(metal clinks)
(eggshell cracks)
(oil sizzles)
(upbeat music)
- Hello, and welcome to Sorted Food.
Today, two of our normal home cooks, Jamie and Barry,
will be blind taste-testing identical dishes,
and we're gonna ask them, can they pick the premium?
By doing this with a bit of luck,
we will all learn better where to spend our money,
how much difference there actually is in these ingredients
and which of our normal home cooks
has the most talented tongue.
- Ah, what?
- I don't want to know who has the most skilled tongue.
- Get your bets in at home, it's round one.
(swanky music)
Okay, simple rules, you got A and B in front of you.
Start with A, have a touch, have a smell, have a nibble.
- Oh, it's a sandwich.
- Is it focaccia?
- Very good, Jamie.
You have two portions of sea salt focaccia.
We've kept it really simple, olive oil, sea salt,
and all the ingredients for focaccia,
but they are identical in the way they've been made,
the way the ingredients have been weighed out,
the proving times, the baking times.
The only thing that is different is one of the ingredients
is more premium in one of those plates.
- Straight away, B is lighter.
It's as if I can feel more air pockets
and crispier on the outside.
Mm-hmm!
And, it has more of a chew.
They are both outrageously delicious, that's for sure.
- Which is the ingredient do you think we're comparing?
There's not many ingredients in focaccia.
- You wouldn't compare yeast, would we?
Flour!
- Yeah, so we kind of wanted to explore flour
because I think we all think of it as such a basic staple.
What happens if you buy a particularly cheap one
versus one that you spend a bit more on?
Is it worth spending the money?
- I look for the type of flour,
you know, strong flour, self-raising flour,
whatever it is that I need for the application,
but not, I wouldn't necessarily go for a brand.
- I've bought premium flour at home
when making my own pizza doughs and it changes everything.
Suddenly it puffs up completely different.
- So both of these are strong white bread flour.
One is a supermarket basic and one is more premium.
Can you pick the premium?
- I feel like A has a more luxurious bite to it.
I'm gonna say A is the premium.
- I believe that B is the premium.
- In that case, you've locked in your answer.
You have said that B is the premium.
Now take off the blindfold
and see if there are any visual differences
and whether you would, not that you can, change your mind.
- Looking at them doesn't really help.
- But B has more height, it has risen more.
- I can reveal to you that in this first round, the premium
is B.
(bell chimes)
(buzzer honks)
A is ASDA's own strong white bread flour.
B is Shipton Mill artisanal Canadian wheat flour.
And what Shipton do, is kind of small batch milling,
but also they combine different wheats
from different places, local farms in the UK,
but also from farmers around the world
they have good supply chains with,
and they constantly blend the flour.
So it's consistent
and you always know exactly how it's gonna perform.
- That's really interesting.
Is there anything I should've been looking out for?
- The bubbles is an interesting one
because they had identical proving times, everything else.
And what happened with the slightly cheaper flour
was that they formed the bubbles
and then basically they didn't have the structure to hold it
and therefore they collapse.
So what you ended up with was crispy bits
where a bubble had popped and it goes crispier
but the structure wasn't the same.
- Interesting.
- The ASDA flour works out at 40 pence per kilo.
(cha chings)
How much do you recon for the Shipton Mill?
- 60p a kilo?
50% more?
- I wouldn't be surprised if it's like three pounds.
- One pound 55 a kilo.
- You kinda led me down that path (chuckles).
- You're still only looking at 70 or 80p
to make a loaf of focaccia, but it is four times the price.
- Price-wise, that is fine by me.
- But if it is easier to work with
and you are supporting a smaller, more local business,
that's a good thing.
- You scored a point, on to round two.
- Yeah!
- Rumbags.
(upbeat music)
That was warm-up round Ebbers,
so let's make this serious now.
- Round number two.
- I'm smelling a curry.
- Hmm!
Is this a chicken biryani of sorts?
- Excellent guess, chicken biryani.
The question is, what is the premium ingredient
we want you to try and identify?
- Rice.
- It's the rice we're looking at here.
- Both have been made with basmati rice.
- [Barry] Okay, oh, wait a minute.
- Literally the only place in the planet
where it's acceptable to do this.
- A are longer grains of rice that are slightly silkier.
B is shorter and probably plumper and fluffier.
- I feel like I'm getting more flavor from A.
- One is a supermarket own brand,
and one is what we consider
to be one of the more premium,
a rice brand that we know
that Michelin star Indian restaurants in London do use.
- So A is the premium.
- A.
- A is your answer, it's locked in.
You may now reveal the blindfolds, have a little look.
- On visual inspection, I think I'm happy with my answer.
I think A has longer, less broken grains.
- [Barry] B looks like the rice I use at home,
and that is not premium.
- I can reveal that in this round,
the premium product
is A.
- Yes! - Yes!
(bell chimes) - Absolutely right.
And it is slightly longer grains,
slightly more fluffy and individual.
You're right in the sense they I haven't broken as much,
and much more fragrant and floral.
Basmati literally means aroma engrained.
- It is far more aromatic than B is.
I mean, it's not to say that both aren't delicious
because they really, really are.
- A is Veetee Mega, extra long grain aged basmati,
B is Liddell's basmati rice.
- [Barry] Sorry, aged basmati?
- So if you look at the color of it as well,
it's a slightly off-white.
Our understanding is it's aged in the sacks
and the flavor just has the chance
to kind of integrate more.
I genuinely don't know a huge amount about that.
If you do, comment down below.
What decisions did you go through
when you come to buying it?
- I don't really make a decision.
I just go for a normal supermarket own brand.
- Which I think is definitely a factor of the trust
that we outsource to retailers.
There are occasions when perhaps if you go off-piste,
you might end up with a better result.
- This doesn't really the smell of anything.
Whereas this smells of everything.
- What I found fascinating
was the aroma compound you're kinda smelling
is the same one that you find in pandan.
So that very aromatic, floral, almost grassy note
and basmati rice has 12 times as much of that
as non-basmati grains.
So you did get that one right, but now, let's talk price.
We picked this up from Liddell and per kilo, one pound 29.
Perfectly good basmati rice, creates a great dish.
How much for the Veetee Mega, extra long grain?
- Four pounds per kilo.
- Can't be that much more premium, so I'd say two pounds.
- You're going with two pounds a kilo?
- Two pounds 20.
- Should've stuck to two pounds, bang on!
So it's about 50% more,
but that's only 70 odd pence more per kilo.
- But now I know that's the difference,
maybe I should care more about the rice I buy.
- Yeah, I would definitely choose that.
I think over the course of however many meals
you would get out of a packet of rice,
that cost will be negligible,
but the difference in quality is massive.
- [Benjamin] Stop eating that so we can try some.
- Ah, what a day.
- On to round three!
(upbeat music)
- So far, humble ingredients, spectacular outcomes.
Oh, okay, it's wet.
(laughs)
- What is that?
- Oh, okay, it's an omelet.
Ooh, good omelet!
(sniffs)
- Egg.
- Correct.
- Right, there was nothing in the omelet.
So I'm gonna say, we're looking at eggs.
- We are looking at eggs.
In front of you, you have two classic French omelets.
One of those plates is made with regular free range eggs,
and one is made with a more premium free range egg.
- Texture's pretty similar.
- I think everyone at home probably already has an idea
based on visuals.
Obviously, Jamie doesn't have those visuals.
- I cook a lot of eggs at home and eggs is of the things
that I do spend quite a lot of money on.
When I have used cheaper eggs,
it does feel like they've been watered down a little bit
and A tastes like the eggs I make at home.
So I'm gonna say A is the premium.
- Ah, I really don't know!
A.
- A is locked in, that is your premium.
Now take off your blindfold and see what we can see.
- This one's luminous!
- Are they Burford Browns?
- Yeah, the color does kinda give it away,
A is the premium.
- Yes, okay!
(bell chimes) - So A is a free range egg,
a Burford Brown from Clarence Court.
And B, also free range, from Sainsbury's J. James.
- [Barry] That was really tricky.
- Start with the Sainbury's ones.
It's got a QR code on the inside for full traceability
and providence and each egg has a code.
If you put the code into the egg tracker,
they have come from Shirley Blackwood in Scotland.
So everything is completely transparent.
- [Jamie] That's really good to know.
- A 100% of people want to know more
about where their food comes from.
In the example of Clarence Court,
it's come from Clarence Court and you go to the website
and they've got videos, you can see the hens.
It is incredibly transparent and premium as a result.
- What a beautiful color.
- The hens enjoy a maize-rich diet,
carefully formulated to include wheat, sunflower,
seashell, soya, paprika, and marigold from dawn till dusk.
- A couple in there that surprise me, if I'm honest.
Seashells, they're eating seashells?
- Help with calcium I guess.
- And paprika, adds a little bit of a kick?
- Color?
- They're some pretentious eggs (chuckles).
- Tell me Ben, where did the marigold come from?
- Their flowerbeds.
- Right. (beeps)
- If we are baking, I will buy, and I need a lot of them.
I'll go for a slightly cheaper range, but not much cheaper.
- And I guess one thing that we're quite lucky with
in the UK, is the farming standards.
The Clarence Court Burford Browns,
they have free roam all day, rich diet.
But even the J.James Sainsbury's ones,
they are also free range,
they still have access to the outside.
They still have perch space because that is legislation
that under EU law we've always had to abide by,
which is why we have excellent food standards in the UK.
- I think I would still spend more money on the eggs.
I wouldn't necessarily go for the cheaper option
because it's not gonna taste as good.
There's a lot more going on than just the taste.
- 15 pence an egg from J.James Sainsbury's.
How much do you recon for Clarence Court?
- 20p an egg.
- 50p.
- 50 pence an egg.
- [Jamie] Quite a lot more, aint it?
- [Benjamin] So just over three times the price
per egg. - Quite a bit more.
- If the egg is the star of the show, spend the money.
- Going into the final round, J, you got two points,
chance to pick up a third.
(upbeat music)
Oh, you're in such a lucky seat, J.
Last round, number four, same rules apply, off you go!
- Oh!
It's a pie.
- [Benjamin] Go easy on that mouthful.
- Oh, alright.
- [Barry] Mushroom pie?
- [Benjamin] You have two mushroom pies.
What's the premium ingredient we're looking for?
The filling or the casing?
- [Barry] Mmm.
- One of those was made with a punnet
of supermarket Chestnut mushrooms,
and one was made with a more premium selection.
- A, is a wetter mix.
- B feels drier and more coarse.
- And also, I'd say it's more mushroom-y in flavor.
So I'm gonna go with B being the premium.
- B is the premium.
- B is you're locked in answer.
Blindfolds off.
- [Barry] Yeah.
- [Benjamin] Any big differences on preference?
- You know what?
I'm surprised at how similar they are.
- Supermarkets obviously have a range of mushrooms available
all year round,
but right now is when you'll probably find more variety
when it comes to wild mushrooms.
- The filling in B,
the mushrooms definitely look more interesting.
- Not that we were allowing you to change your mind,
but it sounds like you wouldn't.
- Don't think so.
- And you shouldn't.
B is the premium.
- Well, hey!
- [Benjamin] Three out of four.
- Three out of four.
- Good, yeah, yeah!
- A is a punnet of supermarket Chestnut mushrooms.
B is a punnet of mixed wild mushrooms.
They're sold as a wild, mixed selection.
And therefore you kind of get what arrives.
So there, a mixture of chanterelle, girolles,
black trumpet mushrooms.
So let's talk price.
I'm gonna do it per kilo to keep things easy.
You don't often buy a kilo of mushrooms,
but A, three pounds 15 per kilo.
- To that level, you look at it like,
stuff it, I reckon 20 quid.
- Five pounds per kilo?
- 35 pounds a kilo.
So more than 10 times the price.
- Whoa!
That's an astonishing price difference.
- If you're just looking for a mushroom sensation,
then go with these every day of the week
and save those for maybe once a month.
- We were deliberately trying to test your taste buds today.
I would not recommend you spend 35 pounds per kilo
if you're going to blitz them up and put them in a pie.
But some applications, they absolutely have a place,
especially at this time of year
when they're very, very seasonal.
But what are your thoughts?
- I'll be honest with you, Ebbers,
I'm not gonna change my day-to-day mushroom habits.
I'm gonna carry on buying supermarket mushrooms.
But I will keep an eye out for a punnet of something
that looks a little bit different.
I'm never going to buy a kilo of mushrooms at a time,
so the 35 pound price tag feels obtrusive.
- And that's bang on.
So I can now reveal.
- Yes.
- Barry, you know you got four out of four,
100%, that is excellent.
- J, believe it or not, Barry beat you again.
- Number one, he never beats me.
Number two, how did he get four correct?
- Very talented tongue.
- That's not what I was after, but thank you.
- Genuinely, I love doing these
'cause it's not often you get to do
what we consider to be staple ingredients side by side,
to look at the comparisons.
Tell us though, where would you spend the extra pence
or pounds if you were to do it out of those four ingredients
and comment down below,
what should we pick the premium on next time.
- [Jamie] 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.
(jazzy music)
- [Benjamin] But I guess when you feed your chickens those.
- Yeah!
Is that what it is?
- [Benjamin] And paprika.
- That would do it.
Yeah, tasty, but that's a spicy bum, wasn't it?
(beeps) (laughs)