Sandwich review: Tesco finest* Wiltshire Cured Ham Hock and Extra Mature Cheddar

The official description for this sandwich is:

White bread with oat and barley, Ham Hock, West Country extra mature cheddar cheese, onion and ale chutney, free range egg mayonnaise and mixed leaf.

Tesco have really pulled off something special here.  The balance of flavours and the quality of the ingredients is very impressive.  The strength of the cheese in sandwiches has been a particular bugbear of mine recently, as I always feel companies err on the side of caution and make their cheeses too mild – thankfully, Tesco are using extra mature cheddar here, and the flavour does actually come through in the sandwich.  The mix of the cheddar and the 'tangy onion and ale chutney' is perfect.

Overall, this is fantastic sandwich – the concept is a simple, elegant recipe, but it has been extremely well executed, and I can't commend Tesco enough on this effort.

I would buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: Tesco British Hog Roast

Today I am reviewing a sandwich from Tesco's limited edition "patriotic" range, brought out to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and identifiable by its garish packaging.

The official description for this sandwich is:

White bread, cooked and flash roast pork, apple and Kentish cider chutney, mayonnaise and pork stuffing.

This is typically Tesco.  Just like their Tandoori Chicken sandwich, which I reviewed a month ago, this sandwich has a promising recipe, and looks to be an excellent concept all-round - however, it is let down by the execution, and fails to live up to the tantalising description.

The pork meat is dry.  In fact, the whole sandwich is dry overall, and would definitely benefit from an extra dollop or three of that apple and Kentish cider chutney.

Extra chutney would be a good thing in more ways than one, actually - as well as keeping the sandwich from becoming too dry, the chutney seemed to me like a very good filling ingredient in its own right.  The idea of it intrigued me, and I was looking forward to trying it, so I was very disappointed, in the end, to be given so little of it to taste.

On the other hand, I was confused and bewildered by the inclusion of mayonnaise.  I don't feel that mayonnaise adds anything to this sandwich - it is not an integral part of the recipe, and doesn't quite seem to fit with the other ingredients in the filling.  I'm never keen on the addition of mayonnaise, simply for the sake of it, in sandwich recipes, and this instance seems to epitomise this.  Who has mayonnaise with a hog roast?!

Overall, I would say I was disappointed in this sandwich.  I love the idea, and I was looking forward to eating it, but Tesco's poor execution has once again spoiled what ought to have been a very enjoyable sandwich.  I would not buy this sandwich again.

Sandwich review: Tandoori Chicken, from Tesco "Handmade" range

The official description for this sandwich is:

Tandoori chicken, tomato, yogurt and mint dressing, red peppers and coriander on malted brown bread.

It sounds like a good recipe, and I had high hopes for this sandwich.  Sadly, though, I was disappointed. 

The majority of the ingredients are bland, and devoid of flavour.  (I would expect slightly more spice from "tandoori" chicken, and I would hope to taste mint in a "yogurt and mint dressing.)  But this lack of interest isn't even the main problem with this sandwich - in fact, it's difficult to discern at all, at first, over the prevalence of the coriander.

This sandwich is absolutely stuffed full of coriander, and the result is that it massively overpowers everything - not just the other ingredients in the sandwich, but the taste any food product within a half-mile radius of this sandwich is masked by its all-consuming coriander-y-ness.

I'm not saying that I don't like coriander (I do) but this sandwich take the concept of "too much of a good thing" to a whole new level!  And once I had fought my way through the dense coriander jungle, and was hoping that the rest of the sandwich, once coriander-free, would provide a good balance of flavours, I was again let down by its blandness.

So, on the one hand, too full of coriander for its own good, while on the other being bland and uninteresting, suffice to say I was not impressed by this sandwich, and I shan't be buying it again.

Breaking sandwich news

I stopped by at Waitrose today - it appears they have stopped selling the Beef & Stilton sandwich which I mentioned in my last Blog post, in comparison with a Tesco sandwich that has the same filling.  Disappointing, I thought.

Also, in relation to the previous post: when I said "I would definitely eat this sandwich again", I wasn't talking about the particular sandwich I ate yesterday - that would be horrible!  I meant that I would buy the product again, because I enjoyed the sandwich.

Sandwich review: British Beef and Stilton, from Tesco "Finest" range

Having not seen this on the shelves before, I can only assume that this is a relatively new product for Tesco.  The recipe (sliced Beef, Stilton cheese, caramelised onion chutney, and green salad, in wholemeal bread) is identical to that of a sandwich that Waitrose have been selling for some time.  I have enjoyed Waitrose' version on a number of occasions, so I was interested to see how this one from Tesco would stack up.

Having identical components, the two sandwiches are very similar.  The combination of the Stilton and the green salad is always a pleasant surprise.  I was, as I had said, eager to see whether the Tesco sandwich would be as good as the Waitrose one - and I was pleased to discover that, on the whole, it was.  The only area where the Tesco sandwich loses out to its Waitrose counterpart is in the matter of the caramelised onion chutney - Waitrose' sandwich uses better quality, and therefore more flavoursome, onion chutney, which gives a slightly tangier edge.  Whilst there was nothing wrong with Tesco's onion chutney, it was a touch blander than I had perhaps been used to.

Having begun two paragraphs with the word "having", I will now begin a third in like fashion.  On the subject of price, the Tesco sandwich cost £2.50.  It is a little while, now, since I have indulged in the Waitrose variety, and therefore I cannot remember how much it cost.  I would imagine it to be a little more expensive than the Tesco one, but I have no evidence with which to back up this assumption.  However, I did not think £2.50 an unreasonable price, for the Tesco sandwich.

Overall, I enjoyed the Tesco sandwich - the minor issue of the caramelised onion chutney aside, I thought it was a jolly good effort by the Tesco Sandwich Chaps.  I would definitely eat this sandwich again.