Our love affair with home cooked meals never seems to fade. That said, finding the time to cook at home can sometimes be challenging.

The solution? Behold the Cook revolution.

Founders Dale and Edward launched Cook back in 1997, providing homemade dishes which are prepared using the same ingredients and techniques that you would at home so that everything looks and tastes homemade. Even Queen of the British High Street, Mary Portas, was reported as saying: “Cook’s frozen meals look and taste like they’ve been home-cooked with love and flair!”

All Cook dishes are prepared by hand by their team of cooks in their Kent kitchen, and then frozen to lock in the natural flavours and nutrients. Everything they do is done with pride. The store in Westbourne is part of the Cook franchise which sells an assortment of upmarket frozen meals.

Dubbed as ‘remarkable food for your freezer’ you can chose from party essentials, family grub and everyday meals like shepherd’s pie, to lower calorie dishes, sides, takeaway, dishes for entertaining, puddings and cakes. Elaine Sullman has owned the franchise in Westbourne for three years. It is known as the cook’s cheat shop, so customers at Cook in Westbourne were relieved when the shop reopened its doors in December after flash floods brought the roof down last July. It offers home delivery to most BH postcodes and has just launched a ‘click and collect service’.

The Westbourne shop is a foodie’s delight where you can peruse a range of frozen dishes to allow you to be really flexible in your catering at home as you can mix and match dishes.

On my visit, I was on the hunt for a romantic meal for two, and what a delight it was. Our dinner date at home commenced with salmon terrine, £8.99 (defrost before serving). This flavoursome, light smoked salmon and trout mousse starter was topped with flakes of roasted salmon. It tasted incredibly fresh with generous portions of salmon running throughout.

For our main we had opted for roasted confit of duck, £10.99, serves two. Cooking from frozen, the aromas from the oven were mouth-watering. Cooked by James Parks, the confit duck legs were complemented beautifully with a juniper berry and orange zest sauce with cranberries. The meat fell of the bone and had a wonderful rich tang. Served alongside were dauphiniose potatoes, £2.99 – layers of thinly sliced potatoes baked in a divine creamy mature cheddar cheese sauce, cooked by Lewis Feaver; and braised red cabbage, £2.25 – red cabbage and bramley apples slowly braised in red wine and redcurrant jelly, cooked by James Parks.

In my book, nothing’s complete without a home cooked pudding. I highly recommend their Pavlovas. We devoured the Chocolate and Amaretti Pavlova, £7.99, or try their Salted Caramel (defrost before serving). This indulgent chocolate and Amaretti meringue roll was filled with whipped cream with a lovely hint of brandy and coffee. This was topped off with honeycomb ice cream, £4.99 a tub. This Artisan ice cream is described as the ‘the bee’s knees’ and it certainly is, sparkling with nuggets and handmade golden honeycomb.

If you’re time-deprived, entertaining or simply haven’t learnt to a standard that you’d be happy to cook for a dinner party then Cook is a brilliant solution – scrumptious, quality handmade meals, plus it lessens the washing up.

www.cookfood.net, Westbourne, 01202 765560