Cheap versus expensive

[pcolbeck]

I did an experiment.

I make a chorizo and chickpea stew and decided to see if the cost of the ingredients made much difference.

The recipe is as follows:

Some chirozo roughly chopped or sliced and fried in its own fat
One medium onion softened in olive oil
Two cloves garlic crushed
A couple of red chillies de-seeded
One red and one green and yellow pepper diced
One can of chopped tomatoes
One can of chickpeas (drained)
Teaspoon ground cumin
Teaspoon ground coriander
Two Teaspoons smoked hot paprika
Water to cover
Simmer for 45 minutes to thicken and serve with crusty bread and a hearty red wine.

So last week I made one using ingredients all bought from Lidl (bar the spices which I had in but the paprika was some Mrs Pcolbeck got from a scoop shop in plastic bag). Total cost about £3.00 and very nice it was too.

This week I tried the opposite end of the spectrum. I was in Harrogate so went to Weetons the famous deli there and bought s chunk of proper Spanish chorizo, a can of expensive Spanish paprika, a can of organic tomatoes (£1.50 for one can !), some lovely looking chilis etc. They didn't have chickpeas or the peppers I wanted so I got those from Marks and Spencers.
Total cost, not sure exactly but at probably three or four times the first one.

Made the stew last night.

Well was it any better ?

Well the only things I would say were better were the chickpeas which were definitely a lot nicer and the bottle of Cotes de Rhone.

An interesting experiment.

[hellymedic]

I compare the water content of various tinned tomatoes (by subtraction from the numbers in the nutritional information) and try to get the brand with maximum solids to the penny.
I get Posh Italian Brands when they're on Special Offer at Sainsbury's online.

[fhills]

Ah helly, woman after my own heart.

I have long liked aldi tinned tomatoes for my italian recipes. Seem to remember that confusingly they were called premium or something but weren't more expensive than their apparently normal stuff. Last time I was in they didn't have them, just chopped. Being a suspicious northerner i instinctively mistrust such tbings, i can do my own chopping in 30 secs thanks very much.
In truth, though the big italian brands are doubtless good i rather doubt they are worth the extra over stuff from canny germans. I know an italian who will only eat barilla pasta. Me, i prefer to look at the nutritional info.

Pccolbeck, yes i find the lidl premium chorizo very good. A hedgehog on a recent camping trip clearly agreed as it dragged it out from under my flysheet, giving me a very odd dream from which i awoke with a start.

[bobb]

I would rather eat a hedgehog than even enter a Lidl

[pcolbeck]

I would rather eat a hedgehog than even enter a Lidl

Why?

You need to experiment as some of their stuff is great, some is awful and some i sno cheaper than any other supermarket.
So far in my opinion:

Great:

Veg
European cold sausage type things (chorizo, sliced wursts, mortadella etc)
Chocolate
Fresh Bread - fantastic
Biscuits

Not good

Olives
Ground coffee

Also had the only undrinkable bottle of red wine I have had in about 20 years from Lidl. It wasn't corked just awful.

The nearest shop to us are 5 miles away in a market town with a railway line through it and a single level crossing. The Lidl has the major advantage that unlike all the other shops its on our side of the level crossing as we enter the town so involves no queing to get to.

[citoyen]

I got some chorizo from Aldi recently that turned out to be pretty rank. Aldi stuff seems to be very variable, some good, some terrible. Lidl is generally much more reliable in my experience.

Interesting about the canned chickpeas - this matches my own experience that canned chickpeas vary greatly in quality and it's usually worth paying more. Although I don't often buy canned chickpeas since it's so incredibly cheap to buy dried - pre-cooking them in the pressure cooker only takes half an hour.

[fhills]

Ignore bobb pc. Clearly a boring windup merchant.

Agree with you about lidl's often very dodgy wine. Swore a while ago never to buy another bottle there though have had a bottle or two of decent drinkabke rioja.

Far better for beer. I can recommend their vintage cider, the strong one in bottles not tins. About 7.5 per cent i think, £1.15 for half a litre of summer joy

Ride on, the wise pick and choose stuff, the sad wear branded tshirts telling the world they only shop at wherever.

[bobb]

Why?

Because they fuck their suppliers over. Why do you think it's so cheap?

They are well known of course for apparantly paying their staff at least a bit more than minimum wage, but the reason you can buy Chorizo for fuck all is because they've effectively held their suppliers to ransom.

Arseholes IMO.

[bobb]

Ignore bobb pc. Clearly a boring windup merchant.

Oh, shit off...

[pcolbeck]

Because they fuck their suppliers over. Why do you think it's so cheap?

They are well known of course for apparantly paying their staff at least a bit more than minimum wage, but the reason you can buy Chorizo for fuck all is because they've effectively held their suppliers to ransom.

And you think Tesco et al are any better?

[bobb]

And you think Tesco et al are any better?

Of course not! Which is why I'd reply in exactly the same way if someone started some jerking off over Tesco thread.

[C-3PO]

Masters: Excellence is expected.
Please do not disappoint.

[Mrs Pingu]

I'm surprised to hear that tinned chick peas are so variable. Who wants to volunteer to do a taste test?

I thought Lidl was supposed to be getting quite good for wine, but if the wine was included in your total of 3 quid then no wonder it was vile.

[pcolbeck]

I thought Lidl was supposed to be getting quite good for wine, but if the wine was included in your total of 3 quid then no wonder it was vile.

No the wine was separate. I have had some decent wine from Lidl but to be honest I cant be bothered with the lottery. Morrisons is much more reliable for cheap plonk.

[pcolbeck]

Anyone have a suggestion as to where to buy dried chickpeas by the way as non of the shops I have tried sell them.

[Hot Flatus]

Ignore bobb pc. Clearly a boring windup merchant.

Oh, shit off...

"Shit off"

I've never ever considered using that combination of words, and now that you've done it, it seems glaringly obvious. It's also possibly more offensive that fuck off, whose impact has been weakened by ubiquity.

Shit off.

I like it.

I like it a lot. 

[Hot Flatus]

Anyone have a suggestion as to where to buy dried chickpeas by the way as non of the shops I have tried sell them.

Asian supermarkets. Really cheap.

[ian]

We could do a chickpea fart test. Do cheap ones make me outgas more and more fragrantly than expensive ones?

It's a thing, some beans make me fart seismically. I can blow the bloody doors off. Some don't. There's no correlation with bean type. Sometimes chickpeas will result in nuclear guffage, other times, not a parple. Lentils are my most usual pant bursting nemesis, but occasionally I eat a few and nothing happens. I mostly avoid them, it's not worth the risk. It's like the underwear equivalent of Deepwater Horizon.

I too like 'shit off.'

[pcolbeck]

Anyone have a suggestion as to where to buy dried chickpeas by the way as non of the shops I have tried sell them.

Asian supermarkets. Really cheap.

Ahh tjat might involve an 80 mile roumd trip. Asian supermarkets are rare as hens teeth in North Yorkshire.

[Si S]

I would rather eat a hedgehog than even enter a Lidl

Wrap it in clay, throw it in the fire, the spines will come off when you crack the clay and... bob's..well you.

[Hot Flatus]

Anyone have a suggestion as to where to buy dried chickpeas by the way as non of the shops I have tried sell them.

Asian supermarkets. Really cheap.

Ahh tjat might involve an 80 mile roumd trip. Asian supermarkets are rare as hens teeth in North Yorkshire.

https://groceries.morrisons.com/webshop/product/Golden-Tree-Chick-Peas/275611011

[mrcharly-YHT]

Anyone have a suggestion as to where to buy dried chickpeas by the way as non of the shops I have tried sell them.

Asian supermarkets. Really cheap.

Ahh tjat might involve an 80 mile roumd trip. Asian supermarkets are rare as hens teeth in North Yorkshire.

If you are close to York, then you could try Alligator.

There was the chinese supermarket on Rougier st, they probably stock dried chick peas.

Waitrose?

[jsabine]

I compare the water content of various tinned tomatoes (by subtraction from the numbers in the nutritional information) and try to get the brand with maximum solids to the penny.
I get Posh Italian Brands when they're on Special Offer at Sainsbury's online.

Extensive semi-blind tasting a while ago (I knew what I'd cooked with, my wife didn't know what she was eating) led us to conclude that Cirio was the brand to go for.

Haven't done the maths on the nutritional info, mind.

(As for dried chickpeas, I'm fairly sure our local Sainsbury's sells them.)

[hellymedic]

Cirio tomatoes were/are £2 for 4 tins when I last bought from Sainsbury's.

Our Sainsbury's sell chickpeas, both dry (Sainsbury's & KTC) and tinned (Sainsbury's, Napolina and KTC) but the area has a high Asian population and stocks are tailored to local markets.

I wonder if fartishness is related to the sulphur and protein content.

Certainly sulphydryl groups add pungency but I don't know about volume.

[Slightly OT]

My Hebrew food vocabulary is usually quite useful but I recently found I did not know the term for chick peas. Asked nephew, who was staying in Israel for a couple of years; he knew not.
Asked niece 'what do you call the peas/beans from which you make humous?'
'Oh, humous...'

[Paul]

Recipes, new cursing, shonky spellung, science, first world problems, sublime modding.

This is my thread of the week.