Review: Culiniste (now Goodfood)

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to try Culiniste for free (thank you Johanne). For those of you who haven’t heard about it yet, Culiniste is a food delivery service in Quebec and Ontario. Every week, fresh ingredients and easy recipes are delivered to your doorstep in an insulated cardboard box. 

I chose the option of having 2 meals of 4 portions each. I had the choice of 4 different meals and decided to go with salmon burgers with a cabbage slaw and Swedish meatballs with noodles and kale.

I was pleasantly surprised and excited when the box arrived! All ingredients in the correct amounts for one recipe come packaged in a plastic bag with all ingredients labelled. Therefore, all you need to do is follow the step-by-step recipe and voilà!

First up was the salmon burger. The recipe was simple and well explained. However, while assembling the patties, I noticed the size was rather large – too much for one person. So I made 6 burgers instead of the suggested 4, which meant I needed to get 2 extra burger buns. Luckily, I happened to have some in the freezer. The meal itself was balanced with a source of protein (the salmon), carbs (the bread), and fruits and vegetables (the pear and cabbage slaw). There was a great contrast of texture with the soft burger and crunchy slaw and an amazing balance of sweet and salty flavors. The final result was absolutely delicious and I will be trying this recipe again!

Next, the Swedish meatballs. Although it was a simple recipe, prep time was quite long because of the multiple steps and components to the meal. Overall, I wasn’t blown away by the taste of it because of the spices used in the sauce, but this may just be a personal thing. Nutritionally speaking, this was another balanced meal with all macronutrients present in the correct proportions.

I really enjoyed the quality of the service (including customer service!), the quality of the ingredients, the taste and healthy aspect of the meals. It is also great to try new foods and recipes. If time was more of an issue for me as it is for many families, I would definitely use their service again!

Pros:

• Perfect for busy weeks
• No need to buy and measure ingredients or look for recipes
• Delicious and nutritionally balanced recipes
• Environmentally friendly (for the most part)
• Gluten-free and vegetarian options
• You can skip or cancel your subscription at any time

Cons:

• Large portion sizes (which can be a pro as well)
• More expensive than buying the ingredients yourself: A two person plan costs $65 per week, including tax and shipping and a four person plan costs $115 per week
• Have to constantly skip weeks if you won’t be using the service for a while
• Elaborate recipes with multiple steps, which require quite a bit of time! These aren’t quick recipes.
• Not suitable for allergies and intolerances

For more information about them, visit their website www.culiniste.ca

Edit: They have recently changed the company name to Goodfood and their website is https://makegoodfood.ca/en/home