Tesco Finest - Winter Cranberry Pork Pie - proper Christmas Treat [@Nli10]

Ah Christmas.  My family take the same view as me in that it's a time for buying the slightly better versions of things - so on Xmas day proper we sat down to this beast of a pork pie and it was great.  The end.

Except they still had them in the supermarkets in between Yuletide and New Year so we bought another to tempt our 98 year old Nanna into having a few more vitamins than usual.  And it worked.

Both the topping and the pastry are glorious, and even the jelly layer is high quality.

I suppose the meat must be too - but I'm used to my dad's home made pies with all kinds of fruit and decent cuts of meat inside so this is still a little tame.  

Overall though well worth the festive double dip and I think I've still got a quarter to finish today with my NY Day leftovers plate.  Huzzah!

 

Swiss Milk Chocolate With Maple & Walnut (@Tesco Finest) [By @Cinabar]

I picked up this bar before Christmas as part of the indulgent grocery shop that is traditional at that time of year. In not sure how it got forgotten, but finding it after a busy day at work was a bit of a bonus, like when you put an old cost on and discover a five pound note hiding in the pocket.
I've said it a million times but I'm a big fan of chocolate and nuts plus I have a sweet tooth, so my reasons for picking this bar were obvious. I also like the identity crisis this bar had; it consisted of maple syrup and walnuts which are very American or Canadian in their nature, made with finest Swiss chocolate all for sale in Dudley, England. Dudley may not sound like the height of sophistication but believe me the Tesco there is epic.
Anyway I decided to finally try the bar out. The chocolate was quite thin with large flat pieces, the kind of size where only having a couple of them still means you get a decent portion.
The base chocolate is wonderfully thick and smooth in its melt. It has a very soothing sweet flavour with a mild creamy chocolate taste. The walnut bits are small, but they are plentiful and give the bar a gentle crunch with every bite. They add to the flavour, it's a distinctive nut and its woody tang works well with the chocolate. The maple enhanced the walnut taste and adds a little boost of extra sugar for those of us with a sweet tooth.
This is a soothing bar of chocolate, perfect for spending a cold night in with in front of the telly. The flavours are well developed and it's a lovely lavish twist on a classic chocolate and nut bar.

By Cinabar

Beef Bourguignon Crisps #loveeverymouthful (@TescoFood Finest) [By @Cinabar]

Although I have been trying a few Christmas flavours of crisps, I still couldn't resist picking up these beef ones when I saw them. I love meaty flavours of crisps, and these sounded like they had a nice twist to make them a bit special. They were also a bit of a break from the turkey flavour ones I’ve been eating!
I've tried a lot beef crisps that claim to have a hint of something else with them, and on a numbers of occasions I've been disappointed to discover all I could taste was beef. When I opened up this bag the aroma did seen to be that of a quite generic flavour, and I was a little worried as I poured them out to share. They did look nice though, large crisps all sprinkled with a hint of brown seasoning.
It turns out that I needn't have been worried on the taste front. Once I properly tried one the flavour that came through was most impressive. It was rich, and very much that of a meaty stew made with a glass of red wine in the sauce for good measure. It was actually a wow moment after my first bite. There was a hint of gravy, and it was quite a complex and tasty sets of flavours.
The base crisp was lovely too, nicely crunchy, without being overly hard. The flavour of the sauce was spot on, there was a proper depth to it, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them. As fan of the meaty flavours, these will definitely be on my shopping list again.

By Cinabar

Cumberland Sausage & Wholegrain English Mustard Crisps #loveeverymouthful (@TescoFood Finest) [By @Cinabar]

I have spotted a lot of turkey flavour crisps out at the minute but I still have an eye out for flavours I haven't tried before and I managed to spot these in Tesco. I love crisps with a rich meaty taste, ironically turkey flavour is a firm favourite of mine, but the idea of some added meaty spice made these really appeal.
Once the bag was open the aroma was heavy with spice and herbs and it made me look forward to the crisps. They had a good crunch, and were of a medium thickness. They felt nice to bite into without being too firm and sharp. The flavour though was quite something, it was rather full on.
The initial hit on the taste buds is very much that of pepper, followed by the distinct flavour of pork. Here the complexities of the flavour kick in further, and under the heavy spice and pepper I could detect herbs; sage in particular, and somewhere in the background a hint on mustard. Given the name of these crisps and the fact that it is supposed to be English mustard I did expect that specific flavour to be stronger, but you can't for a minute accuse these of lacking in taste. They are heady with flavour and a warmth from the seasoning that leaves a tingle on the taste buds even after each crisp is finished.
In short I thoroughly enjoyed these crisps, but they came across more as spicy sausage rather than with mustard; the bag still didn't last long though!

By Cinabar

Baked British Gammon With Winter Berries Crisps #loveeverymouthful @Tesco Finest [By @Cinabar]

It's the time of year when all the Christmas goodies are appearing in the shops, and this means that the seasonal edition crisps are in stock! Okay there are a fair few brands that have the obligatory turkey flavour, but this new variety from Tesco Finest sounded even better. Baked British Gammon With Winter Berries Crisps!
We eagerly opened up the pack to share and could immediately smell some rich meaty aromas. The crisps were fairly thickly cut, they had a nice crunch without being too hard. The flavour was really good, interesting and complex. The ham taste was the first part to appear, it was distinctively that of gammon, with a nice salty meaty flavour, that almost seemed to have a hint of smokiness.
What followed was the fruity aftertaste, I swear I could pick up on a hint of orange, but it wasn't mentioned on the ingredients list. What was clearly there was the Christmas classic cranberry sauce, which worked rather nicely with the meat flavour. The mellow meat taste was enhanced by the zingy acidic fruit that followed, and it gave these crisps the complexity of the flavour. There was also a subtle herby background which gave even more depth.
These crisps turned out to be rather moreish, and the packet didn't last long at all. They were a lovely way of representing a different sort of Christmas crisps. You could just imagine the gammon joint coming out of the oven, covered in orange slices and dripping in a fruity glaze - yum!

By cinabar

All Butter Rose Biscuits For Tea (@Tesco Finest) [By @cinabar]

There are quite a few new goodies appearing in the new range from Tesco Finest, and I couldn't resist giving the new Rose biscuits a try. As much as I love rose paired with rhubarb or even just on its own in Turkish Delight, I can't recall having seen it as a biscuit flavouring before now.
I had a little nosey at the box and was impressed by the simplicity of the ingredients list, every item was natural and there wasn't a single complex sounding ingredient in the box. In fact all the biscuits contained were wheat flour, butter milk, sugar and rose.
Inside the box were eight quite sizable squares of shortbread, each one coming in at 90 calories so they don't seem to bad a treat with a cup of tea, which incidentally is the serving suggestion. I would imagine this would go well with a floral tea like Earl Grey but as I was feeling rebellious I actually brewed up a cafetiere of coffee instead. :-)
The biscuits had a light dusting of sugar on them, and where a smart pale cream in colour. I really enjoyed the flavour of these too, the balance of rose was spot on, there were no qualms about its presence, but the flavour still remained delicately floral. The sweet and buttery flavours of shortbread still shone through and it was still easy to identify the underlying biscuit flavour. The texture was good too, they were firm but crumbly, exactly as they should be. I think the way to judge a biscuit is to see how long they last once opened and this pack was empty within the afternoon, enough said really.
These biscuit are something a bit different, a new flavour and a bit of a posh treat. I can't wait to see what other goodies are coming out in the rest of the new arrivals in the range.

By Cinabar

Christmas Pudding & Brandy Butter Handcooked Crisps (@UKTesco Tesco Finest) [By @Cinabar]

The Tesco Finest range of Handcooked crisps has a bit of a history of bringing out some really interesting seasonal flavours. Last year they brought us the rather excellent Mince Pie flavour crisps, so my expectations were high! As it is winging its way towards Christmas I was pleased to discover that this year we have Christmas Pudding & Brandy Butter crisps! Oh yes, these were made for me!
The problem with the idea of sweet sounding crisps is that I couldn’t decide whether or not to have some with a sandwich at lunch time, or to pour some in a bowl for sharing. I went for the latter, but as these aren’t as sweet as I was expecting, I think they would work well with savoury too. Once they are in the bowl you immediately notice just how dark these crisps are. They reminded me in colour of the Guinness crisps we tried a while back, but these are a totally different taste experience.
The main flavour that shines through is a Christmas spice and a very burnt caramel taste. It’s such a dark caramel, that it is bordering on being savoury, and as such works well with the background potato flavour. I’m not trying to say there isn’t any sweetness, it’s just that it is subtler than I thought it would be. There is almost a twang of brandy, but again this slight alcoholic taste isn’t far from being like a very mellow vinegar which as we all know works remarkably well when paired with crisps. The aftertaste is a slight hint of salt, which brings down the spices from being sugary to a gentler taste with a hint of savoury. The crisps worked well, despite having sweet tones, they are well balanced and are somewhere between both sweet and savoury. I guess the best way to describe them is the flavours of Christmas pudding and brandy butter but re-mixed and toned down to work as a variety of crisps. Deliciously different.

By Cinabar

Chocolate Tea (Tesco Finest) [By @Cinabar]

Chocolate tea sounds at first like a bit of strange concept, like a mix between hot drinks that shouldn’t happen. Oddly enough though the flavours work surprisingly well together. This tea from Tesco is essentially a mix of standard black tea, vanilla and cocoa. The tea bags smells quite sweet from the vanilla, but I still added my customary spoon of sugar before adding the boiling water. Once brewed it was a dark fragrant liquid, so I added a splash of milk to help smooth it.
Despite the name of this tea it was really vanilla flavoured not chocolate. The gentle golden tones of vanilla shone through more than anything else, followed by a blast of refreshing sweet black tea and then the gentle after taste of chocolate. It is a proper soothing sweet milky drink. I don’t think the chocolate is rich enough to warrant he name on the packet, but I still loved the flavour combination that the tea creates. I felt that the sugar enhanced the vanilla, as I am used to the flavour being sweet. I thought this made a fab cup of tea. It has enough black tea in it so that it doesn’t lose it refreshing nature, but the vanilla gave the cup a lovely comforting edge. It doesn’t have enough cocoa in to make it an alternative to hot chocolate, but it is still worth giving a try as the combination it does have creates a lovely smooth sweet comforting taste.

By Cinabar

Traditional Porter (Tesco’s Finest) [By @SpectreUK]

Brewed by the Harviestoun Brewery, in Scotland, this 6% volume Traditional Porter is packaged in a 330ml bottle and branded as one of Tesco’s Finest. The label states that this porter is a “Modern twist to a 19^th Century classic”, claiming it has rich chocolate and coffee flavours. This beer certainly has a chocolate smell to it on opening, but with only a hint of coffee, which suited me after the last coffee beer I tried. The ingredients included barley, hops, and yeast, but there was no reference to coffee or chocolate, which made me wonder how the brewers may have exploited the taste from the barley and hops. This Traditional Porter has a smooth dark, almost black, texture that reminded me of the chocolate stouts I have tried in the past. Indeed the beer initially tasted like a mild chocolate stout, giving me that warming filling feeling a good rich stout can lend to. The early chocolate hit was then balanced by the bitterness from the hops and a hint of coffee. The affluent dark chocolate flavour with the bitterness and mild coffee followed through to the aftertaste, leaving a pleasant tingle in my mouth and making me wish the bottle had been a little larger. This is a gloriously strong porter, of which I will definitely hunt out again. It would go equally well with a meat and gravy meal or for an after dinner treat with a side of dark chocolate. Indulge in this Traditional Porter; after all, it’s one of Tesco’s Finest!

By Spectre

Hand Cooked Hoisin Duck Crisps (Tesco Finest) [By @Cinabar]

The thing about writing a blog about snacks is that when you are faced with a totally bizarre sounding flavour of crisps, you realise it’s not the first time you’ve tried the variety. In January 2009 Walkers brought out Crispy Duck and Hoisin Sauce crisps which was part of a competition where customers could suggest new varieties. The Walkers Duck crisps didn’t win their competition, but they were some fine tasting crisps with plenty of Hoisin flavour but also a fair amount of onion.
When I opened the pack I could smell rich tones, like those you might find when entering a Chinese restaurant. The crisps had an aromatic flavour, sweet, but with multiple spices, such as star anise shining through. The after taste was a decent hint of soya sauce for that shot of authentic flavour, and a hint of duck to finish the taste. Although onion was listed on the ingredients, the flavour was a background one, and not dominant like the old Walkers flavour.
I was impressed that these new crisps managed to recreate the complex taste so well, it was one of those rare occasions where you would be able to guess the variety from a blind taste test. It is nice to see something a bit different on the market, and although it has been done once before there aren’t any other crisps currently out with this flavour. More than that these were very tasty crisps and they were surprisingly moreish too, definitely worth a try.

By Cinabar

Mince Pie Ice Cream (Tesco Finest) [By @Cinabar]

From the people that brought you mince pie crisps… we now have mince pie ice cream! This isn't ice cream made specially to serve with mince pies, oh no this is mince pie flavoured! It is an unusual idea this year to have new and interesting mince pie flavoured goodies, but one I'm lapping up.
I hastily opened the tub, and inside was a light cream coloured ice cream filled with all sorts of interesting bits and goodies. I could see bits of pastry mixed into the tub, and other intriguing items like specs of cinnamon and other spices.
I scooped some into a bowl, and gave it a first try. The base flavour of the ice cream is not really as expected at all. Mince pies have a rich current taste, but the main element here was citrus, with a slightly tart lemon edge. There were plenty of warming spices mixed in, and the cloves and cinnamon did go some way to warming it up, but it couldn't cover the lemon taste. I know mince pies contain lemon, and they have a hint of sour, but the strong currant flavour was missing from this ice cream. I liked the texture from the pastry bits mixed in, and the creamy taste had nice hints of butter and biscuit which certainly fulfilled the pastry aspect of the mince pies.
The ice cream was absolutely lovely, and the citrus base taste worked well with the spices and Christmas flavour. The pastry aspect added a lovely texture and buttery bursts, and I thoroughly enjoyed the tub. I have bought a second tub to put away for Christmas as I liked it so much. Ultimately though if you judge this as 'mince pie' flavour it was just slightly lacking the rich dark currant and raisin flavour you'd expect. It’s actually more of a refreshing ice cream, and would be well suited to the summer months!

By Cinabar

Tesco Finest - Mince Pie Flavour Crisps (Tesco @UKTesco) [By @Cinabar]

I first saw these mentioned in the papers/twitter, and knew I had to track them down! Despite trying my local branch, and several smaller Tescos located near me I had no joy. I managed to talk Spectre into the long drive to the next town where there is a branch of Tesco Extra and lo and behold there they were! This was the last bag on the shelf mind, and I hurriedly claimed it! That trip to Tesco resulted in quite a few other goodies going into the trolley too! For example, you’ll be pleased to hear I also managed to find some interesting flavoured beer to torture Spectre with at a later date! ;-)
In retrospect I made a mistake when I opened the bag, because we had them as an accompaniment to sandwiches, and from the first one I tasted I realised that this wasn’t what they were meant for. The crisps aren’t really savoury, and as such would be best on their own in a big bowl with a Christmas movie on in the background. The bag smells distinctly aromatic and immediately fills your nostrils with a seasonal scent. They are a nice thick potato cut, and surprisingly sweet and flavoursome. The first crisp took me a minute to acclimatize my taste buds which are more used to savoury, but after that these were winning it all the way. I could pick up on raisin, Christmas spices such as cloves and cinnamon, and quite a strong apple taste mixed in too. The apple was a little unexpected, but did add the necessary sweetness to the overall flavour. The aftertaste was buttery, which I think was to help give the pastry effect which was a nice touch. We left the crisps until after we finished our sandwiches and had them as a sort of dessert crisp, and they worked much better that way too.
These crisps are totally different to anything else on the market, but they do exactly what they say on the bag and recreate that mince pie flavour in the form of crisps. It is different, and the first one you taste may seem a little odd, but once you get used to the concept they really grown on you. It’s just such a clever idea, and Tesco must be praised for the excellent flavour and creativity. We made a special trip to the next town for these, and I can honestly say it was worth it. I really hoped they get stocked in a few more branches and not just the Extra stores, because I want a second bag!
Have you tried them? What did you think?

By Cinabar

Finest Belgian White Chocolate Mousse (Tesco)

I took a special trip to Tesco’s this week, which is quite a long drive away, but I was on the search for items I hadn’t seen before. I was really pleased to find this, as it is becoming increasingly hard to find white chocolate mousse in other shops. The only other white chocolate mousse that I’ve seen commonly available is Nestle Aero White Choc Bubbly Dessert.
So I tucked in to Tesco’s offering, and to be honest I was disappointed with the contents. Although the mousse smelt lovely, just like Milky bars, I felt the taste itself was overly sweet. Actually I think overly sweet might be an understatement, it was more the kind of taste that was so sweet my taste buds tingled. Obviously a flavour so rich is not a good thing, but on top of that I didn’t like the texture either. It was almost powdery, like there was something of the consistency of cornflower mixed in with the mousse, very strange. It’s a shame about this, but there is definitely an opening in the market for another white chocolate mousse.