6 things we’d rather buy ready-made #2
We love cooking and we’re certainly not averse to making things like mayo or dukkah ourselves, but there are plenty of things we really won’t even attempt. These items go straight into the shopping cart.
Roti sheets
Sharon: “Roti sheets! There really are products that make life so much easier precisely because you don’t make them yourself. Roti sheets are a good example. A pack of three never costs more than €2.50, and they’re also delicious without roti. Just briefly fry one in a pan and it’s a sublime baguette equivalent alongside your plate of rice. And my housemates really mustn’t find this out, because they think I make every soup from scratch myself, but I love the soup kits from Appie. Add water, purée, add a little cream and you’re done. Oh, seriously, you think I’m lazy? Tssss….”
Sambal
Delilah: “Of course it’s great fun to get out your latex gloves and take on a mountain of chili peppers yourself, and a jar of homemade sambal or hot sauce makes me incredibly happy. But let me loose in an Asian supermarket and I’ll spend fifteen minutes by the sambal shelf, purring with happiness. And also: Adeline’s haaafurrrrmelk, because I’m such a fuss-pot that I get through litres of it in my coffee.”
Ready to rumble
Marcus: “I’m a big fan of Marqt’s takeaway meals. Such as the lemongrass chicken with rice or Surinamese roti. Or the unsurpassed rendang. Freshly made, fantastic flavour. And only €6, so you can hardly make it yourself for that price. In the same category: I always have soup from the Kleinste Soepfabriek at home. For the proverbial easy meal (home late, no inclination to cook, but still wanting to eat something good). My favourite: Tuscan shepherd’s soup.”
Passata
Lauretta: “Peeling tomatoes and removing the seeds isn’t exactly my favourite activity, which is why passata from a bottle or carton is the perfect solution. This silky smooth tomato sauce is perfect for that delicious Bolognese sauce or as a base sauce for pizza.”
Stock (part 1)
Sabina: “Always ready-made: stock cubes. Soup, sauce, stew—I happily add a cube of vegetable or herb stock. I even make risotto with stock from a cube. An Italian mushroom cube, of course, but still: a cube. Maybe this should be one of my resolutions for 2020. Something else I don’t make myself: smoked sausage.”
Stock (part 2 – as you can tell, we collectively refuse to make it)
Adeline: “Soup base. Because surely you don’t believe I have the patience to make stock from a cube. And pizza; preferably simply delivered, not bought and baked at home.”
Pastry wrappers
Steffi: “Although it sounds like great fun to make it myself one day, I’ve never made sausage myself. I also rarely make things like ravioli, gyoza and dumplings myself. I have tried, though, and it went well for a long time: beautiful dough, good filling. It all went wrong in the pan. All of them fell apart. Ravioli soup, anyone?”
Also read:
- 5 things we’d rather buy ready-made #1
- How to: make pickles yourself
- Super simple: make bubble tea yourself
