From cookies and French teacakes to spreads and pickles, get a taste of fresh and warm fare from an eclectic bunch of home chefs, at your doorstep, thanks to Yummade
The soft Madeleines and an assortment of freshly baked cookies were scrumptious
In a city where one is spoilt for choices with innumerable restaurants and culinary options, one might often miss out on niche, unique and local fare, created by city home chefs. That’s where Yummade comes to your rescue. This food portal, that offers free delivery across Mumbai, impressed us with its heady mix of food items curated from six brands by reputed home chefs. These include Life Ki Recipe by Amrita Rana, Anurita Ghoshal’s baking studio Eighth, House Of Cookies by Ruchika Vyas, Le Pot by Neema and Kshitij Morarka, Gitika’s PakGhor by the Assamese home chef and Mrs G & Son started by mother and son duo Nita and Darshan Gokani.
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The soft Madeleines and an assortment of freshly baked cookies were scrumptious
Brownie points
For our online order, the spread included brownies and cookies as well as dips, salad dressings and pickles. The appetising, life-sized images of these items only made the task tougher. While Life Ki Recipe presented delectable fare like Bacon Jam, Bacon Butter as well as Strawberry Vinaigrette (it would make for lovely salad dressing), these were, sadly, sold out. From Anurita’s Eighth, we ordered Madeleines (Rs 450 for six), Gooey Hearts (Rs 490 for an assorted bag of six cookies) from House Of Cookies, two dips — Smoky Corn And Jalapeno (Rs 200 for 200 gms) and Feta And Olive (Rs 350 for 200 gms) — from Le Pot and a Wasabi dip that also claimed mom’s secret ingredient (Rs 180 for 200 gms) from Mrs G & Son. We were tempted to try Pork Pickle from Gitika’s treats but it was sold out too, and so we opted for her Bamboo Shoots Pickle (Rs 250 for 100 gms).
The Bamboo Shoots pickle was overpowering. Pics /Datta Kumbhar
Placing the order on the website was a minor hassle as instructions were not clearly mentioned. However, the portal offered a contact number, and the person on the other line, guided us through the process, also asking us to put in preferred delivery timings in a special request box mentioned on the website. Extra brownie points from us. The portal also claimed that all orders delivered before noon reach your doorstep by the next day itself.
Braving the unseasonal rains, our order arrived on time; each item was neatly packed with a Best Before tag. Drawn to the aroma of the warm, freshly baked cookies, we tried them first. An assortment of Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter Chip and Nutella Sea Salt, these were a sinful mix and made for a great snack. Our pick: Nutella Sea Salt, its salted texture blended well with the chocolate filling, warming into our hearts. The petite Madeleines — classic French shell-shaped teacakes — containing organic honey were soft and melt-in-the-mouth.
Eats, shoots...
While we are still trying to figure out the secret ingredient, the Wasabi dip was tasty without the Japanese condiment hitting our nose, just the way we like it. Meanwhile, the Mediterranean flavours bordering on sour taste of Feta and Olive spread won over the Smoky Corn and Jalapeno one. The latter was mashed a bit much and ended up as a coarse mixture, without enough yoghurt.
With bamboo shoots imported from Assam and fermented with generous amounts of mustard oil, yellow mustard seeds, garlic and vinegar, a spoonful of the Bamboo Shoots Pickle was all that we could manage with our meals; that too, after taking a while to get used to its overpowering smell.
In all, Yummade scores for being value-for-money as well as curating tasty treats that are home-delivered, fresh and warm. A slight gripe: we’d have liked if the chefs had thrown in some lavash or bread sticks to go with the spreads and dips.