Platter boxes have proved extremely popular in recent months, so Brian Stormont decided to see what all the fuss was about.
One of the happier things to emerge from the last nine months and being locked down has been the emergence of a huge number of local people doing amazing foodie things.
The rise of the afternoon tea platter box is without doubt something that shines a positive light on the dreadful time everyone has endured during the coronavirus pandemic.
The ethos behind the platter box is simple.
Small businesses and some one-person enterprises have a few choices of boxes available, including both sweet and savoury treats.
You simply choose what you what you would like, contact them by phone or through their website or Facebook page, arrange when you would like the box, pay them and sit back and await the delivery of some delicious homemade food.
Homemade delights
Now, for me, this is the most part of the platter box for me – everything is homemade.
Coming from a background where I had a gran baking absolutely incredible cakes and creating delicious desserts and a mother who could turn out anything you wanted in the kitchen, I continually strive to reach their level but it’s never going to happen.
Therefore, it’s great to know that there are some small businesses out there who can do it for me and at a very reasonable cost.
At the weekend, we decided to give this a go and it is safe to say we were not disappointed.
During a recent virtual Christmas night market, Forfar-based Feed Me Full were one of the many excellent businesses taking part so we took the plunge and ordered not one, but two of their boxes.
Pre-Christmas surprise
They offer a great range of food that is delivered to your door and we opted for the afternoon tea box for two and ordered a festive box for my wife’s mum as a wee pre-Christmas surprise.
The boxes were duly delivered at exactly the time they were promised.
Our afternoon tea box included six sandwiches – cheese, ham salad and egg mayonnaise, two sausage rolls, an enormous Scotch egg (halved), two pieces of carrot cake, two slabs of Crunchie rocky road and two amazing mini chocolate orange pavlovas.
There were some similar items in the festive box, with a few differences, such as a mince pie (of course), mini quiche and a pig in blanket which was a nice touch.
I was absolutely delighted with the quality of the food in our box which was great value at £12, with the festive box coming in at £10.
It was easy to tell that everything in the platter box had been made fresh that day.
I am more of a savoury person than sweet toothed and the Scotch egg and sausage roll I thought initially were the stars of the show, but the chocolate orange mini pavlova topped them, even for me.
It was a joy, full of fresh cream, mandarin orange segments and topped off with a Chocolate Orange it was absolutely stunning.
Thrilled
Although it was for two, we added a couple of things of our own – spring rolls and onion rings – and it comfortably fed all three of us.
My mother-in-law was thrilled to receive her box and she was on the phone only a few minutes after receiving it already tucking into her treats.
She, too, was full of praise for the quality of the items in her platter box and it is safe to say we will certainly be ordering again.
Feed Me Full who we ordered from are based in Angus but deliver throughout the country area. However, there are lots of small businesses offering the same service and my colleague Julia Bryce has compiled an article on them here.
