Recently we were sent a selection of Ilumi’s range of foods to review. Ilumi specialise in creating nut, gluten and milk free foods from quality ingredients. ‘Free From’ products can be uninspiring and often second best, as the replacement ingredient is inferior to the original. Also, it’s difficult to source quick and easy, ready meal products when you need to avoid certain ingredients. It’s this gap in the market that Ilumi is seeking to fill.
All the products are made by Ilumi themselves and they use quality ingredients from British suppliers. They create recipes which use safe ingredients rather than trying to make an allergen-free version of a dish. The food is delivered direct to your door, so Ilumi handle the whole process. Everything is conveniently packaged and doesn’t need to be kept refrigerated, so it’s very portable.
We tried out a range of dishes of different types and sizes. Inevitably, we liked some dishes more than others. I cooked a stir fry one night using the Sweet Chilli Stir Fry Sauce. The packet is really a generous one serving, but not quite enough to serve two we found. It’s a pleasant sauce and was easy to use. I had the Tom Kha Gai Soup for my lunch which was very tasty and had a subtly blended spicy flavour.
My husband tried out the ready meals: Chicken Cacciatora, a main dish from the range, was a bit disappointing. He served it up with some bread, but found the dish somewhat sparse in chicken. However, the complete meals went down very well. Both the Slow-Cooked Lamb Casserole and the Spanish Style Rice & Vegetables were very tasty and satisfying meals.
I think Ilumi’s food is a great idea for busy people with food allergies. It’s great to have some quick options for putting a meal together at home and to not have to worry about reading the packaging (although naturally the ingredients are fully listed and unusually on the front, rather than hidden round the back).
genius idea to tap into that market.