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Foodies, this is a call to grab your cutlery weapon of choice and head down to Shoreditch Boxpark on Saturday July 2. Like a siren song luring hungry Londoners on to the rocks, Ninja Kitchen has teamed up with chef and model Isaac Carew to deliver us a treat with a free 'Fast Foodi’ pop-up that ditches all the bad stuff often involved in eating things we like, but cunningly, retains all the deliciousness. The collaboration between the manufacturers of covetable kitchen gadgets like seven-speed blenders and air fryers and Carew, their culinary UK ambassador and author of ‘The Dirty Dishes: 100 Fast and Delicious Recipes’ is one to get us salivating. The chef explains:
‘There’s nothing better than good food done well, so when Ninja Kitchen UK invited me to host their Fast Foodi pop-up, I knew I couldn’t say no.
‘I have always said that “dirty” food doesn’t have to be unhealthy for you, which is why I love that Ninja is recreating fakeaways in the hope that they will encourage Brits to try something new in the kitchen. Food that’s better for you, saves money and doesn’t compromise on taste… what’s not to love?’
So, from noon on July 2, the first 500 Londoners lucky enough to be at the front of the pop-up queue will be able to try twists on classic takeaways, all cooked with Ninja’s appliances: kimchi beef burgers, vegan buffalo cauliflower bites, chicken tinga tacos, the moreish-sounding spicy halloumi fries and, for sweet-toothed addicts, salted chocolate fudge ice cream and vegan raspberry ice cream. The first 30 customers will be entered into a prize draw to win their own Ninja product, so they can recreate the ‘fakeaway’ dishes at home. Make sure you have access to the ’gram, though, as in order to claim their free food, visitors must post on Instagram (post or story), tagging @ninjakitchenuk.
The foodie pop-up and giveaway all sound mighty fine but there’s a sobering rationale behind the collab too. It comes from eye-opening new research commissioned by Ninja Kitchen last month in a poll of 2000 respondents which revealed that:
Nearly half of the UK (49%) eat takeaway food up to four times a week, despite (46%) believing that fast food is too expensive.
Adults under 25 spend on average a whopping £43 on deliveries and fast-food each week (that’s £2,580 a year), and more than 30 percent spend more now than pre-Covid. The worst culprits? Londoners are the UK’s biggest fast-food spenders. Time to delete those apps, perhaps?
And there was us thinking the reason we were always broke was the avo on toast and coffees we indulge in. Not the crippling rents and travel costs.
The hope is that the pop-up will inspire everyone to recreate tasty but healthier versions of their favourite takeaway meals quickly and easily, save some cash and perhaps splash out on some nice Ninja hardware too if they’re honest. Even if you can’t get to the pop-up or get your mitts on a Ninja appliance just at the mo, you can still try out the pop-up menu recipes at home. And as another bonus – no more awkward hearty convos with the delivery driver.
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