HelloFresh + Friends create the Rachel Green Trifle Kit
A History of Friendsgiving
Officially added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in January 2020, Friendsgiving blends the words “friends” and “Thanksgiving” to describe a holiday that’s all about gathering with your friends or chosen family. For many, it represents an alternative to a traditional Thanksgiving while for others, it’s a chance to add a second, special meal to their holiday calendars.
The rise in the popularity of Friendsgiving is still relatively recent and according to an article in The Atlantic, there were barely any internet searches for the term between the years of 2004 and 2012. Interest grew in 2013, followed by a small spike in November 2014 and then, massive spikes for the next three Novembers thereafter.
Today, a quick search for the hashtag #friendsgiving on Instagram yields a result of over 1.9 million posts—proving that this holiday is here to stay.
A HelloFresh Twist on an Iconic Friends Recipe
Tune in to watch Friends trivia with our own Chef Christina!
While Merriam-Webster traces the word back to a tweet from 2007, many fans of Friendsgiving choose to instead give credit to the hit TV show, Friends. In Season 1, Episode 9: “The One Where the Underdog Gets Away,” the crew comes together for their first Friendsgiving after their holiday family plans fall apart.
One of the most memorable moments (seen here) is when Rachel attempts to make an English trifle, inevitably mixing it with a recipe for Shepherd’s pie, a chef blunder caused by her cookbook pages being stuck together.
“It’s got all of these layers,” Rachel says, “First, there’s a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then custard, which I made from scratch. Then raspberries, more ladyfingers, then beef sautéed with peas and onions. Then more custard, and then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top.”
The Rachel Green Trifle Kit includes ingredients to create Rachel’s original Shepherd’s pie infused trifle recipe alongside a classic English trifle
At HelloFresh, we have a lot of Friends fans on the team (enjoy our fun Friends trivia video here), which is why we couldn’t resist giving Rachel’s culinary mishap a modern twist with our Rachel Green Trifle Kit. However, our kit includes ingredients to create Rachel’s original Shepherd’s pie infused trifle recipe alongside a classic English trifle.
We sat down with Culinary Development Manager, Michelle Doll Olson, to learn a bit more about how she took an iconic recipe and brought it to life in this creatively delicious kit.
HF: Can you talk about the inspiration behind the meal kit? How and why was it created?
MDO: We all loved watching Friends growing up! I’m sure it had a big impact on me wanting to move to NYC. The Thanksgiving episode is hilarious. Giving someone carte blanche to be in charge of a big meal was a huge risk and it turned out bonkers with Rachel’s version. We wanted to make a version that held onto her vision of anything good should be good together, but to make it actually delicious and obtainable no matter what level of culinary expertise you have.
HF: How did you take the iconic recipe and adapt it for HelloFresh? What’s different and what’s the same?
MDO: Well, there aren’t any peas or bananas in our recipe. Other than that I feel like it’s pretty true to the original—this time with the sweet on one side and savory on the other. It’s still Shepherd’s pie and a trifle but no “feet taste” is evoked.
HF: What challenges in adapting this recipe were most difficult to tackle?
MDO: The trifle for sure. We tried to create a few versions of the trifle, but ended up with a very traditional version using soft ladyfingers (so they’d meld in the trifle faster) and an instant custard with our in-house mixed berry jam. I love making pastry cream, but tempering eggs in a tricky custard felt a little arduous after making the Shepherd’s pie. We experimented with a ton of instant custards until I found the most delicious one. We also used freeze-dried raspberries for the top, since shipping fresh raspberries would be a challenge.
You can read more about the Rachel Green Trifle Kit in recent articles from Food & Wine and Pure Wow. And make sure to try it yourself at your upcoming Friendsgiving gatherings!
“I hope people have as much fun making this and eating it as I did,” Michelle adds, “I think I’ve tested 10 different versions. Dream job!”
