing it on the palm of your hand.
One of my non-cooking friends tells it this way.
“Maureen, I know you love to cook but not all people have a cooking gene. It’s too hard for me. I don’t know the difference from stirring and folding and don’t get me started on whisking to a soft peak. What’s soft and what’s medium? I never know what’s going to be easy and what’s going to a disaster on my plate. Rather than fail at yet another thing, I buy ready to eat meals or we eat out.”
I sat there and silently wondered, “Where was her mother when it was time to learn to cook?” I didn’t say it out loud because that would have been unkind but seriously, every kid male and female should be taught how to cook. My mother never let us experiment in the kitchen because we might make a mess but she did teach all three of us how to cook and even though we’re all old now, we still love to cook. The three of us in the kitchen is something to behold.
If you know non-cookers like my friend, there is a new service called Hello Fresh that does home delivery of a box of fresh food that includes everything someone needs to make the recipe that’s included in the box. Last week I was invited to a demonstration of Hello Fresh in Brisbane and while the service isn’t sold as a “how to cook” service, that’s all I could think of when I saw that box. I thought, “Maryanne! That’s all she needs!”
I apologise for the photos. It was dark-ish on the patio where we were and then came the storms. I didn’t bring any flash and it was just too dark. The photos aren’t very good and they’re grainy too.
How Hello Fresh works. You subscribe for a 3 or 5 day dinner box for 2, 4 or 6 people and then once a week the food box is brought to your door. Included is everything you need to make the recipes except standard pantry items like flour, oil, mustard, etc. Things that almost all of us keep in our pantry.
Currently, there is no choice other than omnivore or veggie – you get what the weekly menu is and sadly that wouldn’t work for me. One meal is always fish and I’m not prepared to go vegetarian just yet. I don’t do fish. (notice there are no fish recipes on my blog until today? Not a coincidence. I have real trouble with most of it.)
The ability to choose my meals would be very important to me. I’m sure they’re right that getting a surprise allows you to taste things you might not have tried before. I’m not one that’s into food waste, however if I don’t like it, it’s going in the bin. I was assured by the owner of Hello Fresh that as his business grows and his website’s capability to allow choosing, we’ll be able to fix that little problem of mine.
I really enjoyed the dishes that were prepared. What’s great about Hello Fresh was that not only were all the major ingredients, even the spices, for all the dishes included, the price is a very reasonable $10 per person. While that might seem high to some, remember that the menu selection, grocery shopping and delivery are all included in the price.
Tom Rutledge, owner of Hello Fresh in Australia, was a 2011 Masterchef participant. He is hands on in all menu planning. He loves food and even proposed to his wife in a grocery store.
I don’t think John would find that romantic – but then when we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower at 11pm looking over the city, I said in a very romantic swoony voice, “I think you should ask me to marry you,” he replied, “Are you serious?? Funny, Maureen.”
When Tom crashed out of the Masterchef series he didn’t have a job but still had a love of food. He heard about the Hello Fresh concept that was booming in Europe and decided to bring it to Australia.
Hello Fresh has a huge competitor in the eat at home market called Lite n Easy. It too is a home delivery service but everything is fully cooked and vacuum sealed for your eating pleasure. While I’m sure it’s good, I believe home cooked with fresh ingredients, no preservatives and wonderful flavours you can adjust to your liking is a much better alternative.
Cooking can be fun and if you have children, Hello Fresh is a great way for them to learn how to cook. Most dishes require only one or two pots and the cooking methods are always easy. Everything is there and dinner can be on the table by the time you get home from work (unless your kids are under 7, then forget it, you’ll be cooking.)
Have you tried Hello Fresh or something like it? What’s your experience?
- 400 g potato, chopped
- 2 tbsp coriander, chopped
- 2 spring onion, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp shallot & black sesame seed mix
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 barramundi
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil, add the potato and cook for 10 minutes or until cooked through. Drain and set aside.
- Combine the coriander, spring onion, garlic, half the soy sauce, and the vinegar in a large bowl and toss to combine. Gently fold through the potatoes with the shallot and black sesame seed mix.
- Heat some oil in a pan to medium-high temperature. Brush the barramundi with half of the soy sauce. Place the fish into the pan, jiggle the pan a little so that the fish isn’t sticking and cook for 3-4 minutes, turn and cook for a further 1-2 minutes until cooked through.
- Serve the fish with a side of the asian potato salad.
Maureen: I also got friends who do not enjoy cooking but love to eat. 🙂 I think Hello Fresh is doing a service to those who have no idea where to start in the kitchen. It is a great idea!!! I always tell those friends that a great way to start is to pick simple, easy recipes. As their confidence improves, they can try to follow a middle-level recipe step-by-step. Cooking is also a matter of practice. Practicing can help one’s skills to improve for sure.
yes and not having to go out and buy several spices knowing you are probably not going to use them again should get them used to cooking at home.
I don’t understand people who don’t like to cook either! It is such a relaxing endeavor for me. I go bonkers when we’re on vacation and we have to eat out every meal! But what a great service this Hello Fresh is! Thank you so much for sharing. And I’m eager to give this fish recipe a go! Looks just delicious. I hope you have a wonderful end to your weekend and a great start to your week!
I miss vegetables when I’m traveling. A pile of fries on a plate doesn’t do it for me. 🙂
I’ve heard the soft peak vs. medium peak argument before, and it’s a cop out. Most things are a judgement call. Should I cut the grass today, or let it go another day or two? Who knows! Whatever makes you happy (which is the correct answer for soft peak vs. medium peak or whatever) – even though it may not be “correct” if it works for you, it works. No one really taught us how to live either – it’s all experiment. Anyway, although I kinda like the idea of getting a big box of mystery stuff and then getting creative and whipping up meals, I really do like going to the store and seeing things and making up a menu as I shop. But if I were really busy and couldn’t do that, it must be a real time saver to have food delivered and the menu planned out.
I know what you mean. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 500 times. If you can read, you can cook. If you don’t know a method, get a book. It’s what I did and it worked for me. If you can’t do that, ask someone. If I hadn’t gotten Jill Colonna’s book I’d still be eating someone else’s macarons. 🙂
Totally agree with john@kitchenriffs and Maureen.. there is so many ways to learn to cook these days.. from step-by-step cookbooks to simple cooking shows on TV.. if there is a will, anyone can learn cooking.. you don’t need to become a Master chef (you might ;)enjoyment of cooking comes from practicing, experimenting.. testing 😛
I think idea of HelloFresh is very good.. helps to shorten time spend on shopping, planning meals etc.
Happy cooking… and baking to you 🙂
Thanks, Agnes! I love to cook and probably wouldn’t need Hello Fresh but I know heaps of people who would love it.
Totally agree with you Maureen and john@kitchenriffs .. these days there is so many ways to learn to cook.. from step-by-step cook books to easy cooking TV shows.. so if there is a will, there is a way 🙂 Joy of cooking lays in practicing, experimenting.. testing 😛 .. adding your own touch, perfecting it.. and you don’t need to become Master Chef (you might 😉
I think that Hello Fresh is a very good idea for those busy moms, who need to cut time on shopping.. making planning meals a snap..
Happy cooking to all 🙂
I know that some people don’t like to cook and I’m okay with that. I’m not okay with people who say they would love to but “can’t.”
A lot of my friends adore cooking and then others hate it – there is such a division but I agree, everyone should know the basics! 🙂
Hello Fish sounds like an ideal program to get people started, great job in promoting them!
And lovely warming recipe today! Fish looks spiced to perfection!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
LOL it’s hello fresh 🙂 I put the fish in there because it was given to me and I didn’t have to cook it. 🙂
I don’t understand it either! Yet the ones who don’t cook are also the pickiest when they come over, too. It’s a mystery!
I have had only one really picky person come to visit. She ate hamburgers, peanut butter sandwiches and french fries. That’s ALL oh and every sort of sweet or confection you could put in front of her. 🙂
I have met a few people who really hate cooking… my own sister is one example. I don’t understand it either, but then I hate sewing… and cleaning is a bit of a drag when you’ve done it all your life too ; )
yes, I agree with you about people who say they don’t like to cook. My only concern is when they say they’d like to but can’t. Anyone who can read can cook.
I’ve little patience for friends who are well into middle age yet profess, somewhat proudly, that they don’t know how to cook. Worse yet, a couple have diets of a teenager: 90% junk food. It’s ridiculous! I can see where this pre-packaged food would be great for someone without much time. Still, I think it better to get a “Meals in 30 Minutes” cookbook and get crackin’. 🙂
I do understand people who say they don’t enjoy cooking. I wouldn’t make a very good boxer or brain surgeon so maybe cooking is the same sort of thing. If they didn’t like to eat, I could understand it better 🙂
Yeah, I have friends who love to eat but hate to cook. Like you I don’t understand it. I cook 3 meals a day and as as soon is one is done I’m thinking of the next one.
This does seem like a great service, and at $10, its a bargain. Have you seen how much Thai and Chinese cost lately?
yes and for a busy working woman, I think this is a great idea
Most of my friends can cook in some capacity, but they don’t mind using jars of pre-made sauces or packets of ready made carbs that just need nuking for a few minutes in the microwave. I have an aversion to these foods partly because I don’t like the idea of all those additives, and partly because I know that if I take the time, I can do it better (mostly, but screwing up is fun too… the dog enjoys those moments). I think Hello Fresh is an amazing idea for those that can’t cook, won’t cook… but at £10 or more per box, in the UK…. I think most people will still turn to Marks and Spencers “Dine in for two for £10”, because it includes a bottle of wine and dessert…. and instructions on how to nuke the meal in the microwave for three minutes. Job done. Instant gratification. It’s how the majority of people live these days because time is more of a commodity than an ability to cook. I have time. I cook 🙂
G’day! Very interesting topic today as honestly, I don’t understand it either too!
We eat and sleep A LOT of our years, so why not figure out a way to enjoy cooking, TRUE!
Have had MANY conversations with non-cooking people as well as tried to help them help themselves in prior planning, organising, cooking, time management and in the end, it came down to (with no disrespect) they were lazy and wanted someone to cook for them; they didn’t know what to do skill wise and/or they looked for every excuse i.e. could not afford it, takes too long to shop and plan etc…
If we all enjoyed the same thing same things, life would be boring indeed!
Again, I don’t understand why people aren’t interested in participating in what they feed!
Cheers! Joanne
True, if we were all the same we’d be be boring 🙂
just don’t get it either, being in the kitchen is so soothing, such a great stress relief!
Hello Fresh is a most wonderful idea, I hope it catches on in Australia 🙂
This sounds like a great idea for people that have a hard time with meal planning.
Askismet is catching heaps of people!
I’ve heard of barimundi but am unlikely to find it in my local supermarket. I wonder what would be a good substitute since I know very very little about different types of fish other than: sole, cod, salmon, basa and tilapia.
In defense of those people who did not learn to cook from their moms, I stayed out of my mom’s kitchen for most of my life. I figured she knew what she was doing, didn’t need me getting in her way, and frankly, I thought the cooking smells (onion, garlic, frying grease) too pungent to be enveloped in. I have never been an olfactory person who can identify spices and herbs by their smells.
I didn’t like/eat most vegetables as most of them were boiled to within an inch of their lives in my mom’s kitchen, salads were gross and I figured I could always fry a pork chop and some potatoes if I got hungry later in life. My mother (Romanian) had never cooked pizza or spaghetti sauce and, chili … what the heck was that? I learned about them from my classmates as I got older. So, cooking wasn’t a particularly attractive proposition to me into the late teens. Plus, meat was expensive to buy for my immigrant parents so my mom was unlikely to let me experiment with it.
Other than desserts … I made the first no bake cheese cake in my house and my Rice Crispie squares, well, my dad used to request them on a regular basis. 🙂 As I started watching the Food Network Canada, I learned about other cuisines and foods and eventually I experimented in my own kitchen. Luckily I only had myself to cook for and now, I find cooking quite fun. I am strangely surprised when my work colleagues in their late twenties to mid fifties don’t cook. 🙂 They say they don’t have time by the way.
I like this concept, it’s great for those people who do like to cook- or to learn how- but are intimidated by the whole production. Having the ingredients there in front of you with the recipe, is much easier for some to handle. I think it will build confidence and skills, so I hope it goes well.
I hope it does well too. I can only imagine if I were still a working mum of two active kids, how easy it would be to know there was food at home to cook. No more, “I’ll get take out” because I’m too bloody tired to shop.
Your photos aren’t that bad. I think Tom sent me an email about a year ago about something he was starting up to do with food. I think we live in the same area. My mother was the same; never wanted us using the kitchen for fear we’d make a mess. But, I did learn from her because she was always cooking. Nothing was bought including biscuits, jams, preserves, fruit, vegetables, pastry etc. She grew and cooked what we needed. I think that sort of an upbringing is invaluable as without realising it, you’re being given an example to follow and being shown what to do rather than being told what to do is so much more powerful xx
Saying that some one “should” learn to cook would be like Yo Yo Ma saying everyone “should” learn to play a cello because it is fun, he likes it, it is easy, relaxing and releases stress.
I read an article a while back “Excuses Given For Not Cooking In a Survey.” Of course the author thought everyone should cook. “Excuses?” That is SO negative. Why not: Reasons People Don’t Cook.
If some peope do not like to cook, so what? I don’t like to fish.I don’t like to sew? I don’t like to paint pictures. Should I have to learn to do those activities too? Who is going to make me?
I never thought I’d end up with a guy who hates cooking – but he loves eating my food so he’s a keeper! Some of my friends are just scared of making mistakes in the kitchen and they are always amazed when I tell them I don’t always get it right. I think it’s a matter of confidence with some people. And with others they really just don’t give a fig! Hello Fresh looks like a great idea for people who don’t like the shopping/cooking experience but still want to eat fresh ingredients – and maybe it will build up their confidence?
I live with a professional eater. If we both loved to cook I’d have to share the stove. 🙂
i agree! cooking is mt stress reliever! and hello fresh is such a nice concept!
One of my friends is a doctor and works ridiculous hours and she uses Hello Fresh. She loves cooking but just doesn’t have time to think of what to cook every night and buy all the ingredients. She raves about these guys and says that she hasn’t had a bad meal and the variety is wonderful.
I’m not keen on Lite and Easy. They say there are no preservatives or any added nasties but how is that possible? Plus it’s all microwaved in plastic!
I know exactly what you mean about Lite n Easy 🙂 I think it’s cool that busy mums have the option to use a service like this.
Hello Fresh sounds like a great idea!
I like cooking too but I don’t understand folks who love to eat but say they can’t cook.
I don’t understand people that don’t like to cook either, although I have a couple of friends that don’t like to cook. I agree cooking is a great way to relax.
I know what you mean! Thanks so much for coming by!
There were certainly no ‘food genes’ passed along to me! Most of our cooking in my childhood days was by ‘staff’ and when Mom got behind the stove, it was largely meat-and-potatoes boring!! My first ‘boyfriends’ [still hate the word!] brought new taste experiences and a curiosity by enticing meals in lovely restaurants, both my husbands a love of food/wine and a desire to learn further . . . BUT, what on earth is the difficulty: learning of ‘how to’ is EVERYWHERE, so what is the excuse? One wakes and lives the day, one breathes, works, associates, has a family, hopefully enjoys sex BUT has to eat! Usually three times or so a day! Why not make it a joyful experience:an art?????????
We can do without a lot of things but air, food and water are all necessary.
I don’t understand people that don’t like to cook but it turns out that I married one! 😛 I should have subscribed to this before I went away so hubby could cook something!
Do it next time and tell us how it went 🙂
I agree that both boys and girls should be taught to cook as this is an essential skill. Both of my teenage boys are quite good at it when they put their heart into it. We are still working on the whole “cleanup as you go lessons”,but for the most part they have it. I think that in HK that most working people do not cook as it is cheaper for them to eat out than to eat in. Food is very expensive here. Take Care, BAM
I don’t know of anywhere in Australia that it’s cheaper to eat out than in. I loved the food in Hong Kong so maybe they’re on to something. 🙂
I understand that there are people who don’t like cooking, which is a great shame since eating is a necessity of life. The idea of eating ready-made food every night is rather alarming. I hope he is successful with his venture.
I worry about eating things out of plasti packages every night. I’ve never been a ready-meal sort of person. I love to play with food too much.
What a great idea!!
Even just someone choosing something different for you to eat that night would be ggreat. I always aske the family what they want but I get no help in the menu planning/decision making :/
My nan taught me to cook, I used to ask to go to her place every weekend so I could make something… I can’t imagine not having that experience but I know so many don’t. Even my own sister never learnt to cook because between mum and myself in the kitchen she didn’t get a chance, she would just place an order 😉 and then she went on to waitress and the chefs looked after her.
I don’t have a problem with people who don’t like to cook. I have a daughter who’d do without food altogether if she could stay alive. She never says, “I can’t cook.” She always has said, “I hate cooking.” Fair enough. She married a man who loves to cook and she can fix his computer. 🙂
Maureen, I loved the proposals in this post! The grocery store version spoke to my heart, but then again, who can argue with Paris? Obviously, your appeal was successful. 🙂 Also, congratulations on your first time fish recipe! It sounds delicious and I appreciate another “non-mayo” potato salad to try, too.
Don’t worry, I secretly think the same 😉 I’m so glad my mother dragged me into the kitchen at a young age. Now the apprentice has almost succeeded the master 😛
I suspect your mother thinks you’ve already surpassed her 🙂
Lovely recipe. It looks very easy but still incredibly tasty! I’ve never heard of Hello Fresh but it looks like a great service.
Maureen – I also love to cook and its a great stress buster for me….it a great source of relaxation even during the worst days of my life….
The fish looks so good and fresh….In cleveland,ohio where I live – its very difficult to get good fish unless you pay top dollar …I love fish!!
LOL Shema, you can have mine. We live on a canal that leads to a river where the fishing fleet parks. There is fresh fish and shellfish everywhere. I just wish I loved it. Growing up in Maine – I didn’t like lobster either. I can eat fish and shellfish sometimes. I can tell at first whiff if I’m going to hurl and then I know not to touch it. I don’t know what causes the reaction. I wish I did.
Hi Maureen, we’ve been away for a few days so now I’m catching up. I don’t understand it either, if you love to eat, you should at least like to cook! Even simple things! That service sounds like an exceptional idea and so much better for you than take out.
Your recipe is right up my alley because I adore fish, most of it anyway. I’m not familiar with Barramundi but it does look like a firm textured fish, which is my preference. I like to have something to bite into. My Mom was very generous in the kitchen and even encouraged making a mess (which now my husband has to deal with!), learning to cook is one of the most important things one can learn.
I love your mother!
Barramundi is an iconic Australian fish. It’s commonly called just barra and everyone knows what you’re talking about. We have two sets of close neighbours who head for the top end of Australia in their campers and fish for 3 months a year. They get it flash frozen and then come home. I’ve accused them of going up there to fish and drink beer but they tell me I’m not 100% right. 🙂
I have to agree that it’s difficult to relate to not cooking your own food – but I do have friends who never cook. I made sure my kids could cook, and cook well before they left home, and now I have the pleasure of enjoying meals they have cooked for me – fantastic!
And I have to say it’s nice to finally meet another food blogger who doesn’t like fish – I thought I was the only one in the whole world 😀
Great post and this does seem like a great idea for a business!
It IS difficult and it’s the one reason I didn’t become a professional chef. 🙂 Both my children know how to cook but only one chooses to do so. My daughter could happily go days without eating.
Ohhh I’ve seen Hello Fresh before I think in a website or something like that and have been tempted to try 🙂 It looks and sounds so much better than Lite N Easy. I didn’t like the mush aeroplane type food this is much better. But hahha Maureen I’m one of those people who don’t like cooking, I love baking but just not so much cooking hehe ~
You bake very well and you have an off-sider the likes to cook, right? 🙂
Hello Fresh sounds like a great service. I not only wonder about those who “cook out of a can” but those who also don’t utilize and visit their farmers markets. Almost every small town in our area (let alone the cities) has one. To me, it is a no-brainer.
I can understand that going to a farmer’s market and buying unfamiliar ingredients and then taking them home and wondering what to do with them would be daunting. That’s why I thought the Hello Fresh idea would appeal to a lot of people. Fresh healthy food and no stress about how to use the ingredients.
Yeah, this is so much better than anything prepackaged from the market! The barramundi looks terrific! Did you eat it???
I’m not a fishy person, unfortunately. All I do is taste. It’s why I couldn’t be a chef. 🙁
I got invited to the Hello Fresh demo in Melbourne but I couldn’t make it 🙁 It’s definitely a great idea and a better alternative to frozen meals and takeaway.
As for me, I grew up thinking that I didn’t have the ‘cooking gene’ but as with most things in life, practice makes perfect. Although I can’t exactly call myself a Masterchef, I know that I don’t suck at cooking and am proud of that 🙂
They’ll be doing more demos, Libby. Give Tom Rutledge a call or email and tell him you’d like to be included in the next one.
Back when I started college, I could not cook and was terrible at it. In the middle of a blizzard, I set off a fire alarm cooking, and the whole building had to be evacuated. As time went on, the creativity of cooking drew me in, and now I’m hooked. This is a neat service!
O I don’t really understand how people end up don’t liking cooking… 🙂 But then again I grew up with a mum who hated cooking and well, frankly couldn’t cook either. So I didn’t learn how to cook from her. I had to find out myself…:) I had a friend in nursing school who loved to cook and I think I learned most from her. We have Hello Fresh here in the Neherlands and I think it is a brilliant concept for people that don’t like cooking but still want to eat healthy meals!
I think Hello Fresh is a great idea for those who would love to learn how to cook but are a bit timid about starting out on their own. As a young woman I would have loved a few months of this. 🙂
My mother raised two girls… both of us had to help her in the kitchen. My older sister is all about her career and is not interested in cooking at all. I am the total opposite.. I remember being 11 and looking at my mother’s series of Family Circle cookbooks from the 70’s that I wished I could make every recipe. I am glad I was born with the cooking gene..:)
I think I’d like your mother 🙂
Ah my mum would start to scream in the kitchen because I would do everything wrong and then there was the fire stove where I would burn my hand frequently. -_- If I wouldn’t have learned it before and if I wouldn’t a have stressed myself learning it properly at the end, then I d call a service such as hello fresh. Hello Fresh do you deliver to India? =)
My mom made sure that I know how to cook, so she asked me to come to the kitchen if I’m home around the evening. And I did. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen from junior high to high school. I “hated” to do the prep work ONLY….but when it was time for me to come to the US alone, I realized I knew how to cook a lot of dishes, simply by observing how my mom cooked… I wish the same for my kids. They have to enjoy cooking AND eating.
However, if the first question was “baking” instead of “cooking”…. then it’s all about me. I am SCARRRED and STRESSED to bake. Not relaxation or therapeutic like everyone describes. LOL!
I can’t imagine leaving “home” at such a young age. You are a remarkable woman!
Is everything prepared for you or is it just the groceries – no sous chef? I’ve heard of these services here where everything is cut up or minced or whatever and you can play like a chef on a cooking show but the cost ranges from 24.00 – 33.00 for two people
No, everything arrives just like it grew. You have to cut and chop – that’s the fun bit anyway. Mise en place. 🙂
Hi, I am been a Hello Fresh customer since early 2013. Unfortunately I have just cancelled my subscription as they just don’t have the infrastructure to be able to competently service interstate customers. I live in Brisbane and Hello Fresh is based in Sydney and they deliver to Brisbane , Sydney and Melbourne. I would estimate that 50% or more of my deliveries were missing items. They cannot drop the missing items off as they are interstate. Instead, I would receive an apology and “something extra” in my next box which often would be something like a couple of extra lemons. I love cooking but don’t have the time to shop. I also liked not having the think of new recipes every week. The idea was good but execution poor. They last straw was being sent a meal box for 2 people instead of 4 for the week. If they set up a Brisbane office I may be interested in rejoining. I’m now on the look out for a similar Brisbane based company to try