Aldi/Lidl specials - recommendations

[Busybee]

I’ll second the Aldi scented candles, my fave being the grapefruit lime and mandarin. As we have an open plan kitchen/dining room and also dry my washing over the Rayburn I find it’s very good if you have been cooking anything a bit pungent.

Agree with the baking supplies and my cousin really rates the dishwasher tablets.

BB

[miss mouse]

Thanks everyone. I will have a good snoop around next time I go that way.

[Stokey Sue]

I bought some pine nuts from lidl, then discovered I already had a pack from Aldi in the freezer (this is the best place to keep them)

Recommended sources, good value and pine nuts can be quite dodgy, theirs have always been sweet

[KeenCook]

Thanks for that tip, Sue, I must remember it.

[herbidacious]

I wasn't going to bother with French (er Emily in Paris) week but I ended up walking past Lidl to get to the pharmacy and well... I was restrained. I bought a 'brioche chinoise', which I have never had in France. I thought T might like it for breakfast. Some fresh stuffed pasta (!) and also some more ready grated parmesan and some dried pasta that I like which they didn't have last week - leftovers from Italian week. They also had (IW) pickled garlic cloves but I couldn't carry them (6kg of cat biscuits and other things to pick up).
There were other things which I might have bought did I not go to France quite often and were I not hoping to go again before the year is out, but not much that one can't normally get here anyway.
I am sure I bought something else... can't remember. Maybe not.

[KeenCook]

When are you off, Herbi? And how long are you away? This is your Spanish trip, isn't it?

[Pepper Pig]

This is interesting. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0m0vrmlzgyo

[Badger's Mate]

I suppose it’s the other side of the marketing strategy to compare ‘own brands’ with famous ones in a trolley valuation. Either way it ends up with a race to the bottom, making things cheaper and cheaper until the portion sizes are too small and the ingredients are iffy. Still, we have the choice to buy this stuff or not. You might say it’s horses for courses…

[herbidacious]

I'd just posted the same in food(ies) in the news but have now deleted.
I thought it funny that Tesco said "a higher proportion of any one ingredient does not necessarily mean it is better quality."

I don't do my main shops in either Tesco and shop in Aldi (and clearly don't buy meat products) but I have noticed that Sainsbury's often seems to be price matching Lidl even if they don't say so but have only checked on the exact same (branded) products.

Bottom line, if your comment proves true, BM, is that we all need to go back to cooking (as opposed to heating up). (It would be the only way to go organic, if one wanted to, too.)

[mistakened]

Back from Lidl, it is "Emily in Paris" week, aka French Week. I stocked up on cheeses and snagged the last bag of shelled edamame beans. The remaining French produce was macaroons.
I notice that next week they have a lot of their DeLuxe range, this means Christmas is coming

Moira

[Stokey Sue]

I’m heading for Lidl, E European week apparently

[herbidacious]

i just went to Lidl. They had about 10 types of Eastern European foods, almost all meat. But not all. They had Eastern European Jaffa cakes. Anyway, underwhelmed. Either they didn't stock much or it's all gone. It's not difficult to get Polish etc stuff in these parts, anyway.

edit: ah it started on the 12th.

[Sloe-Gin]

From Thurs 26th, it's Iberia!

[Stokey Sue]

I find the Lidl website very confusing, it doesn't readjust ot accessibility options

Didn't make it, sat down to write a list and all but fell asleep, the thing I was really keeen was tubes of paprika paste, th ePolish shops son't seem ot sell it, I brought some back from Hungary but long gone, the Turkish stuff isn't quite the same, and anyway doesn't come in handy tubes

[herbidacious]

I've never come across paprika paste in tubes. Sounds very useful. I will look out for it when I got to get my spices tomorrow from the 'Istanbul' shop.

Iberia sounds enticing. I can't see that on their web site. Was that an ad in the shop? I think I have just about finished my cheese from last time I like the ricotta-like desserts they do too. (And crema catalana.) I don't think they usually do gazpacho but may have it anyway. It's becoming easier to get.

One thing in Spain that I wish I had done more of was try more different types of gazpacho, They had lots of different types and related soups in the supermarkets, some in small bottles so you could try different ones without buying a lot. We had one bottle of salmorejo that lasted a good chunk of week (I think I was being too abstemious. Gazpacho is so expensive to buy here.) Then I realized I was getting a lot of really bad knee pain, became suspicious that it was the daily, twice daily if consumed at lunch time, intake of raw tomato, so I didn't get anymore. It may be a coincidence but the knee pain did reduce after that. Occasional gazpacho is worth the pain...

[Stokey Sue]

You can get the actual Hungarian one on Amazon, but it is well and truly overpriced
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hungarian-Papr ... d_source=1

Cheaper from Best of Hungary, but would need to do a minimum order (might not be too hard)
https://www.bestofhungary.co.uk/collect ... e-cupboard

The best sweet paprika I've found in England is from Suma, so at least that's cheap and accessible, I keep filling up my vintage Universe paprika tin.

[herbidacious]

Have you seen this place? They have a shop in Haringey Green lanes

https://www.paprikastore.co.uk/?s=papri ... pe=product

https://www.paprikastore.co.uk/

The shop looks rather grotty though if you go onto google street view! If I were going, I'd be ringing them first.

[Stokey Sue]

I hadn't seen it -I never go through that bit of Green Lanes when the shops are open, though I could walk there, it's past the Arena shopping centre which is as far as I usually go up from Manor House, and not on the stretch the 67bus goes along. Might have a look if I go to Haringey on Thursday

[KeenCook]

Lidl Spain for 2 weeks from today ...

https://www.lidl.co.uk/c/flavour-of-the ... ign=Iberia

[Stokey Sue]

ooh, will have to go back for more of the black beans and the anchovies