Urban Locavore - not just a box of locally WA produced food!

I had the pleasure of receiving one of the very first Urban Locavore tasting boxes, personally hand-made and delivered by Paul Kilmurray, the passionate WA foodie behind this new Perth business which supports locally made food and the environment.

Paul said that Urban Locavore is about discovering and sharing the best of WA’s local foods and at the same time, appreciating that by choosing to buy locally we can make a difference to the environment. Each month, Paul hand picks a selection of locally produced products and offers them online as a tasting box for $49.95 plus $5 for shipping via the Urban Locavore website.

I was excited to receive my first Urban Locavore box which was packaged in a repurposed box from Betta Boxes and decorated with straw from City Farmers…

And it didn’t take very long for me to pull it apart - I love opening packages!

As I unwrapped the contents of my box, Paul explained to me that the word “locavore” actually goes back to the 2005 World Environment Conference held in San Francisco where it was proposed by four women that local residents should try to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius to minimise the impact on the environment caused by the transport of food (more on what locavore means here). The locavore movement has since became a trend across the states and inspired Paul (a web developer by day) to start it up here in Perth after returning from travelling just two months ago.

I was very happy with the selection of foodie goodness in my Urban Locavore tasting box! I snacked on the Quinzac from the gluten free cookie company as I was cooking the vesuvio ricotta & spinach ravioli. It was super sweet and crunchy, just the way I like my Anzac biscuits!

The hand-made ricotta and spinich ravioli were delicious! I haven’t tasted anything like it before and it comes pretty close to burger boy’s Italian mamma’s ravioli - though my parmesan creamy sauce doesn’t compare with her delicious homemade tomato sauce 😉

One bite and I could tell burger boy was pretty happy to have me at home with him over the Christmas break!

I found Eden Gate’s Blueberry Velvet topping very intriguing and I did gave away the last few raviolis on my plate to burger boy to make room for blueberry velvet ice-cream but I was still full from the ravioli so it’ll have to wait! According to the back of the jar you just shake it and pour the topping over ice-cream, waffles, cheesecake, pancakes…anything you want. I think it’d be great with crepes!

Then there was the Rochelle Adonis rose petal barberry pistachio nougat which looks way too good to eat! The nougat is a combination of organic rose petals, barberries, pistachios and white chocolate…

And I can’t wait to make chili con carne with the Purely Mexican Salsa Mexicana and a chicken green curry using Turban Chopsticks Thai Green Curry. Will have to see how it compares to my Mae Ploy green curry paste in the pantry. Turban Chopsticks green curry is homemade, vegetarian, gluten free, has no artificial preservatives and locally produced so it’ll be a tough competition!

The Salsa Mexicana is burger boy’s pick of the box (you can vote for yours on Urban Locavore - mine’s the Gluten Free Cookie Company’s taken on the Anzac Biscuit)! If you’ve read my Mad Mex review, you’ll know burger boy has been going crazy for Mexican of late!

Inside the box which I was unable to take a photo of, was a smoked trout, eyes and all! I was going to get burger boy to remove the trout from the box for me but Paul kindly offered to place it in an opaque bag for me 😉 thanks Paul - I’ll be taking it to my mum’s tonight. I’m sure my mum & bro will love it but those of you who have been following my blog will know that I freak out at the sight of any foods that resembles where they came from i.e. chicken wings, whole fish, whole prawns…). So if you want to see what the trout looks like visit the Urban Locavore website.

You can buy this month’s Urban Locavore tasting box via their website - only 100 were produced and they were down to 69 this afternoon. Paul has said that he can deliver in time for Christmas too if you’re looking for a last minute Christmas gift.

If anyone has tips on best dishes to cook with my Salsa Mexican and Thai Green Curry please comment!