We’re subscribing to Linas Matkasse meal kits again, since spring/early summer, and liking it a lot. The whole setup is very convenient. Cooking an entire dinner with no planning and no shopping is such a time-saver.

Each week there are a lot of recipes to choose from, and we never struggle to find things we like. It’s fun to cook and eat recipes that we otherwise wouldn’t think of. We like some of them more than others, but haven’t disliked a single one. We’re saving a lot of the recipes for later reuse. A few have ingredients that might be hard to source elsewhere – such as dry falafel mix, or pre-prepared korma spice mix – but most only use stuff you can find in any supermarket.

The one thing that doesn’t always work out well is the heat level. Lina’s chefs like a lot more chilli in their food than we do. They send us these little sachets of chilli flakes, one teaspoon each. The recipes sometimes use the whole teaspoon, sometimes half. We use half at most – but more likely none, and replace it with sambal oelek. Flavour-wise it’s not quite the same thing as the flakes, because it’s got that vinegary touch, but I like it better in most dishes. Because the chilli in it is crushed, it makes for a smoother, more even result, with fewer fiery explosions in the mouth.

As a result, the little baggies of chilli flakes keep piling up, to the point where I’m struggling to find space for them in my spice drawer. I think I might take them to the office and try to give them away to people.