(upbeat music)
- Hello and welcome.
Today we have two normal home cooks, Barry and Mike,
both blind taste testing incredibly similar dishes.
We've changed just one ingredient.
In one dish it is a budget version of that ingredient.
In the other, it is a more premium
or more expensive version.
Can they tell the difference?
And is it worth us spending those extra pennies?
Let's find out.
(funky music)
Okey dokey, Mike.
You know how this works.
A and B, dig into A.
Both prepared identically with exception of one ingredient,
which has changed.
- Mmm-mmm.
It's creamy.
It's quite zesty.
I feel like he's got a bit of citrus to it.
Maybe some black pepper.
- Ooh, it smells meaty.
And it tastes cabbagey.
- I think it's got some bacon.
Yes, it's got some bacon.
It's got some sort of delicious fatty meat to it.
- [Ben] It has neither meat nor cabbage in it.
- What?
Are you kidding me?
- Okay, try B.
This is an embarrassingly simple recipe
that is a great back pocket recipe for midweek.
We've got it on Sidekick.
Any ideas?
- Okay, suddenly I'm getting a lot more earthy notes.
A lot richer, a lot more umami.
- What on earth do you think has changed?
- Ah, is it miso?
- I'm gonna say miso.
- Correct.
This is our five ingredient butter miso pasta.
It's got sesame seed, spring onions.
Otherwise it's just spaghetti, butter, and miso.
And it is the miso that we have changed.
Now when you think about it, what is miso?
Miso is a fermented-
- Fermented, fermented- - Bean paste, yes.
- Yeah. - Yes, soybean typically.
And it gives you that savoury flavour,
the umami we often talk about.
When it is combined with dairy fat in particular,
although all fats, it really brings it to life.
- Oh, that is a such an exciting dish
for such a simple recipe.
- Okay, well I need you to lock in.
Which do you think is the premium miso, A or B?
- I've never been more confident in B.
- This could have been entirely about
the mouthfuls that I was getting.
But I felt like I was getting more miso flavour from this.
- [Ben] You've locked in B as your answer.
You can remove your blindfold.
Visually. anything stand out difference?
- Oh no, this one's a lot darker.
- I can reveal that in this round,
the premium ingredient is B.
- B, brilliant, great. - You were spot on.
A is Sainsbury's Inspired To Cook miso paste.
It is quite a dark colour.
It's got quite a runny texture when compared to B,
which is a Japanese brand.
It's is a miso paste.
It's fermented for nine months using Japanese rice,
and it is fuller in flavour.
It is thicker in consistency and darker in colour
than so many misos.
So the rise of miso as an ingredient,
now more readily available in most supermarkets.
You don't have to go to the world food aisle
in the UK supermarkets, means that supermarkets
are doing their own version.
It is tangy, it's fermented, but it's a different product
than perhaps the authentic miso
that you've got a version of as B.
- Tastes more vinegared.
- It's very sour.
It's got lemon juice in it as well,
which is an odd ingredient in that condiment.
- B is salty umami.
It's salt first, then delivers on flavour.
This is, it's almost like a sweet and sour miso
sauce then a paste.
- It's almost got the tamarind umami,
sweet, sour tanginess to it. - That's it, that's it.
- It's just the volume turned up on that.
- So in this instance, we've put it through butter
to mix through pasta, but it's also really good,
obviously, in broths, your kind of ramen base,
but also in marinades it's delicious.
And as a miso, you can add it to other fats,
yoghourts, you can add it to cream sauces,
you can add it even into sweet things.
So ice cream and the alike.
Okay, let's talk prices.
The Sainsbury's one is a relatively small jar.
It's one of their sort of new ranges,
and is £1.45 per 100 grammes.
Whereas also per 100 grammes, Miso Tasty is £2.18.
- Okay.
- So it's about 50% more expensive.
And we should probably point out,
if you did want to buy miso in larger volumes,
you can get kind of the square tubs
450 grammes or even 750, really long shelf life,
and then it becomes even more affordable per 100 grammes.
- Now having 'em side by side and have tasted them pure,
dare I say, I think the Inspired To Cook miso paste
is a bit rubbish.
- Yeah, I'd agree. - It's nothing...
It tastes like miso but it's just not the real stuff.
- What it is is very, very accessible-
- Yeah. - to a UK audience.
However, it is nothing like the original,
not nearly as good, and a lot more expensive
than buying the authentic stuff in bigger bulk.
- The cheaper stuff gives you all the characteristics
that you expect from miso.
If you want to start using it in your cooking,
in a basic way as I would as a normal,
it's a great point to start.
- The real takeout,
everyone should have some miso in their fridge.
(upbeat music)
Right!
Dish number two is in front of you.
No peeking, but you've got A and B, tuck in.
See if you can work out firstly what you're eating,
and secondly, which ingredient has changed.
- It's like a barbecuey porky thing.
That is outstandingly delicious.
- What is that?
That's fish! - It is fish.
It's quite a meaty fish in terms of its texture.
It's monk fish. - It really is.
Oh, that's monk fish.
Okay, great.
That's delicious.
(upbeat music)
- Oh, it's fish. (all chuckling)
- [Ben] It's also got a Romesco sauce on the plate,
some black garlic purée,
and it's finished with a pistachio crumb.
What do you think's changed from dish to dish?
- So I don't think it's the monk fish-
- Correct. - that is changing.
I don't think it's the Romesco sauce.
- Correct. - So it's the pistachio.
- Correct. - Oh, this is hard.
- Just gimme a bowl.
It'd be far easier to eat.
Now I've always associated premium pistachio
with shelled pistachio.
Like the ones you have to get through
and fiddle for yourself.
- [Ben] I'll be honest, they're both shelled.
- Are they?
- They both came as kernels.
- Oh yeah.
It's all in the aftertaste.
One leaves me with pistachio,
the other leaves me with general nut.
- Okay, they taste like pistachio.
The texture is, I would argue, completely the same
once it's with everything else.
I can't tell even 1% of difference.
- [Ben] In which case you're gonna have to guess, A or B?
- B.
- I think that B is my premium.
- You've locked in B.
Remove your blindfolds.
See if visually, when you get your sight back,
if there's any difference.
- A are a lot purpler.
B are a little bit sort of more dense and more chewy.
A definitely have more of a crunch, a nuttiness.
I actually taste a little bit more buttery,
so I've got this wrong.
The premium's definitely A.
- Okay, I can reveal that the premium nut is A.
(buzzer buzzing)
So A is more premium.
They are Sicilian pistachio nuts.
They come vac packed, obviously from Sicily in Italy.
Whereas B is a supermarket shelled pistachio.
This is M&S.
They are U.S. grown and they are slightly bigger as a nut.
And now you've got them side by side,
what do you think about their flavour?
- I'm surprised that A is the premium
'cause B definitely has slightly more of a bite,
but also it's sweeter in a flavour.
I can see how they're more well-rounded as a pistachio
and how they could work with a sophisticated dish.
But on their own, I think I prefer these basic sweet ones,
but that might be down to familiarity.
- I think it almost certainly is.
Nowadays almost 50% of the pistachios produced in the world
come from the U.S., and that's where those come from.
The Sicilian ones don't even come in, like,
the top five producers in the world.
They are really niche.
But because they're grown in volcanic soil,
they do have a slight more bitterness to them.
It lends itself to both sweet and savoury dishes.
We always think that things like nuts and seeds
are worth having options in your dry store
because they add texture, they add colour,
they add a nice little garnish,
so a visual difference as well
as the flavour they're obviously imparting.
But in this instance, the M&S ones come in at
£3.17 per 100 grammes.
So still certainly not the cheapest pistachios you can buy,
but our standard choice.
Whereas A, the Sicilian ones nearly four times
as expensive, £11.99 per 100 grammes.
- Before doing this video, I'd have sworn by these.
But now they're side by side, very little difference at all.
- If I do go for pistachios, I'll stick to these.
That one is good, but they're a lot cheaper,
and they're still quite expensive 'cause nuts are...
- We've got one right, one wrong.
Halfway there, let's move on to round three.
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(funky music)
- I'm gonna be honest, Kush hasn't made this one easy.
- Oh, damn it, Kush!
- Off you go! (Mike screams)
- [Ben] Nah, you be careful there!
What's that?
- I genuinely thought I'd run my finger
up against the blade of a knife.
- I don't know, but your heart literally left your ribcage.
- Ah man, okay.
(all laughing)
I don't like not knowing what it is.
Tahini.
(gentle music)
- My god, was that just pure sesame butter or something?
- Did I go it?
Wow, that's tasty.
- Mmm, okay.
I'm now getting like barbecue chicken.
Right B!
- [Ben] What you are supposed to be enjoying
is a delicious lamb kebab.
Some wonderful lamb sausage meat.
We've got some pickled sweet and sour pickles.
We've got tahini spread on a flat bread.
As an altogether eating experience,
the perfect balance of everything.
- There's so much going on.
They're both delicious, but I haven't got a clue
what the ingredient I'm looking at is.
- The good news is at least you got a mouthful of it
on your first go. - Yeah.
Oh okay, right.
Is it the lamb?
(all chuckling)
- Is it tahini? - It is tahini.
- It's sapping every inch of moisture outta my mouth.
Whereas this one is sweeter and probably more oily.
- B, more oily.
I'm getting a smoother texture.
- Which do you prefer?
- Well definitely A.
It is thicker.
You feel like you get more of the flavour.
You also get a a really lovely bitterness,
which I guess is maybe the toasted sesame.
- [Ben] Pick your premium and lock it in.
- I think it's A.
- If I'm going on the same logic as the miso paste,
I'd say that A is more authentic, it's more natural.
Whereas B feels more processed.
So I'm gonna say that A is the premium.
- Take your blindfold off. - What a mess.
- I'm confident in my answer, actually.
- I can reveal that in this round,
the premium ingredient is A, correct.
- Good, I think. - Nicely done.
But you're right, A is the premium, Biona.
It uses organic 100% sesame seeds.
Whereas B is the more standard version, Baracke,
and it is also 100% sesame seeds.
- A different type of sesame seed?
A different process?
- Must be.
So with tahini, it is a sesame seed paste.
It's absolutely wonderful as a dip, put into other dips
like hummus or baba ghanoush through yoghourt.
But it's also delicious as a marinade, or in this case,
to add into something like a kebab,
or even using the other side of the world
more in sort of Szechuan cooking
where they use sesame pastes in almost satay-like sauces.
- I think if I was confident in what I was cooking
and knowing how to use tahini,
I could see how the premium version would be really useful.
But I'd be scared of using it in the wrong place.
Whereas here you can't go too wrong.
Like, you can just kind of drizzle over a salad at the end
or you can mix into a dish and it would still work nicely.
- [Ben] It works out at 83 pence per 100 grammes
for the standard one,
and £2.17 per 100 grammes for the premium.
So more than two and a half times as expensive.
- Not worth it, I don't think.
Personally, I'd go for this.
I think it's easier to work with in cooking.
- I'm definitely more comfortable with B.
The fact it's that most cheaper as well is, surprises me.
- Yep, I'd say much like the miso in the first round,
stick to authentic.
Quite often buy in larger volume.
It's got a long shelf life and play with it.
Experiment in how many places you can put it.
Two right, one wrong.
Let's move on to the final round.
(upbeat music)
Okay, last one.
Much easier to eat.
Off you go.
- [Barry] What is that?
- What?
Whoa.
Oh, it's really sweet.
- I'll be honest.
The top is just a distraction for our own entertainment
but it's a wonderful garnish
you can put on your desserts at home.
It's phyllo pastry, sliced up really fine,
sugared and baked off 'til golden.
There we go.
What you got there? - I don't know, Ben.
- Same rules as always.
A and B prepared identically
with exception of one ingredient.
- Is it a cookie?
- Oh, it's a cookie sandwich.
- It's a coffee cookie sandwich.
- Oh man, that is delicious!
- Oh my god, that's heavenly.
This is a tiramisu cookie.
- You like?
- I'm a little bit weak in the knees, Ben.
- [Ben] I'm glad you're sat down.
- I'm glad there's a bench in front of me.
- Oh, too much. (crew laughing)
More importantly, put A down and-
- No! - try B.
Try B, see if you can work out what is changing.
- That is wonderful!
Is it the coffee?
- Correct.
Both have been made with instant coffee.
Now we could have just given you two cups of instant coffee.
- You could have (chuckling).
- But given we're a cooking channel,
we wanted to put it into situ,
and this is a coffee mascarpone custard
between white chocolate cookies.
- I'm getting more coffee notes from B.
Like, I'm getting more fragrance from B.
- Which is the premium instant coffee?
- I'm gonna say B is my premium.
- B is the premium.
Just like that.
- [Ben] Okay you've locked in B, now remove the blindfold.
No real visual difference.
- The bitterness doesn't imply a premium,
or it's just a type, just a style of coffee.
But I'm getting more...
There's more cut through of coffee from B than there is A.
- I feel like there's a harsh bitterness to A,
which makes me feel like it's not the premium.
- I can reveal that the premium instant coffee is B.
- Good! - Get in!
- [Ben] You are correct.
So A is the standard instant coffee from Tesco.
They say Rainforest Alliance approved,
and it is a careful blend of Robusta and Arabica beans,
harvested at the height of the season
when the coffee cherry is perfect ripeness.
Whereas B is our premium choice.
It is Little's Colombian.
And it's got not just the 100% Arabica from Columbia,
but it has those kind of hazelnut notes
and tones to it as well.
- I felt like that just tasted so instant
in comparison to that,
which is all I really had to go at.
It was a lot harsher and more bitter.
You could argue there you actually got
more of the coffee flavour, but it was difficult to tell
between the coffee and the bitterness.
Just out of interest,
could I try a teaspoon of each and some boiling water?
- [Ben] Yep.
- Yeah, that one smells a lot more punchy.
- [Ben] It's darker, perhaps slightly harsher.
- You know it's not too bad, you know?
(upbeat music)
Oh, yeah, okay.
Yeah, it is smoother.
That is more akin to a black coffee.
It's bang in the middle between instant
and a good long black coffee.
It sits perfectly in the middle.
- Obviously, there's a lot more at play
than just taste and aroma.
It's kind of why we give you the blindfold
and we focus in on one thing.
With all food, there's a lot of other conversations at play,
where they're produced, how they're produced.
Little's for example, claim to be the first company
to produce 100% plastic-free jars with aluminium lids.
The jars are made in Rotherham,
the aluminium in Huddersfield,
so it's kind of UK packaging.
But given we're talking about a global ingredient,
and Colombian beans, it's about the whole process.
But when it comes to price, A the Tesco option,
comes in at £1.13 per 100 grammes,
which is about two pence per serving.
Whereas B is four times the price at £4.50 for 100 grammes.
- Four times more expensive.
Well, it's over four times as good.
- 99 times out of 100,
I'm making coffee from instant coffee.
I'm not making a tiramisu or a dessert.
So therefore it always go for
the one that tastes best a cup.
But it is good to know that when you are cooking a dessert,
you don't have to have an espresso or a premium coffee.
- Yep, and in desserts we've often used coffee syrups,
coffee alcohols, depending on what you're making,
like a Kahlua. - Yes.
- If you're making something like a tiramisu
where you've got the coffee and booze combo,
but you can also get coffee flavourings as well.
- I'll have a cup after this then, please.
(upbeat music)
- A rollercoaster of blind taste testing, but well done.
Good job all around.
- Enjoyed it, it was very useful.
- Hopefully some little nuggets to take home
of what you're gonna put in your dry store.
But now to what's important, who won?
- Make me a winner Ebbers. - Shut up.
- I can reveal that Barry, you got three correct, one wrong.
And Mike, exactly the same.
- Oh, nice!
- And it was the pistachios
that you both went towards familiarity-
- Pointless, right? - and got wrong.
- Pointless. - Yeah, surprisingly so.
Really interesting batch, that.
- So over to you guys.
Comment down below.
Are there any of those ingredients
that you buy on a regular basis?
And what would you love to see us test on normals
to pick the premium on next?
- And if you found any of them useful,
give us a little like.
- A little like. - A little like.
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