Red sauce

[tobyaw]

A few weeks ago, we tried doing our weekly shop in Aldi. This was an experiment for us; we normally do our main shop at one of the major supermarkets, with perhaps an occasional top-up shop at Aldi or Spar, but we thought it would be interesting to see whether we could get everything that we’d normally buy at Aldi. We didn’t do so badly. The fruit and veg selection was reasonable, and we managed to get much of what we needed. But the real killer for me was the lack of brand-names, and in particular the lack of Heinz ketchup.

Those who know me might have noticed that I have a liking for red sauce, and that my brand of preference is Heinz. I’ve tried others; some are too vinegary or too sweet, and others have an overpowering taste of tomato purée. Some look like a violently-red syrup, and others are too runny, or lack the silky smoothness of Heinz.

The availability of Heinz ketchup is a deal-breaker for me, and for that reason alone I’m afraid we won’t again be doing our weekly shop at Aldi. (I’ll skip over the poor checkout experience, and the mad rush to pack our bags.)

(P.S. Heinz ketchup — like Irn Bru — is best served out of glass bottles. Plastic ketchup bottles look scruffy and dirty; in a glass bottle the red sauce can glisten enticingly. Mmm.)

Comments

[vivdunstan.livejournal.com]

On a not serious spin-off from this post I saw the item below tonight:
http://boingboing.net/2012/11/13/vampire-ketchup-bottle-lid.html

[tobyaw]

Want! NEED!!!

[blaufeuer.livejournal.com]

If Aldi is in Scotland like it's in germany, then you might try to sample the no-name-ketchup wether one of it actually is Heinz 'incognito'.

In germany Aldi stocks a lot of no name products that acually are produced in the same places, with the same recepes as the "real brand", just without the big name.

Some of this might be of slightly 'lesser quality' than the branded products. But often the company wants to sell excess product or do not want the customers to relize, that they are usually charged to much for the brand, so the company ist glad to sell the same product no name of less money.

[tobyaw]

We tried some Aldi ketchup in the hope that it would suit us. In its defence, it was edible. Ok on chips or a cooked breakfast, but the real decider for me is whether a ketchup works with macaroni cheese… and this one didn’t.

[andrewducker]

I'm the same. I don't actually eat much ketchup anymore, but nothing taste like Heinz.

[kateaw]

I agree that the nicest ketchup is made by Heinz. Luckily for our food budget I'm not that keen on it or we'd get through gallons every week.

[lewis-p-bear.livejournal.com]

Strange but we never got that Red Sauce thing.
Same with Brown Sauce.
No problem with anyone else liking it, particularly when they are wise enough to know that it is better in a glass bottle.
Father Bear took as an article of faith that Whisky only tasted right out of a cut glass tumbler, though at a pinch he would have drunk it out of a tooth mug, and did!

[blaufeuer.livejournal.com]

Failed the macaroni test - so aldi's out of luck with you ;-)

[houstonjames.livejournal.com]

I found a Lea & Perrins sauce - more or less ketchup (presumably Heinz ketchup, that being the company making it) with some Worcestershire sauce added - which seemed to work quite nicely. Discontinued now I think, which is a shame.

In terms of actual ketchup, most of the other brands seem quite disappointing, though the Branston one seems quite good. I'm fairly sceptical of most "own-brand" products these days; a few work fine (there is quite a good Tesco BBQ sauce, and Asda's French mustard is a good substitute since the EU forced Colmans to discontinue their French mustard), others fall far short (I have yet to find a non-Colmans Tartare sauce which ranks any higher than "terrible").