I'm quite partial to a tin of tomato soup and a roll for a light lunch at the weekend.
Usually buy Heinz, but the last tin was 82p from Tesco, so I decided to risk their own Value brand at 17p.
Having tried both, I can report there is very little difference.
The Tesco one is a little more tomatoey, and not in any way watery or cheap-tasting.
In a blind test, I expect a lot of people would choose it.
I know it's only pennies, but nearly five times the price is a lot pay for the premium brand, particularly when there's not a lot in the taste.
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Baxters Royal Game for me.
Pat
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Check the ingredients iffy - I've heard tell that the "basic" stuff has more salt and sat. fats than the branded stuff. I have to say paying 49p for a jar of peanut butter is attractive as is unbranded honey.
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...the "basic" stuff has more salt and sat. fats...
So that's why it tasted nice. :)
My experience of low-priced peanut butter is not so good.
Again, the ingredients give a clue.
The best ones are 99 per cent peanuts, the cheaper ones are bulked out with vegetable oil and other stuff.
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That's why it spreads so much better on my Lidl sourced, toasted German Rye bread....luverrly...!
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Wouldn't want to be downwind of you after that...
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Slightly better than the dog since I changed his diet !
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...That's why it spreads so much better on my Lidl sourced...
I had a pot of peanut butter from either Lidl or Aldi, can't remember which.
It was very good.
Made in the USA - the Americans ought to be good at making peanut butter.
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I would dread to think of the salt content in that soup, hence why its so cheap. I do buy some value range stuff, but I do always check to see what is in them.
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...I would dread to think of the salt content in that soup...
Rats,
Salt is not poison, it's seasoning, and enhances the flavour of many foods.
I usually grind a little salt and pepper into my soup, whatever I've paid for it.
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"Salt is not poison, it's seasoning, and enhances the flavour of many foods."
+1
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>> "Salt is not poison, it's seasoning, and enhances the flavour of many foods."
>> +1
-1
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It is poison when you have a lot of it though, it causes high blood pressure.
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...It is poison when you have a lot of it though, it causes high blood pressure...
You could say that about many things, alcohol for instance.
Everything in moderation.
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>> It is poison when you have a lot of it though, it causes high blood
>> pressure.
Allegedly!
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Why BUY soups when home-made are so easy & cheap to make?
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>>Why BUY soups when home-made are so easy & cheap to make?<<
Correct Sir! --- my neighb gave me 2 ginormous marrows, so I baked some to go with the roast, but I still had loadsa marrer left, so, I made sum soop with it and Mmmmmmmmmmm!
www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/1420/marrow-soup-recipe/
And
www.suite101.com/content/spicy-vegetable-marrow-soup-recipe-a65203 Ain't dun this one yet though.
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Which is why I do watch my calories and salt in take to a degree, what I mean is while I may still want a pie, I would choose the one with the least fat or salt on it. That way I can still eat bad foods but with more moderation.
Don't be me wrong, I am a northerner and I do eat like a typical one!
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>> Which is why I do watch my calories and salt in take to a degree,
>> what I mean is while I may still want a pie, I would choose the
>> one with the least fat or salt on it. That way I can still eat
>> bad foods but with more moderation.
Problem is though that it is the fat which is satisfying - you just end up eating 2 low fat pies instead! (Well I do anyway.)
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Which is how I can justify eating a full pizza, yes I know it contains 50% of my saturates, but I know I won't keep eating biscuits afterwards, so it evens out.
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...It is poison when you have a lot of it though...
Rats is right if you are unfortunate enough to be admitted to this hospital:
uk.news.yahoo.com/hospital-deaths-freed-nurse-may-sue-police-062011420.html
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>> ...It is poison when you have a lot of it though...
>>
>> Rats is right
>>
Made me smile - there's a joke there somewhere.
Rats are right ?
I'm waging war on rats at the moment, but they seem to be able to read the label.
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...I'm waging war on rats at the moment, but they seem to be able to read the label...
That's a bit like fighting the Taliban, you can inflict some casualties, but you'll never eradicate them entirely.
I think the hard winter last year did for a few rats at the caravan site.
And there are a couple of feral cats slinking about.
Not sure if they'd take on a rat, but I saw one dragging a dead squirrel, which is only a rat with a bushy tail, so perhaps the cats do take a few.
Last edited by: Iffy on Thu 8 Sep 11 at 08:52
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>>It is poison when you have a lot of it though, it causes high blood pressure.<<
It doesn't cause HBP, but if you have HBP too-much salt can cause fluid retention, thereby increasing the volume of blood which will affect BP.
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>> I had a pot of peanut butter from either Lidl or Aldi, can't remember which. It was very good
We've taken to getting most of our food from Aldi. Some things are missing. No equivalent of All Bran for instance. But very few items miss the taste/quality test and where they do it's down to difference (e.g. tomato pasta sauce) rather than being watery/wibbly like some of the value/basics stuf at tescbury's.
Aldi Baked Beans or Wensleydale cheese, as random examples, are much tastier than the Waitrose/Ocado equivalents.
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>> ...That's why it spreads so much better on my Lidl sourced...
>>
>> I had a pot of peanut butter from either Lidl or Aldi, can't remember which.
>>
>> It was very good.
>>
>> Made in the USA - the Americans ought to be good at making peanut butter.
>>
And defending their own airspace.
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if the own brand had less salt and fats added then they could sell it even cheaper?
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Wifey makes a big pan of vegetable soup every week. I like a tin of tomato now and again...even better if you get a Matteson's smoke pork sausage and toss a few 1 inch chunks into it.
Not recommended for veggies !
Ted
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>> Usually buy Heinz, but the last tin was 82p from Tesco, so I decided to
>> risk their own Value brand at 17p. I know it's only pennies ??????????
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Sorry folks - its got to be Baxters oXtail with Willow-buttered cold toast fingers o dip in!!
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In French supermarkets they have this fish soup in jars in the fridge, sort of wide-mouthed bottles.
Heat it up and have croutons with it, garlic if you like, and if your tastes go that way a bit of rouille or even harissa out of a tin. I like it anyway.
Not sure about tinned tomato soup really. It's OK but it doesn't taste of tomatoes. A friend in Spain (where actually you can get really good tomatoes fairly cheaply in season, not the hard tasteless things we so often get here) used to blanch some in boiling water to get their skins off and then whizz them up in the processor with a bit of olive oil and salt. Very nice for breakfast that is. You don't necessarily have to skin them and you can put in other things if you want - celery, onion, garlic, Worcester.
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Recently I have been buying 10kg trays of tomatoes for about €4.50 and making large quantities of Gazpacho (cold tom soup). The balance of tomatoes have been oven sun dried.
To get the best health benefits the tomatoes need to be cooked, with olive oil, probably because the lycopenes are then better absorbed when in solution in the oil.
Don't bother with removing the skins just vigorously blend, and sieve if you want the the seeds out.
PS the french fish soup is very good but VERY high in salt. Not cheap for the established brands.
Last edited by: pmh on Thu 8 Sep 11 at 07:22
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Just conducted a similar test when wondering if Heinz vegetable soup could really be worth 86p rather than Tesco own brand at half the price. The Tesco vegetable soup was horrible in comparison. Not tried the tomato though, might try and get some past the kids without them seeing the label for a blind testing.
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I've had Tesco own brand tomato soup, which as Fenlander says, is about half the price of Heinz.
I thought it had a very similar flavour to Heinz, but stopped buying it because it only seemed to be available in a king-size tin.
For his next experiment, I urge Fenlander to really scrape the bottom of the barrel and go for the 17p Value tin.
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The wife makes soup each Monday for our lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's absolutely delicious, especially when left to stand for 24 hours. This week she made mushroom, last week carrot and butter bean.
We occasionally throw caution to the wind and buy a couple of tins of Heinz tomato, but we avoid the awful tinned vegetable soups at all costs.
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>>>It's absolutely delicious, especially when left to stand for 24 hours<<<
interesting, because I have made the same observation with the tomato soup. Why ? Does is it slowly start to decay?
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...Does is it slowly start to decay?...
Could be, but the flavour of most properly made soups, stews, and curries develops and improves over time.
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If you can find tomate frito (a Spanish speciality, much like passata, but with added oil and seasoning), mix one pack with an equal quantity of milk. Heat well and you have a very good tomato soup.
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I knew this thread was going to end up with a recipe and cooking!
Pat
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>>I knew this thread was going to end up with a recipe and cooking!<<
Why not consider learning to cook Pat, it can be quite rewarding.
:)
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You of all people should know you can't teach an old dog new tricks!
Pat
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Tis a shame others aren't as unperturbed as you over TIC flippant remarks :)
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>> If you can find tomate frito...
That sounds like a good idea. I like home made tomato soup, but it takes longer to make than most others, and that's if you can get your hands on a few pounds of suitably ripened tomatoes.
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Thu 8 Sep 11 at 10:16
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I've never understood why Lidl in France don't sell German ryebread or bratwurst.
I am now drooling over the idea of a tin of Baxter's Royal Game with a big dash of sherry in it.
Sometimes exile can be a hard life...
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>>I've never understood why Lidl in France don't sell German ryebread or bratwurst.<<
Long memories?
There is a French camp site close by that will not take Germans. A student summer worker friend once let Germans in late at at night, (they said that they were Dutch), as an act of compassion, since they could not find anywhere else. Summarily evicted, ( nearly typed executed), next morning by the owner.
Last edited by: pmh on Thu 8 Sep 11 at 11:53
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Aldi appear to have a different product range in Scotland (local meat). Some of us in England would appreciate that too - particulalry if they could source Stornoway Black Pudding!!
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They have useful flat square sausage too in the Scottish supermarkets.
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Which did a big taste test with a good food guide chef to see if value v regular v premium are that different. I don't have the mag to hand, but basically meat is the one you want to avoid cheap stuff with. Apart from that, alot of products are little different.
Like others, I love the cheap German supermarkets (our local is Lidl); in Which tests, they regularly do very well, competing with premium brands. As has been said, they do lack some products, but what they have is cheap but not budget!
Alex.
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Lidl, and Aldi, are limited in what they sell. Their fresh fruit and veg is also of poor quality compared to that sold in Waitrose for example.
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...Their fresh fruit and veg is also of poor quality compared to that sold in Waitrose for example...
I find Lidl and Aldi apples and bananas as good as any.
The basic displays mean the stuff doesn't look as good, and they are out of stock more times than the major supermarkets I visit.
My major gripe is I can't get on with either Lidl or Aldi longlife skimmed milk, although the fresh is fine.
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>> ...Their fresh fruit and veg is also of poor quality compared to that sold in
>> Waitrose for example...
>>
>> I find Lidl and Aldi apples and bananas as good as any.
>>
>> The basic displays mean the stuff doesn't look as good, and they are out of
>> stock more times than the major supermarkets I visit.
Ok a "For Example".
I like to make my own Guacamole, and for this you need good quality ripe Avocados. No chance at Lidl or Aldi.
I want to make a Catalan Chicken, some good frozen chicken thighs and some Smoked Cayenne pepper? Not at Aldi or Lidl.
I can only use them for the unusual or the exotic surprisingly*, or if I only wanted to live on frozen chips and third rate fishfingers.
* which is ironic, I doubt the average lardo Aldi shopper I see in there knows what to do with very good quality cheap balsamic vinegar or the excellent pitted sliced olives in brine on the shelves.
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...you need good quality ripe Avocados...
Strange to relate, I've just bought three avocados from Lidl.
I judge them to be good quality, but not yet ripe.
Avocado is an example of something that's often not there.
And how you tell when an avocado is ripe could be a thread of its own.
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And how you tell when an avocado is ripe could be a thread of its own.
Please, God, no (and I am a believer).
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...Please, God, no (and I am a believer)...
I know Pat finds some of my food-related threads tiresome, but when a mod agrees as well, perhaps I should listen.
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>> Aldi appear to have a different product range in Scotland (local meat). Some of us
>> in England would appreciate that too - particulalry if they could source Stornoway Black Pudding!!
Tesco have local product ranges too, they had some cracking lamb steaks in Wales, not to be seen in England.
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>> >>>It's absolutely delicious, especially when left to stand for 24 hours<<<
>>
>> interesting, because I have made the same observation with the tomato soup. Why ? Does
>> is it slowly start to decay?
I think its because the flavours infuse. I make chile before its required to be eaten, it tastes a whole lot better 24 hours later. I season my steaks at least an hour before they get a lick of the flame.
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...I season my steaks at least an hour before they get a lick of the flame...
Most fresh food, especially meat, tastes better if cooked from room temperature, rather than straight out of the fridge.
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A tale of two soups - Pat
