(clanging, cracking, sizzling)
- Hello, and welcome back to Sorted Food.
Today, two of our normal home cooks, Barry and Jamie,
are going head to head in a blind taste test.
We're gonna ask them,
can they pick the premium ingredient?
Yes, it's a competition,
but also, hopefully, we'll all learn a little bit more
about where perhaps it's best to spend our money.
- But mainly, it's a competition that I'm here to win.
- And you're gonna be very well-fed.
There are some beautiful dishes coming up.
Bring on round one.
(upbeat music)
This is how it works, you've got a blindfold,
you've got A and B in front of you.
Both have been prepared
with identical quantities and ingredients and method,
with one exception.
That's the one we want you to pick out,
and then we want you to pick out the premium.
- Got nothing.
Oh, there's something there.
- Looks beautiful. And how does it taste?
- Ooh.
Uh-uh. - Ah!
(mimics gargling)
- It's like a satay sauce,
with some vermicelli noodles?
- Ooh!
So far very, very good.
There's also a little thing on a stick on the plate
if you want to try that.
- It's quite heavy. (laughs)
- Ooh.
- [Ben] Please don't stab yourself. It's on a stick.
- What!
- You know I like putting things on sticks.
- Why would you give me a sharp implement?!
I'm blindfolded!
- I'm liking this dish. Brilliant!
- Try B, see if there's anything that stands out different.
This is perhaps typically a street food item anyway.
(moaning)
- Oh, that's just chilli.
Ah!
- Well, the next most common thinking in a satay
would be peanuts?
- Yes.
We're asking you to judge the difference
between a basic and a premium peanut butter.
- My assumption of premium peanut butters
might be stay less sweet, more chunky.
Whereas the cheaper ones are more oily.
- To give you a clue,
what we made was a marinade
with peanut butter, coconut milk,
and then a whole bunch of wonderful fragrant spices.
So yes, lemon grass, galangal, garlic, chilli.
And then, once that had been put over the chicken,
we also use the leftover marinade
with water and fried onions,
cook it all down into a sauce that we then blended.
- B feels like it's richer.
It's got more flavour attached to it essentially.
- I always try my best to buy a premium peanut butters,
but if I'm deadly honest,
I think I prefer the cheaper ones for nostalgic reasons.
So I'm preferring the taste of A to B.
So therefore, I think B is the premium.
- B.
- [Ben] Okay, well we've now put the two peanut butters
in front of you.
You can remove the blindfold.
You're not allowed to change your mind,
you've locked in your answer.
But would you?
- I think I'm right, because A does look more oily,
which I'd assume it to be more, to be cheaper.
- I feel like when I've seen premium peanut butters before,
they've been a bit coarser,
like as in whole grain peanut butter, that kind of thing.
Neither of these have given me that.
- You are wrong.
(buzzer ringing)
- Damn!
- [Both] Really?
- A is Manilife peanut butter.
Organic, but also made with 99% peanuts, just 1% salt.
Whereas B is a basic, in this case,
Sainsbury's crunchy peanut butter.
87% roasted peanuts,
but then other ingredients,
rapeseed oil, palm oil, sugar, and salt.
- Maybe that's why I was getting more flavour from them,
because it's got the sugar and the oils in it.
- The difference and the dish themselves
are a lot more subtle
than eating the peanut butter straight.
- And there was very slightly, very, very slightly,
more caramelization of the chicken under the grill
with the one that had the high sugar content.
- Oh, right. - Very subtle.
The basic version is 25p per 100g.
How much do you think that Manilife
premium peanut butter is?
- Another 10p, 35p.
- Pound?
- £1.36 per 100g,
just over five times the price.
- We're still just talking about blitzed up peanuts?
- You're talking about a higher percentage of peanuts
and you're also talking about a higher quality of peanut
in where and how it's sourced.
- I think that's worth it.
I think peanut butter falls into one of those categories
where it should cost more than it does,
and it should cost more than we expect it to.
- I like peanut butter. I don't love it.
If I loved it,
I'd probably go to every degree to get the best I can.
But for when I use it, which is very rarely,
I'd probably just still stick with something
a little bit cheaper.
(upbeat music)
- Two plates of food that I would happily dig into either.
You have A and B,
see if you can guess what ingredient we're comparing,
and then I want you to pick the premium.
- There's some sort of tart.
- Pastry.
- I'm getting almost feta-ry sort of vibes.
It feels Greek.
- That's weird, I'm getting jarred peppers.
- Slightly unfair on the food team,
'cause what they've done is slow roast some peppers for you,
but- - Oh, have they? (laughs)
- Have a little go on B.
- I think the feta is the difference.
- It is. - Yes!
- Why do you think that?
- A is drier.
And B is creamier.
- Okay.
What you have in front of you is a wonderful
sort of Mediterranean Greek in particular tart.
So it's like a Greek salad on a bit of pastry.
Slow cooked peppers, some tomatoes.
We've got some cucumber sort of ribbons coiled up,
as well as small olives.
But yes, it is the feta we're asking you to compare.
- Okay, A is more silky.
- A is definitely sort of crumblier.
- B is more bitty and crumbly,
which is more like a goat's cheese.
- B is the premium.
- Are you looking in the answer B?
- Yes, Ben!
- Okay, blindfold off.
You've looked in B as your premium,
you can't change your mind.
- Oh. - But would you?
- Did make a mess, didn't I? look at this.
- [Barry] I don't have a clue.
- Just to look at them, I have no idea.
- I can confirm that in this round, the premium is B.
You're correct.
- Yay! - (grunts) Come on!
Needed that. - Okay, cool.
- So, both pretty good.
A is a PDO status feta from Sainsbury.
So it still has that protected designation of origin.
Whereas B is Epiros feta from a particular region in Greece
and is our premium.
- B is definitely creamier.
There is more going on in that mouth full of cheese
then there is A, which is slightly more one dimensional.
- The premium feta describes itself
as made from herbacious milk of sheep and goats
grazing mostly in the richly biodiverse Epiros region,
which is known for its unique flora,
and cheesemaking has happen there traditionally
for an awful long time.
- I'm gonna stick to my guns. It's all in the funk.
That's just salty cheese.
- The basic version works out at £6.75 per kilo.
How much per kilo for the premium?
- £10 per kilo.
- £8.
- It is £18.50.
- That's quite a lot really, isn't it?
- so, it's almost three times the price.
- Yeah, that's quite a lot.
- That's a very, very nice feta,
but not three times the price.
- But to spend £4 on a pack of feta,
that's all right.
If I'm getting really good stuff for that,
I might get slightly less of it.
- So as opposed to £1.50?
- Yeah.
- Certainly a strong cheese.
It's salty, it's got all the powerhouse of flavour
that we use quite a lot in midweek cooking,
'cause it gives it a real lift,
and therefore, actually a little bit does go a long way.
Good point. Round three.
(upbeat music)
A and B.
Identical in preparation with exception of one ingredient.
- Ah.
- Oh, that's very unfortunate.
That's sort of supposed to be mixed into everything.
- Oh. - You got it all on one spoon.
- Oh!
(laughter)
- Ooh, wow!
That is wonderful.
A sweet chickpea cassoulet of sorts.
(laughter)
Really sweet tangy sauce.
- Hmm, calamari.
- It's very similar. Yeah.
I'm gonna put you out of your misery, it's cuttlefish.
But you know, same kind of family
and it behaves in a similar way when you're blindfolded.
Try B. (chuckles)
- Oh.
(stammering) It's not the chickpeas.
- Ebbers, is it chickpeas?
- [Ben] You've spotted the difference.
It's the only thing in the dish that's changed.
You are judging the chickpeas.
- They're like pumpkin-sized chickpeas.
- (laughs) Not that big, but yes, they are slightly bigger.
- This is interesting,
'cause I use chickpeas quite a lot at home from a tin
and they are cheap.
- You can't really taste chickpeas
when they're covered in everything else.
They're just there for texture and bantz, aren't they?
- Bantz, yep. Okay, fine, yep.
- Well, I think both of these
are bigger chickpeas than normal.
- A, they're slightly smaller,
and they've got a bit more of a bite to them.
Sounds silly, but B, they taste fresher.
They seem plumper and a much more of a velvety texture
as you bite through it.
I'm gonna say that B's the premium.
- I'm gonna have to go with B, Ebbers,
'cause they're massive.
And there's no way that smaller ones
would be more premium, is there?
- And you can whip your blindfold off.
You've locked in B, you can't change your mind,
but would you?
- Nope. - Yes.
I did say B and I presume that is right,
because they are not in a tin.
- Looking at the packaging, I would say that I'm right.
- I can confirm you are absolutely right, B is the premium.
- Okay, brilliant. - Hey.
- So A is Ocado's, kind of their basic chickpea range.
Italian chickpeas.
B is the premium.
They are Brindisa's Spanish chickpeas, jarred,
but they are also cooked a lot slower and more gentle.
And they're kind of more tender, more plump,
and actually almost richer once they end up...
Almost creamier in their final result.
In each dish, we've used the liquid they come in
to help cook in the chickpeas stew,
along with smoked paprika, some other flavours,
some aioli and some cuttlefish.
- [Jamie] It's like somebody's already
half whisked up your aquafaba.
- And it's very possible that the preservation process,
so storing in a jar as opposed to a tin,
which obviously has to be heated to seal it,
would make a difference as well.
And finally, B is also organic.
- I think the difference here as well
is I buy tin chickpeas to bulk out a meal,
whereas these chickpeas, they are, in a tapas kind of style,
that's the hero of the dish.
You don't need the fish on top of that.
- I think, in a dish like this,
it's very easy to notice the difference.
Just in the size of the chickpeas.
Suddenly, the chickpeas become a talking point.
- This is true.
Tender, nutty, kind of more creamy in their consistency.
If I was to tell you that the basic version is 14,
1-4 pence per 100g,
how much do you reckon for the Brindisa ones?
Which is a family brand, it's been around through 1960s,
it's still the children, grandchildren that produce them.
- I'm gonna say 90p.
- 70p per 100g.
- [Ben] £1.03
so more than seven times the price.
- I can justify that in its flavouring.
Can I justify that when buying that at home?
For what I use chickpeas for, probably not.
- I think it depends on usage,
because it was instantly noticeable in this dish for me.
And if I was gonna create something special,
then I'd want to use the best chickpeas I could find.
- Who knew chickpea could be the hero?
- Enough of a difference for you
to able to pick the premium.
Well done. - Yeah.
And we got through that whole segment
without making a chick penis joke.
(upbeat music)
- Round four, A and B again.
- [Barry] I'm not getting a waft of anything.
- Ah, ah.
Tuna.
- It's tuna!
- And some salady stuff.
Is that lettuce? Is that what it's called?
- I think there's some carrot,
there's some ribbons of cabbage that have been iced
so they're super crispy, herby rice salad,
and you were right with tuna.
Try B and see which of those elements stands out
as being different.
- Okay, right. - Tuna.
- So it's tuna, right?
- Tuna is the hero.
- Right, let's get into, I can do this.
I know my tuna.
- I'm gonna put my neck on the line
and say that B is tuna from a cat food tin.
(laughter)
And A is like human grade tuna.
(laughs)
- So this is silky, silky tuna versus slightly rough.
(upbeat music)
I've had some really premium tuna steaks
and that amazing Italian tuna you get in the jars,
which is a different gravy.
This doesn't taste like that.
I'm falling in love with this tuna here,
so I believe that I'm in love with a premium dish.
A is premium.
- Well, the thing is some people spend a lot on cat food.
I would imagine we haven't.
So I'm gonna say that A is the premium.
- I'll get the tins out and you can have a look.
- Ooh!
Interesting.
- Oh, it's really interesting.
So B is M&S, which is decent quality.
Whereas A feels like a Spanish tapas
or the Portuguese tapas tins that we've had before,
which are really premium.
- Yeah, look at it.
Look how silky that is to touch!
- Indeed, A is the premium.
B is the basic,
although it's still a very responsibly sourced tuna from M&S
and it's stored in olive oil.
Whereas A is Ortiz,
so it's a Spanish brand
that's been around since the late 1800s.
It's the belly of the tuna
and it's basically caught one at a time on a line
in the Bay of Biscay.
- B was far dryer and claggy and harder to eat.
A just slipped down.
That was delicious.
And you can tell by the way that this is sliced,
rather than chunked. - Mm-hmm.
- It falls apart beautifully.
And it kind of, it could go further as well.
This just gives you a load of tuna flavour
and it'd mix in with everything else.
This you could just...
I could sit there and eat that from the tin happily.
- I think when we consider the applications of tin tuna,
we generally bind it with mayonnaise
or something that is really kind of enriched,
and or through pasta salads or into fish cakes.
And in that use,
tinned tuna that we've always known and grown up with
is absolutely fine.
But that premium Ortiz cut,
out the tin, on a plate,
sprinkle of parsley, a bit of bread, as is.
I'm gonna give it to you as a price per kilo,
just so it's a fair comparison
in case tins and things change in size.
So, the basic version, which again, to be fair,
isn't the most basic version you can get,
that is £9.25 per kilo.
What do you recommend for our premium version,
the Ortiz tuna belly?
- I'm gonna say £50 a kilo.
- £55.
- [Ben] It's about £100 a kilo.
- (stammering) How much is- - That tin itself? 11 quid.
- Okay, weirdly, when you break it down
to the amount it is for the tin,
I can look at that and go, yeah.
- Now I know that's a lot of money,
but if my memory serves me correctly
from the tinned episode that we did,
that actually is about inline
with some of the other stuff that we had.
And again, it comes down to that preconception that we have
that because it's in a tin, it should be cheaper.
Whereas that is premium grade tuna.
- I pay £10 for a couple of fresh cuts of tuna steak.
So I'll put that in the same sort of realm as that.
So £10 for that tin doesn't freak me out.
Tunas are majestic, beautiful animals,
and they're absolutely delicious.
(upbeat music)
- Okay, game's up.
Scores on the doors.
- Bring it!
- There were four points up for grabs today.
And today's winner is,
both of you.
- Oh no! - Three points each.
You both got the peanut butter wrong
and then got all of the rest correct.
- That was hard, wasn't it? - That was really hard.
Did you guess? - Yeah, yeah,
I just guessed. - I just guessed.
I had no idea.
I thought one had more flavour.
- Yeah, same, 'cause the sugar and the salt.
- Yeah, exactly. Yeah. - Yeah.
- Over to you guys, though. Comment down below.
Do you use any of those ingredients in your weekly shop?
And if you do, do you go basic or premium?
- Plus, let us know what we should be testing our...
- Executive taste buds?
- Our executive taste buds - Yeah.
- on next time.
- [Mike] We have an app.
It's called Meal Packs
and helps you plan and then cook a week's worth of meals
using one set of ingredients.
Saving you money, cutting down on food waste,
and answering the age old question,
what should we have for dinner?
It's free to try for a whole month.
The link is in the description box below.
(upbeat jazz music)
- They both have a bit more of a bite to them
than I'm used to.
But that could just be how they're cooked.
They could be cooked really well.
- Is that 'cause you normally eat hummus?
- Maybe.
(laughter)
They're less saucy.
(laughter continues)