Tag Archives: Try the World

Try The World: Paris Box

(c) 2011 Michelle Kenneth

My latest Try the World box is the Paris Box.  Who doesn’t love French food?

This box included La Mère Poulard sablés (cookies), Maison D’Armorine salted butter caramels, Domaine Des Vignes whole grain mustard, Charles Antona Corsican cherries and thyme jam, Clément Faugier chestnut spread, Flagrants Désirs dark chocolate bar with raspberry and two fruit jellies.

The whole grain mustard uses vinegar produced from grapes (similar to dijon) from the Vineyard at Domaine des Vignes.  The difference between whole grain and dijon depends on the vinegar (or wine) used and the fact that the whole grain mustard is not completely grounded down like dijon.

Whole grain mustard is a bit of a staple in any foodie kitchen, especially if you’re cooking up a lot of French food.  When recipes call for dijon, I prefer to use the whole grain mustard in its stead.

The sablés (cookies) are made with only 5 ingredients.  The salted butter comes from Brittany.  La Mère Poulard is a famous restaurant and bakery located in Mont-Saint Michel.  Notables such as Ernest Hemingway and Yves Saint Laurent have visited this restaurant.

All in all, I really liked this box and the Venice Box.  Both curated boxes are spot on for the essentials one needs in their kitchen from these two regions.  They also pick the best sweets to add to the box.

My little guy, Matthew, can attest to that.  He was a little spoiled with his first subscription box from Kitnip.  He assumed this new subscription box belonged to him as well.  He started sorting through it before I could finish taking everything out of the box.  He was pretty determined there was something in this box for him [no, he wasn’t playing in the red filler, he was pulling the food out of the box].

He even tried to open up the mustard thinking that must be where his treats are [he has thumbs, so he knows how to open up jars…at least ones that were previously opened].  We didn’t discover what he could have until I opened up the caramels this morning and took a bite out of one.  It was so buttery and good, I thought he’d like to try it, so I gave him a little piece.  The way his eyes lit up with pleasure…I think his determination was correct…there was indeed something in this box for him, too.

Here’s a look at all of the goodies in the Paris Box:

If you’d like to order your own Try the World box, you can get $15 off your first box by subscribing HERE.

Subscription Box: Try The World

There are a lot of subscription box services out there lately, but nothing that is as close to representing the foodie side of “Perfectionist Wannabe” as the Try The World box service.

I got my first box a couple of weeks ago and I have to say…I am beyond impressed with what you get for $39.

My first curated box had a “Venice” theme.  Included in it were a lot of food items representing the region…and food items that any Italian foodie should already have stocked in their pantry.  But then again, some of this stuff is hard to find unless you get it directly from an Italian food market.

I loved everything about this box, especially the Dark Chocolate Limoncello.  I try to eat dark chocolate for health reasons, but it’s always too bitter and not a pleasant experience.  This Perugina chocolate bar was just right and delightful.

The black truffles and mushrooms were a surprise.  I had ordered the Oeuf Mimosa (truffle and caviar deviled eggs) at Todd English’s Ca Va Brasserie in NYC a couple of weeks ago.  It had a very distinguished taste to it.  Opening up this can of truffles and I found the main ingredient to the Oeuf Mimosa.

I tried this in some couscous to add a little flavor.  Just a little bit can go a very long way.

The Spaghettata mixture of herbs was a delight.  I warmed it up in some oil, added some bell peppers, sweet bell peppers and sun-dried tomatoes (that I picked up in Venice) then tossed in some spaghetti and parmesan cheese for a satisfying meal during the Super Bowl.

The sweet onion pesto included in the box, I put on top of tilapia.  It was so simple and, oh so delicious.

What I like about this box is that it allows you to try out new ingredients from different areas of the world.  It’s also not too expensive and you get qualitative ingredients to experiment with.  Each box comes with a few recipes to try and an informational background on the region.

The box is delivered every two months for $39.  If you’re interested in joining, you can get $15 off of your first box by clicking HERE.  {If you pre-pay, it’s cheaper.}

I’m looking forward to seeing what my next box has in store.

Have you tried “Try the World?”  If so, what did you think?