What ingredient will you not cheap out on?

Dial Hard

For me, buying whole tomatoes makes a far bigger difference than buying branded. They're just far better quality than chopped across all lines. And generally cheaper than their chopped equivalent too.

I do have two types of Maldon salt (original and smoked) but I also have regular table salt (that I use for salting water for boiling pasta/veg) and a standard sea salt mill.

That's interesting about the Lidl Worcestershire sauce, I'll definitely pick that up.

B0jangles

On the Lidl worcestershire sauce: I've been thinking about it and I'm not 100% certain that it was in Lidl - it might have been Aldi. I was shopping in both an unfamiliar Aldi and Lidl that day, so my memory of where in the shop I saw it is not really helping

beans

Cheap olive oil can really fukc-up an otherwise lovely soup, from sad experience.

Dial Hard

beans wrote:

Cheap olive oil can really fukc-up an otherwise lovely soup, from sad experience.

Honestly, I wouldn't cook with really good olive oil at all. It's best kept for using cold.

beans

Dial Hard wrote: »

Honestly, I wouldn't cook with really good olive oil at all. It's best kept for using cold.

True, I suppose you don't want to go really good or really bad!

iamwhoiam

My cat will only eat Whiskas ........... !

BailMeOut

beans wrote: »

True, I suppose you don't want to go really good or really bad!

be careful buying cheap olive oil as it is probably one of the most counterfeited of all food products.

beans

BailMeOut wrote: »

be careful buying cheap olive oil as it is probably one of the most counterfeited of all food products.

The oil in question was the cheapest in the shop, from Spain, and made my lovingly-prepared roasted pepper soup taste like soap. Bleugh!

Dial Hard

beans wrote:

True, I suppose you don't want to go really good or really bad!

BailMeOut wrote:

be careful buying cheap olive oil as it is probably one of the most counterfeited of all food products.

I don't really use olive oil for cooking at all. For general frying/sweating/sauteeing I use rapeseed. Peanut for very high temp cooking.

beans

Dial Hard wrote: »

I don't really use olive oil for cooking at all. For general frying/sweating/sauteeing I use rapeseed. Peanut for very high temp cooking.

My go-to cooking oil these days is fragrance-free coconut oil. Great for greasing tins, too, because of it's high melting-point.

So far hasn't ruined anything on me, so I'm obviously not using the really really cheap stuff

AustinLostin

I love maldon salt as a 'finishing' or table salt as the crystals adds great texture, but I keep regular salt for seasoning during cooking as find the taste is the same when added to the cooking pot.

If I'm ever using chocolate in a recipe I get the best I can find, bad chocolate can ruin a recipe I think...I can't use cook's chocolates at all
(ironically I use to eat scotbar straight as a kid whenever I found it in the fridge)

RasTa

I'd drizzle good quality olive oil over soups. Adds a nice flavour

frink

Dairy, eggs and meat

RasTa

AustinLostin wrote: »

I love maldon salt as a 'finishing' or table salt as the crystals adds great texture, but I keep regular salt for seasoning during cooking as find the taste is the same when added to the cooking pot.

pfffft, I use Maldron to season my pasta and potato water! Only the finest will do.

snor

Please can you recommend an olive oil. Prefereably one widely available. Thanks.

RasTa

snor wrote: »

Please can you recommend an olive oil. Prefereably one widely available. Thanks.

Don't remember the last one I bought in Ireland. Usually bring 6 liters back from holidays and that would last me over a year.

Dial Hard

snor wrote:

Please can you recommend an olive oil. Prefereably one widely available. Thanks.

It really is an intensely personal thing. You'll get people going to their graves proclaiming that Greek/Portuguese/Spanish/Italian is the best.

You're best off tasting as many as possible and seeing which you like most. Good markets and delis are your best bet.

RhubarbCrumble

Has to be Heinz ketchup. Chef is too vinegary and I don't like any of the own brands.

L1011

Ketchup, eggs (although I will buy own brand I won't buy whatever is claimed to have replaced battery) and Irn Bru - the own brand versions are all disgusting

Edit: and milk. Won't use see through cartons - tetrapak was invented for a reason - and won't use NI milk so that means I use Avonmore/Premier as the only remaining option

Shenshen

I had to think long and hard about this one - I would say, on the occasions I want a sweet fizzy drink, I'll go with the branded ones. Mostly because most of those (with the exception of Sprite) don't have added sweeteners.
If the own brand ones stopped using sweeteners, I'd go for them instead, though.

Wet cat food has to be Felix for the furbabies, and dry they love Science Plan.

Other than that... honestly can't think of anything. I be more likely to check the back of whatever it is I'm looking to buy to see the ingredients than I would be to look at the label on the front of it.

Keisha07

Brown sauce it has to be HP, stock pots and the lea and perrins worcestershire sauce the hubbie picked up a Heinz brand I think it was, but it was horrible. I had a laugh at a previous posters remark that their cat likes whiskas as my dog will only eat Pedro gold its not expensive but dearer than own brands.

cee_jay

L1011 wrote: »

Edit: and milk. Won't use see through cartons - tetrapak was invented for a reason - and won't use NI milk so that means I use Avonmore/Premier as the only remaining option

This - I cannot abide milk in plastic bottles. I will use Tesco branded milk though.

Beans have to be Heinz, butter is low fat Connacht Gold and will rather go without than drink any coke type drink that isn't a Coca Cola product.

Muahahaha

Not food but Johnson & Johnson ear buds, all the cheaper versions have really bendy plastic which doesnt allow you as good a poke around in there as the Johnson & Johnson.

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Lady Haywire

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arian

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I heard an ENT consultant on the radio once: she said never put anything smaller than an elbow in your ear

ger vallely

rawn wrote: »

I bought a tin of Roma chopped tomatoes last week -usually I just buy Lidl or Aldi brand and don't think twice about it. But I have to say the Roma tomatoes were beautiful, and there seemed to be more in the tin by comparison. ( i know, cool storybro ) It got me wondering -are there any particular ingredients that you will always spend the bit extra on that are worth it?

I think it was Jamie Oliver who said when buying tins of tomatoes always buy the whole plum ones. These are usually of a better quality. He recommended to chop them up if needed. So I started to do this and I have definitely noticed a difference, just makes a nicer sauce or soup or whatever. No idea if that's just because the idea was planted in my head but I will keep buying them now instead of chopped tinned tomatoes.

BailMeOut

yep 'San Marzano' grown on side of a volcanos are the best (IMO). There is an excellent Italian shop off the airport hill in Cork that you can buy the large tins for less than €3 and they are superb.

sudzs

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Not if you do it right!

ellejay

ellejay wrote: »

Annoyingly I've found Tesco do the best Rooster potatoes.
So I always buy them there, the big 7.5kg bag..!

Jinxed myself....bought the usual and all went to mush after five minutes.