Latest news with #blindtasting
The Sun
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Sweet-toothed Camilla treats grandchildren to posh ice-cream tasting session with some VERY wacky flavours
THE Queen took home hundreds of pounds worth of ice cream after blind tasting odd flavours including pickled onion and gravy. It came after Her Majesty treated her grandchildren to a £45-a-head tester session at a wacky West London parlour this week. 8 8 8 The royal and her family were handed a pen and paper and had to guess the flavours of iced treats infused with olive oil, sriracha hot sauce and biscuits. She was so taken by some of the flavours, she left with boxes of goodies — including £4.50 single scoops of Ovaltine and Club Orange flavoured ice creams. But insiders revealed the Queen was not a fan of the pickled onion flavoured iced delights. Camilla takes her grandchildren from her first marriage — Lola, Freddy, Eliza and twins Louis and Gus — for a fun treat each year. Their blind tasting at the Anya Hindmarch store, Belgravia, came just two days before the Queen's 78th birthday on Thursday. A source said: 'Camilla and her grandchildren had a great time tasting all of the strange flavours. But Camilla didn't fancy tasting the pickled onion ice cream. Afterwards she bought a lot of treats for her grandchildren and left with a scoop of Club Orange and another of Ovaltine, both for herself.' Sir David Beckham and Harry Potter star Rupert Grint. Telly presenter Gaby Roslin was there yesterday, joining Eastenders actress pal Harriet Thorpe. Gaby said: 'I come here every year and the ice cream flavours are insane. It's absolutely amazing and there are so many to choose from.' Harriet, who plays Elaine Peacock in the soap, said: 'Both Gaby and I love the sriracha flavour, it's got a real kick to it. It's crazy good.' Queen thanks Novak Djokovic for letting her stay in his 'lovely' property in 'private' chat at Wimbledon For £45 a person, visitors can try 15 flavours in the Ice Cream Project Blind Tasting Tea until September 7. Unusual flavours include Irn-Bru, Bird's Custard, Bisto Gravy, Copella Cloudy Apple Juice, Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Flying Goose Sriracha. Other wacky ones on offer are Garner's Pickled Onions, Maldon Sea Salt sorbet, McVitie's Club Orange, McVitie's Milk Chocolate HobNobs, Ovaltine, Quaker Oats, Romney's Kendal Mint Cake, Rowse Honey and Jacob's Twiglets. The store is primarily a quirky fashion business and also sells a range of bags and trinkets, including Heinz Baked Beans candles for £95, a £1,295 After Eight mints tote bag and a Mr Muscle duster silk scarf for £195. IS POSH NOSH TOSH FOR DOSH? SWEET treats shop The Ice Cream Project by Anya Hindmarch has gone viral with its weird and wonderful scoops. Zara Qureshi braved the queues in Belgravia for a £16-a-tub taste test… BISTO GRAVY - 2/5 A WEIRD one, but not totally off-putting. It's got a warm, salty kick that's just right. 8 It is not too much but not too little either. It ends up being oddly tasty without being a total shock to the system. GARNER'S PICKLED ONION - 1/5 The smell hits you before the taste, with unexpected onion bits that take you by surprise. The sourness clashes with the sweetness, which is unusual since I normally like onion sauces. 8 Overall, a horrid flavour. QUAKER PORRIDGE OATS - 3/5 Chewy, chunky and unapologetically hearty. It's a good thing I skipped breakfast because this is more meal than treat. 8 The sweet vanilla base and oaty, coarse texture easily doubles as breakfast. FLYING GOOSE SRIRACHA - 4/5 AS a spicy food addict, I thought I'd tried it all, but this was a first. It starts off cold and sweet, lulling you into comfort, then suddenly hits with a fiery kick of garlic. 8 The contrast is definitely unexpected. JACOB'S TWIGLETS - 4/5 I thought this would be awful, but it pulled off a sweet-and-salty surprise — like American bacon waffles with syrup. Slightly Marmite-y and yeasty, it had a softened crunch which made it unexpectedly delicious.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘The flavour, the texture, everything is perfect': José Pizarro tests supermarket tinned sardines
I like to think of myself as a bit of a connoisseur of tinned seafood, and of tinned sardines, in particular. Well, of course I do: I'm Spanish, after all, and I've been eating this stuff since I was two (which, let me tell you, is a very long time ago indeed!). So I jumped at the chance to do a blind tasting of British supermarket tinned sardines – although, with the odd exception, I now think I perhaps jumped just a little too soon. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. For me, the first thing you notice when you open a tin of sardines is the look of the fish, and then its smell and texture. They should be headless but otherwise whole, not boned fillets or skinned, and the flesh should feel firm to the touch; the bones, likewise, should still have some structure and substance to them (if you can barely feel them, the fish is likely overcooked). What I found especially illuminating about this blind tasting, however, was that three of the 10 products were pretty much identical, in pretty much every way, from the texture and taste of the fish to the quality of the oil, which is why I found it more or less impossible to tell them apart, or to find any points of difference between them. As for the oil that's used to preserve the sardines, I'm afraid it simply has to be olive oil – yes, I would say that (again, I am Spanish, after all), but sorry, that's just a plain statement of fact and I will not be taking questions. £1.10 for 120g at Asda (92p/100g)£1.10 for 120g at Morrisons (92p/100g)★★★★☆ Pretty great, especially considering the price. The flavour is very good, as is the consistency and texture of the fish, while the quality of the oil is up there, too. After the blind tasting, when I found out where these were from, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very surprised indeed. £5.75 for 140g at Sous Chef (£4.11/100g)£6.75 for 140g at Waitrose (£4.82/100g)★★★★★ Simply the best: the flavour, the texture, everything is perfect; it's the reason why these cost top dollar, as they well should. £2.70 for 125g at Sainsbury's (£2.16/100g)£2.70 for 125g at Ocado (£2.16/100g)★★★☆☆ These have been skinned, and are consequently dry. The flavour isn't all that nice, either. In fact, it turns out they're similar to the Fish 4 Ever offering below, with a pretty much identical taste and texture. I just didn't get a sense that these fish had been treated with love or care, and they're bloody expensive, too, considering. £2.95 for 90g at Ethical Superstore (£3.28/100g)£29.50 for 10 x 90g at Amazon (£3.27/100g)★★★☆☆ As mentioned above, these are similar to the Sea Castle sardines, so pretty much the same comments apply here as well. Other than maybe to add that these are even more expensive. £1.20 for 106g at Ocado (£1.13/100g)£17.59 for 12 x 106g at Amazon (£1.38/100g) ★★☆☆☆ A little spicy, which is something I'd normally be happy about, but there is no real balance going on in this tin, with the fish, the oil and everything all fighting against each other. The flesh is on the soft side, too. Sign up to The Filter Get the best shopping advice from the Filter team straight to your inbox. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. after newsletter promotion £1 for 120g at Waitrose (83p/100g)★★☆☆☆ Pretty basic stuff, a bit mushy and not the cheapest, either. Value for money is a big no with this tin. 52p for 90g at Aldi (58p/100g)★★☆☆☆ Very soft flesh, and very similar to the Asda and Tesco own-brands below. There is no real discernible difference in quality. 49p for 120g at Asda (41p/100g)★★☆☆☆ Very soft, plus the marked similarities with several other own-brand tinned sardines mean I wouldn't be at all surprised to find they were all sourced from the same supplier. Yes, these are cheap, but then, so they should be. 50p for 120g at Tesco (42p/100g) ★★☆☆☆ No real fish flavour to speak of, and far too soft. See also Aldi and Asda above. £1 for 120g at Ocado (83p/100g)★★☆☆☆ Yes, at least these are packed in olive oil, which is an improvement on sunflower, but in terms of overall general quality, I really don't have anything more to say about these that I haven't already said about the Aldi, Asda and Tesco sardines above.
