Delicious Frozen Ready Meals
What does a leading event caterer with a glittering 35-year history do when the world turns upside down? It uses its ingenuity and creativity to develop and launch a new food delivery brand, of course, offering frozen dishes, handmade in its kitchens, delivered to the doorstep.
Based in SW18, By Word of Mouth is a specialist event and wedding caterer with an incredible reputation.
For more than 30 years, the company has dished up exceptional food that pushes the boundaries of quality, creativity and style at some of the glitziest parties and events across the world, so when I heard that they had turned their talented hands to home delivery, I was excited, to say the least.
It’s hard to make freezer food look sexy – BWoM’s blue and white packaging is sleek and stylish but other than that, it looks like a freezer meal through and through. The contents, however, were some of the finest frozen meals I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.
In contrast to the fine dining dishes that the business is known for, the At Home menu takes inspiration from the food that the team love to eat during their downtime; dishes such as salmon en croute, Thai green chicken curry, beef and Guinness stew and more, as well as a selection of sides and some nutritious options for kids, featuring cunningly hidden vegetables.
My first freezer foray was the smoked haddock, hake and prawn fish pie with flat-leaf parsley and cheddar mash, and it was packed with flavour; lots of lovely fresh lemon and smoky fish, combined with a rich mash that deliciously smooth and cheesy. It was divine.
I also tried the vegan jackfruit enchiladas with roasted peppers, red onion and a spiced tomato sauce. Again, there was so much flavour – I am not a massive jackfruit fan (it’s a texture thing) but it was cooked and seasoned beautifully, and all the different textures came together to create a really tasty, satisfying dish.
The absolute star of the show was the aubergine parmigiana, with spiced tomato and vegetarian Italian hard cheese.
Quite honestly, it was beautiful – the tomato sauce was rich and tangy whilst the aubergine – oh, the aubergine! It was aubergine at its best – soft, creamy, and perfectly cooked, and absolutely loads of it. As I type, I wish that I had another in the freezer for tonight.
The sweet treats didn’t fail to impress either – the English strawberry madeleine with white chocolate and vanilla cream simply needed defrosting and was the light, sweet, summery pudding of dreams (and also beautifully presented with an edible, pink BWoM logo on top), whereas the apple and rhubarb crumble was beautifully spiced, oh so comforting, and completely irresistible.
In the past, freezer meals in my home have been reserved for times of convenience only, these meals, however, are ones that I would really look forward to eating.
Orders can be placed online www.bywordofmouth.co.uk/at-home. Initial delivery areas are SW1-20, W1-14, TW1-14, KT1-10 with more areas being added over the next few months.
