It's long been noted amongst those who note such things that the more cookery shows there are on TV and the more cookbooks proliferate, the less we seem to be able to find our way into that strange and fantastic land known as "The Kitchen" to prepare a simple repast (Yes. Repast. Get over it.) for ourselves and our families. It's cooking by vicarious means, if you like, as we sit stuffing things that are distinctly not part of our seven-a-day into the gaping national maw. Happily, being the resourceful species that we are, we seem to have found a solution.
Can't find your kitchen? Don't have time to do an online shop and get it delivered to your actual cupboard? Cannot boil an egg? Never fear, help is at hand. And it's an intriguing, if verging on "spendy", idea. Type in any combination of "gourmet home food delivery" into the search engine of your choice and your ability to make reasonable choice dissolves: Take your pick from Red Earth Kitchen; Super Chef; Cook!; Moor to Door; Sweet Umami; James Martin's Life Fork Spoon; Banquet in a Box... and that's just page one. There's even a gourmet delivery service for babies, should a jar of Heinz be beyond your capabilities. These companies deliver a menu or ingredients of your choice fresh or frozen to your door at a time that suits you and all of them are offering frankly delicious-sounding food on a sliding scale of preparative complexity that would cost real time, money and effort to make yourself in your own premises, even if you were so inclined and had the knowledge. It's a step up from Domino's, that's for sure.
So here's the conundrum: When a gourmet food delivery company promises to feed you your seven-a-day (Sweet Umami), be extra food-miles savvy (Red Earth Kitchen) and source locally (pretty much all of them) without any effort on your part, a) why should you bother to cook at all? And b) if you're eating gourmet food every day at home, why go out to eat? If you're eating complex dishes such as Gado-Gado salad and authentic Thai green curry in front of the box, what can a restaurant possibly offer that you don't already have? These companies look very much like the future - albeit at the moment one mainly for those who can afford it - but these are also the people who are propping up the restaurant industry, so whither restaurants? Answers on a postcard, please...
