10x Rare Products I Came Across in the English Supermarket
Every now and then, some rather… remarkable products appear on the shelves of Dutch supermarkets. I’ve regularly raised my eyebrows at Albert Heijn, for example. And I’ve come across more than enough unusual items at Lidl, Jumbo and Aldi too. But when you cross the border, your jaw sometimes drops even further when you walk into the local supermarket. I discovered that when I was recently in England, in Norwich to be precise. A trip around Tesco left me going from one surprise to the next. These are the 10 strangest products I came across in the English supermarket.
1. Tinned spaghetti and ravioli (£2.25)
The English love keeping things easy. Open a tin, throw it in the pan, heat it up and you’re done. That’s exactly what they can do with these tins of spaghetti and ravioli (including sauce). Just don’t let the Italians see them…
2. Lunchables (£1.85)
A plastic container with crackers in one compartment, slices of cheese in another and slices of ham in the last. That’s what Lunchables are. Lunchables sounds as if this is a substantial lunch, while they’re actually made up of ridiculously small crackers and slices of ham and cheese. Or are you supposed to eat an entire container for lunch? How, exactly? Either way, I’ll pass.
3. Pieces of birthday cake (£3)
You have to celebrate life. So why not take pieces of birthday cake to work or school all week long? I kind of like it. And they’re only 90 calories per piece of cake/cookie/cake/whatever it actually is. A party to put in your bag!
4. Gooseberry fool (£1.10)
This tin would win first prize by far if there were a competition for the ‘Most Unappealing Packaging Ever’. That white stuff looks like aged Brie pressed into a very strange shape. But no, it’s gooseberry fool. Gooseberry fool is a mix of cooked gooseberries with whipped yoghurt and cream. Nah, I pass. I was already put off by the Brie photo.
5. Mint sauce in a jar (£1.50)
Mint sauce can actually be delicious. Over a well-prepared piece of lamb, for example. Or mixed into yoghurt to make a yoghurt-mint sauce. But I really think this is something you should make fresh rather than buy prepackaged in a glass jar. On the other hand, a jar like that does give me a bit of a Christmas feeling – no idea why.
6. Scotch Eggs (£1.25)
Scotch Eggs are boiled eggs wrapped in meatballs. They’re also known as bird’s nests, frieteieren or eierballen (frietei in Venlo, eierbal in Groningen). My mother-in-law makes them every year at Easter, and I think they’re absolutely delicious. But presented like this in a plastic supermarket package, they suddenly lose all their appeal. No thanks, I’ll stick to homemade versions. My mother-in-law’s, or this Scotch Eggs recipe by April Bloomfield, for example.
7. Peeled potatoes in a tin (£0.70)
We Dutch are true potato lovers. So a tin of peeled potatoes in water gives us the shivers. Right? Or do you see this as the secret ingredient for your traditional potato-vegetable-meat dinner?
8. Boiled eggs with mayo in a tub (£1.25)
I couldn’t get over this. Boiled eggs, cut into quarters, in a plastic tub, with a separate compartment for mayonnaise. Question 1: why would you want this as a snack? Question 2: why do the English apparently eat this as a snack in such large numbers? And question 3: why?
9. Tinned rice pudding (£1.70)
The packaging is incredibly cute. That sweet cuddly creature looking at you with big eyes and a big smile – you can’t leave this behind, can you? Until I saw that it contained rice pudding. Why do things in tins always immediately give you the impression that they’re chemical, unhealthy and simply disgusting? Am I the only one who feels this way?
10. Pre-packaged sandwiches with whole prawns and mayo (£2.30)
With pre-packaged sandwiches, the makers usually place the filling near the opening of the sandwich so you can clearly see what’s inside. It often looks a little more appealing that way too. Well, I can tell you that this prawn-mayo sandwich has the opposite effect. And then, in general: a slice of bread with a smear of mayo and whole prawns thrown on top. England, is this the best you can do?
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