I had to read the headine several times, and double check the glam product photo accom-panying the new product review, before laying fingers to keys for this one… What is Dayia Herb & Garlic, really? And is there really such a thing as premium Boxed Mac and Cheese?
If it looks like boxed dry Mac & Cheese mix, and sounds like boxed dry Mac & Cheese mix… is it anything more than boxed dry Mac & Cheese mix? Albeit, maybe really ‘better’ class dry Mac & Cheese mix?
I’m saying ‘nope’, even without trying it. And I’ll get to ‘why’ in a moment. First of all… ‘What’, exactly is it?
So… What exactly is it?
It’s Dayia boxed ‘nearly instant dinner’ – a line of three upscale, luxe one-pan sides, “made with dairy-free cheese and gluten-free pasta,” and, “uses dry powdered dairy-free cheese.”
Even with the ‘healthy’ claims and nutritional swooshes up front, more time is spent on Dayia’s flavour profile in the promo literature:
“Dehydrated garlic and chives ensure that this rendition of the brand’s boxed mac and cheese is infused with aromatic, herbal notes,” Food & Wine reports. “Just like its other flavors of boxed mac and cheese, Dayia relies on torula yeast (a deactivated yeast) for the cheesy, umami flavor in its quick pasta”
Make it for company?
The idea is, you can serve this fancy pasta for company with appropriate protein in it or or on the side, presenting it as a side or a main.
My main objection is, the Dayia folks are insinuating neither you nor your guests will notice it’s really just boxed instant pasta.
The first three Dayia premium instant pastas were sure-winner flavours: (”Original’ Yellow) Cheddar, White Cheddar and Aged Cheddar. But this new one is a departure from the safety zone. (It’s ‘Herb & Garlic Mac & Cheese’.)
A tendency to simplify…
Now… My old-school journalists’s brain tends to want to simplify fancy or complicated concepts to make them easy for the broadest audience I can expect to understand.
This time it made the instant jump from luxe Mac & Cheese to boxed, dry Macaroni Alfredo.
And, as such, what’s so fancy about that?
A quick Check confirmed that the price is fancy, in line with the product hype: “A single box of Dayia’s Herb & Garlic Mac & Cheese is priced at (US)$2.97 at Walmart, and a bundled option of three boxes is available for $8.91.”
The last time I paid that much for ‘classic Kraft Mac & Cheese’ was… Never!
What was the rationale?
I ha to ask: What was the rationale for creating a high-end product in an low-end foramat? An infinite-shelf-life, dry-boxed, powdered-sauce format pretty much the whole world associates with starving college students.
I may still be missing something. Can somebody help straighten me out on this? While you’re looking for someone…
My take
I have an added layer of stigma, being in the business, knowing that when resto folks have to default to ‘cheap’ or convenience foods – because they have too small a kitchen, too few staff, or too little cooking expertise to fulfill their menus – they routinely resort to, or even plan to use, a frozen prepared product. In fact, some prepared food makers specialize in products designed for resto applications… (See photo, top of page: Can you tell the difference?)
Even if cheating on scratch-made at home – regardless of whether I was cooking just for me, for me and family, or for me family and guests – I think I could do better than a dry-packaged Mac and Cheese dish…
Along my culinary way, I’ve had more than one instructor, resto-owner, and chef-employer explain why anyone who wants to be a successful restaurateur needs, above all else, to respect the food. I feel it’s important to suggest that Dayia should consider respecting food more…
~ Maggie J.