The Taste Box is the latest entry into the Canadian food subscription box market. Yes, another subscription box to discover! How much do we love?! Each month Toronto couple Matt and Jenni curate a unique package of food and drink products around a theme and ship it to your door. The first box shipped this month with an assortment of goodies perfect for celebrating yesterday’s World Pasta Day. Here’s a closer look at the Pasta Is Love box (sent to me to try free of charge) and a couple of notes about what’s coming up next.
Each box comes with a card detailing the contents and suggested use, a link to visit for recipes you can make with them (Matt and Jenni created three for Pasta Is Love: Spaghetti Bolognese, Cacio e peppe and Marinara Sauce) and a note on the inspiration behind it.
“Despite the magnificent range of cuisine the world has to offer, ask almost anyone to pick their favorite and they’re exclaim ‘pasta’, in no uncertain terms,” says this month’s card. “Pasta evokes a comfort and sensuality quite unlike any other food. It is both ordinary and extraordinary. Extremely versatile, it can be delicate or robust and is as apt to be seen on the family dinner table as it is in the star dish at a Michelin starred restaurant. The month’s box, Pasta Is Love, was inspired by the inimitable aroma of a simmering marinara, the silky taste of olive oil and the requisitie paper-skinned garlic bulb.”
Um, HELLO! Is your mouth watering too?
And inside:
Centonze Olive Oil (Retail $10) — Handpicked olives create the bright green color, the bouquet of fruity olives freshly squeezed, and a very rich, complex and aromatic composition.ย Use on top of finished dishes for extra flavor.
Strianese Pomodoro D.O.P. (Retail $5) — San Marzano tomato is a variety of plum tomato, considered by many chefs to be the best of its kind in the world. Use in a simple Marinara or Tomato sauce to showcase their incredible flavour.
Il Tartufo Di Paolo Black Truffle Oil (Retail $25) — This truffle oil has the rustic aromas of black olive and moist earth, its aroma lasts longer after the bottle is opening than any other truffle oil we have found. Use this as a finishing oil, meaning, the truffle oil is drizzled over a dish at the end of the preparation, usually in small amounts.ย
Just A Pinch Fleur de Sel (Retail $6) — Harvested in the Guerrande region of France, this Fleur de Sel will give an extra punch of flavour and texture to your dishes. Add on top of finished pastas for the best effect.
Afeltra Spaghetti (Retail $7) — Spaghetti translates to “small strings” and their strands are symbolic of the Italian culinary tradition. This pasta is bronze extruded and air dried in the southern region of Campania. Use with the two pasta recipes included!
Conserve Del Nonna Basil Tomato Sauce and Arrabbiata Sauce (Retail $6 and $7) — Famous ready-to-use tomato sauce. The secret is sauces are prepared with 24 hours of the tomatoes being picked. Basil Tomato Sauce is made from ripe tomatoes, basil, carrots, celery and onions for a full flavoured sauce. Arrabbiata is an authentic tomato sauce with red hot chili peppers.ย
Total value: $66; Price per box: $49.95, shipping included.
Although the October box sold out (are you at all surprised? such deliciousness!), Matt and Jenni have decided to change things up a bit. Subscription boxes will now include 3 to 5 food and drink products (rather than 6 to 7) for $29.95, including shipping. November’s box, Sugar & Spice, is all about baking and available for $14.95 with the code HALFOFF.
What do you think guys? Does it sound like something you’d like to try? Do tell!
GIVEAWAY!ย
Matt and Jenni are offering one lucky try small things reader the chance to try the Sugar & Spice box free of charge. (Yay!) And since they ship to Canada and the US, the giveaway is open to both Canadian and US residents. To enter to win, tell me something you’d like to see in the Sugar & Spice box or a future box in the comments below. This entry is mandatory.
For an additional entry, followย try small thingsย onย Facebookย and share this post, then tell me you did so and your name on Facebook in the comments below.
You may also tweet the following once per day and leave the url for your tweet in the comments below (one entry per tweet).
Sugar & Spice and all things nice: win a chance to try #TheTasteBox from @trysmallthingsย http://bit.ly/TheTasteBox CAN/US 11/6 ย
The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents 18+ and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on November 6, 2016.ย The potential winner must respond to prize notification within 48 hours, including the correct answer to a skill-testing question, otherwise another winner will be selected.
Update November 7, 2016: Congratulations Doris H!ย
Matt and Jenni sent me The Taste Box to try free of charge. All opinions are my own.
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