Top quality ingredients recommendations?

rubadub

Just wondering what brands (including supermarket own brands) that people consider the best? things like butter.

I see TV chefs using standard like heinz ketchup and hellmans mayonaise and am always thinking surely there has to be better ones products out there, I would even guess M&S own brand may be better, or ones in other supermarket finest ranges. Or another brand altogether, I see the Epicure brand more these days.

On RTE the other day there was a program with a chef, Paul Flynn, and I was surprised to see him using bulmers cider in a recipe, which is not even considered a cider by many in the beer & wine forum!

Then I was really surprised to see a recipe using "maple syrup" and him using lyles maple flavoured golden syrup, fake stuff you might expect them to warn you about! like they might warn about synthetic vanilla essence.

Some old thread was bumped listing De Cecco & Barilla as being good dry pastas, I had never heard of either before.

Bombay pantry get good reviews and have lots of east end brand ingredients in their windows, which is easily got in asian stores and is reasonably priced and decent.

Also interested in which might be a waste of money, e.g. I was reading people could not tell salts apart in blind tastes if they are in water or food, and that the expensive ones are really only worth it for their texture if it is lying on top of foods, like crystalline flakes.

The Hill Billy

Pataks pastes would be up there for me when making a curry. Way, way better than anything else I have tried.

For butter - always Kerrygold.

As for Epicure - I find no discernible difference between their products & Bachelors other than price tbh.

Dizzyblonde

I always use Kerrygold butter too, and Heinz Ketchup and Hellmans mayonnaise because I've never found anything that taste nearly as good.
I buy my Aldi's maple syrup, it costs a lot less than the more expensive brands but tastes just as good.
I tried Barilla pasta and didn't think it was any better than Roma, but Aldi and Lidl pasta seems to go mushy easily.

rubadub

I noticed 2-3 new butters in tesco lately, some farmhouse hand made butter -that's the type of thing I was wondering about, stuff which is better than the big boy brands like kerrygold. I have heard unsalted butter is typically fresher as it cannot go into long term storage like salted stuff can.

Also when it would not be worth the price difference, e.g. the expensive butter might be indistinguishable in a chocolate cake, but worth it for buttering bread.

Pataks are very good, I have seen lots of chefs recommending them, in previous threads I saw people saying the "ready to go" sauces in large jars are not as good as their pastes though.

the beer revolu

I always buy Tesco/Aldi/Lidl butter and find no difference between it and Kerrygold.

rubadub

I get tesco butter too, always figured they might be from the same producers, I am surprised supermarkets do not have people giving out samples of their own brands, and maybe have taste comparisons along side the "leading brand".


here is a list from 2011

MrsD007 wrote: »

More and more people are turning to own brands at the moment, here is a list of the companies who make supermarket own brand products.


Tesco Own brands

They say that 100 Irish companies produce some 2,000 own brand Tesco products. 98% of their customers purchase at least one own brand as part of weekly shop. Own brand household cleaning account for 63% of sales in that category.

Who makes Tesco own brand?

Glanbia – Tesco milk; Tesco butter; Tesco fromage frais
Mannings bakery (Dublin) – Tesco apple tarts, crumble, bakewell tart and other cakes
Hilton Foods (Drogheda) – Tesco Finest sausages, chorizo sausages, Tesco Finest Pork and Lamb products.
Brogan’s Bakery (Galway) – Tesco muffins
Country Crest (Lucan); Tesco roosters, kerrs pink, baby potatoes, onions, shallots and more veg.
Gem Pack Foods Ltd – Tesco rice, sugar, currants, sultanas, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, walnut pieces, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc,
Catron Bros (Cavan / Dublin) – Tesco chicken ranges
P Mulrine & sons (Donegal) – Tesco juices (ambient and chilled).
Both Irish Pride and Bachelors also make some Tesco label products.

Superquinn

Over 2,000 own brand products are available; 95% of the fresh own label products are Irish, while over 75% of grocery own label products are sourced from Irish suppliers/producers, 100% Irish chicken only used in their ready meals. They say they have seen a 20% increase in sales on own label products in 2010 compared to 2009.

Who makes Superquinn own brand?

Johnston Mooney & O’Brien - Essentials bread
Pat the Baker - Superquinn core bread
Connacht Gold - butter and cream
Bewley’s - own label core tea
Seery’s, Scott’s, Sam’s Cookies, and Fusco’s - all supply cakes for Superquinn Essentials range
Irish Yogurts (Clonakilty, Co Cork)- produce Essentials yogurts
Dublin based Donnellys - supply all fruit and vegetables
Wonderfoods (Dublin) - supply pre-pack salads and prepared vegetables
Country Crest based in Lusk - produce Superquinn own label ready meals using locally grown ingredients
Bombay Pantry based in Dublin - produce ethnic convenience meals under Superquinn own label

Aldi

Over 45% of all grocery sales at Aldi are generated on products bought from Irish suppliers, producers and manufacturers.
Who makes Aldi products?
Bewleys / Robert Roberts – all coffees and teas
Natures Isle – fresh poultry, Irish Angus beef, pork, lamb, all sourced from RoI farms and Bord Bia certified.
Irish Yogurts / Town of Monaghan Co-op / the Different Dairy Company – yogurts
Odlums – flour

Lidl

Lidl say they are “committed to using as many indigenous suppliers as possible in the production of its own brand products.”
Pat the Baker - granary bread and scones
Johnston Mooney & O Brien - hot dog rolls and burger buns
Olhausen – Premium pork sausages
Irish Yogurts (Clonakilty) – Premium yogurts
Town of Monaghan – Irish creamery butter
Liffey Meats (Cavan) – fresh beef
Cooley Distillery – whiskey
Oakpark Foods (Tipperary) – Glensallagh streaky bacon
Donegal Creameries – 1 litre milk carton
Seerys (Carlow)– triple chocolate cake and luxury lemon cake
Glenpatrick – Flavoured water
Begleys (Dublin) – fresh fruit and veg
The Scullery – relish (small supplier, relishes developed with Lidl)

SuperValu

SuperValu have 1,700 own brand products, over 30% of these are Irish.
Who makes SuperValu own brand?
Glenisk – organic yogurts
Follain (Co Cork) – SV Supreme jam, cranberry sauce, apple chutney, wholegrain mustard, relishes.
Kelkin – SV Muesli
Bandon Vale – cheese blocks
Mulrines – SV ketchup
Seerys (Carlow)– tea brack and brownie slices
Silver Pail (Fermoy, Co Cork)– Supreme ice creams
Lakeland Dairies (Cavan) – SuperValu Ice cream 1lt tubs
Riverview Eggs, Cork, Valley View Eggs, Bandon, Co. Cork, Clonarn Clover, Co. Meath and Nest Box Egg Co, Monaghan – SV eggs
Carty meats (Athlone)– SV rasher range
Mallons (Monaghan)– SV sausages
Countrystyle (Co Kilkenny) – SV puddings
Kepak – frozen burgers
Prestige Foods (Kerry) – trifle range
Taravale (Naas)– Salads such as coleslaw etc
Sunshine juice (Carlow)– Supreme freshly squeezed juice
JDS Foods (Cork) – SV spreads / margarine
Cashel – SV speciality cheeses

Centra

Centra have 700 own brand products available and 35% of their own brand products are Irish made. They say they use Irish suppliers for their fresh produce; all meat is 100% Irish; 67% of fruit and veg and 75% of dairy.

Who makes Centra products?
Irish Yogurts (Clonakilty)– Centra luxury yoghurts
McEvoy Family Foods (Co Tipperary) - Chilled Soup Range
Brady Family (Co Kildare) – deli style meats
Dunhill Cuisine (Waterford)– ready made meals i.e. cottage pie / lasagne
Mulrines (Donegal)– Centra juice range
Kerry Freshways – pre-packed sandwiches
North Cork co-op – Centra butter
Blenders (Dublin)- Mayonnaise

Dunnes

Overall over 75% of Dunnes fresh own label is sourced in Ireland; 100% fresh beef, chicken , lamb, pork is Irish; 97% of our bakery lines are Irish made ; 91% of all potatoes are Irish and 100% fresh fish from Irish suppliers / waters.
Olhausen - Dunnes Sausages
Batchelors - baked beans and peas
Mulrines - juice
Blenders - pasta sauces
Tendermeats (dedicated meat plant) - All Dunnes meat is controlled from farm to shelf via this plant
Some of Dunnes fresh own label suppliers
Natural Dairies Ltd.
Riverview Eggs Ltd.
The Nest Box Egg Co.
Annalitten Farm Foods Ltd.
Nevilles Bakery Dublin Ltd.
Johnson Mooney & O'Brien
Pat the Baker
Matt Reilly Cakes Ltd.
Staffords Bakery Ltd.
Brogans Bakery
P McCloskey & Sons Ltd.
Scotts Bakery Ltd.
William Carr & Sons Ltd.
H.J. Nolan (Dublin) Ltd.
Wrights of Howth
Dunns Seafare Ltd.
Oceanpath
Galway Bay Seafoods Ltd.

Another way of checking (for the super-sleuths!)
This only applies to meat and diary products: Irrespective of the brand, the label will have an EU approval number identifying the final processing plant. The Department of Agriculture publishes a list of approved plants for Ireland on its website.
This label identifies only the final stage of processing not the actual origin of the meat or dairy product.
For example, if you’re looking at two cartons of milk or a packet of rashers, one branded, one own brand, look at the origin code on the label (an oval with IE, a number and EC) or on the cap you may find, for instance, the number 1405 on both products. This identifies the production plant as being the same.

List compiled by Tina Leonard of the Pat Kenny Radio Show

leahyl

Aldi mayonnaise tastes the exact same as Hellmans - we get it all the time now.

I think Pataks pastes are great for curries.

Aldi/Lidl/Dunnes own brand butter tastes the same as Kerrygold - no difference imo

Faith

the beer revolu wrote: »

I always buy Tesco/Aldi/Lidl butter and find no difference between it and Kerrygold.

I'm surprised by that. I find it much higher in oil than Kerrygold, demonstrated by how quickly it softens at room temperature. It's somewhere between Kerrygold and spreadable butter in my experience. You wouldn't notice it in baking or cooking though.

irish_goat

rubadub wrote: »

On RTE the other day there was a program with a chef, Paul Flynn, and I was surprised to see him using bulmers cider in a recipe, which is not even considered a cider by many in the beer & wine forum!

That's probably ignorance on his part, most Irish people only know 2 types of cider; Bulmers and stuff that's cheaper than Bulmers.

I'm always sceptical of TV chefs as you can never know what is and isn't product placement i.e There's no way Marco Peirre White really rubs Knorr stock cubes into his steaks. :rolleyes:

rubadub

irish_goat wrote: »

most Irish people only know 2 types of cider; Bulmers and stuff that's cheaper than Bulmers.

True, but I would not have put him in the bracket of "most people", I would expect a chef to have knowledge about wine, cider & beer. You would think they would be naturally into it, like I expect most wine/beer/cider connoisseurs would be into decent foods.

irish_goat wrote: »

I'm always sceptical of TV chefs as you can never know what is and isn't product placement

True, in this case these brands were not mentioned, they didn't even show the full bottle, only my eagle eye recognised the tops of the bottles being poured out, they were trying to hide them if anything.

irish_goat

rubadub wrote: »

True, but I would not have put him in the bracket of "most people", I would expect a chef to have knowledge about wine, cider & beer. You would think they would be naturally into it, like I expect most wine/beer/cider connoisseurs would be into decent foods.

You'd think that but then there's plenty of restaurants with amazing food, complimented by a very extensive and pricey wine list and then Guinness and Heineken are their only beer options.

I suppose the TV chefs might be using recognisable brands simply because that is what their viewers will have at home/can afford. If you do your weekly shop at Tesco and the chef on TV is using 100% organic stuff from Waitrose you might be less likely to have a go at trying the recipe out yourself.

Melendez

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