Lauren’s editor’s note: This review has been complete since mid October but I just realized I never set it to publish. So please excuse our tardiness in publishing this Taste Trunk blog! I’VE HAD A LOT GOING ON, OK? 🙂
My will is weak. While I was writing a post about which subscription boxes I want, I convinced myself to sign up for Taste Trunk. Each month Taste Trunk sends you one of four boxes (your choice each month) full of gourmet foods and fun cooking stuff. You have the choice between Gourmet, BBQ, Sweet, and Healthy. Each box is packed (and I mean packed) full of items focused on which style of box you chose.
For my first box, I chose Gourmet. I knew I would like it, but I didn’t know I would love it. Taste Trunk just won the battle for my heart, and is now one of my favorite boxes ever. It doesn’t hurt that my fiance enjoyed the box as much as I am, so now we have a box that we subscribe to (and look forward to) together!
I had read some spoilers about the October box online (I can’t help myself), and I was really disappointed with the items in those boxes – one included mayo, literally the one food I won’t eat – so I was bummed right up until I opened my own box and discovered that it was completely different and perfectly perfect for me. How many boxes can you say that about?
The box arrived looking like an old vintage trunk, which is a pretty cute touch. The box was really carefully wrapped, and everything arrived in perfect shape. One of the items was extremely heavy (more on that later), so I was grateful everything was individually wrapped in bubble wrap. Each item was a full sized product too, no samples here. They also included a cool packet of description cards for each item, which was a really welcomed touch! Already off to a great start, and I didn’t spot that dreaded jar of mayo anywhere (phew). Here’s what I got when I unwrapped it all:
Himalayan Salt Block – $39.95 – I’m estimating all the prices based on what I can find online because they weren’t listed on the description cards. This is by far the coolest thing I’ve gotten in a subscription box lately. First of all, it has to weigh like 15lb. The shipping could not have been cheap on this box, but it was included in my monthly box price. If you’re not familiar with salt blocks, they are used for both cooking and serving, and they are really easy to clean and maintain. You can heat the blocks and use them to sear meat/veggies, you can bake fish on them, you can put them right on your grill and cook things that way too. They’re also popular to serve sushi, cheese, and charcuterie on. Anyway, this is a really cool thing to include in the box.
Cucina & Amore Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Alla Siciliana – $4.95 – I am a sucker for a good sauce, especially a versatile good sauce. We make a lot of pasta dishes because we work long hours and don’t have a ton of time to make food. It’s fast and easy for us to throw together some pasta and call it a meal. This sauce looks like it would go well on sandwiches and eggs (if you don’t put some tomato sauce on your eggs, you’re missing out on something amazing) as well as a scoop on some fresh pasta or on a pork chop. I don’t anticipate this pesto to last more than than a couple of days, and the ingredients are simple and good. The little info card came with a recipe idea for using the sauce, so that was pretty cool too.
Two Snooty Chefs Salmon Chemise – $5.95 – Based on the ingredients, this salmon rub looks like it would be good on just about any meat. It’s got a sweet/spicy thing going on, and that sounds tasty. We eat a lot of rainbow trout (it’s one of the only kinds of fish that we both really like), so this will probably be sprinkled on a few trout filets in the coming week. I want to reiterate that these items were all full-sized. Usually when I get a spice rub in a box, it’s a little sample bag of it, good for one use tops. This tin is pretty large, and I will definitely get many uses out of it. The value of this box is pretty impressive.
Willamette Valley Mustards Aioli Garlic Mustard Sauce – $5.95 – This is the one item in the box that I won’t use (see above for weird mayo phobia), but Brian definitely will. Reviews say it is basically a garlic spread, but the fact that there are mayo ingredients (egg yolk, vinegar, oil), means I won’t touch it. Garlic spread does sound delicious though, and if I had less of a thing about mayo I would probably enjoy it quite a bit. Suffice it to say, it will be thoroughly enjoyed and will not go to waste, just not by me. Also, this is WAY better sounding than the bottle of mayo I saw in another reviewer’s box. Just saying. Brian says he will probably be using this as a spread on sandwiches, which seems reasonable.
Elki Piquillo Jalapeno Bruschetta – $6.95 – I’ve said this before, but I LOVE PIQUILLO PEPPERS. They’re the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, and they have great texture. Brian and I both are chile heads – we love spicy foods and using lots of different peppers when we cook. This sauce sounds like it would be great on meat, on tacos, or even just on bread (it’s a bruschetta sauce after all). Hmmmmm, yesss… I’ve got big plans for this jar. Big plans.
I am going to give this box a great big A for being awesome. I paid $26.25 for this box (you can get 20% off your subscription price if you sign up now!), and it was worth around $64 for things that I would probably have bought myself. The garlic aioli will still get used, just not by me (everything else in the box more than makes up for that one item being gross). Like I said, this is one of my new favorite boxes, and I can’t wait to see what November’s box has in it!
If you’re interested in trying Taste Trunk, sign up now to get 20% off your subscription! You can switch between the Gourmet Trunk (featured here), the BBQ Trunk, the Sweet Trunk and the Healthy Chef. Definitely worth it for some tasty treats!
xoxo
Jill