Easy Peelers

[Ivor Windybottom]

What's the point of oranges? If I need a snack then an apple seems like a little meal as it actually fills you up a bit. But an orange just seems like a drink with annoying bits that get in the way.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

So to summarise for my own benefit, what to watch for is '....labelled as Nadorcott mandarins, from South Africa, from late summer'.

Anything is better than the wasteful pot luck I get at the moment.

 

[JonathanM]

So to summarise for my own benefit, what to watch for is '....labelled as Nadorcott mandarins, from South Africa, from late summer'.

Anything is better than the wasteful pot luck I get at the moment.

For Southern Hemisphere, that's definitely been my experience these past two years.

But right now, Nadorcotts from Morocco seem to be really nice, and should be good to the end of April. The ones from Spain have been pretty good as well. It's just occurred to me that I'm basing all this on what I like, so I'd be interested to see what you think.

Nadorcotts are almost always juicy and tender, with really good orange flavour, but some are sweeter than others. I prefer them when they are really sweet but also really like them a bit tart as long as they have good orange flavour.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Tango/Tang Gold are often disappointing. They are supposed to be the best and I read they are patented. But usually they are not as tasty or sweet as Nadorcott, from which they were developed. I've just had another two Moroccan Nadorcotts from by bag from Aldi. These are the best so far this year. I think it was last year that Morocco seemed quite a lot better than Spain, so maybe it's happening again.

I had given up on easy peelers. Always seemed hit and miss.

now after your dissertation and recommendation I have tried some of these from Aldi, I have been very surprised.,

Thank you for your detailed analysis

 

[carmanmemoranda]

What's the point of oranges? If I need a snack then an apple seems like a little meal as it actually fills you up a bit. But an orange just seems like a drink with annoying bits that get in the way.

do you not find most apples are tasteless ?

 

[Justin Passing]

I'm not a connoiseur but I do notice sometimes a bag will have dried up because they aren't very nice. I changed to the better option Tescos offer, like a Jaffa or Finest or something. An extra half quid but a big improvement.

The Tescos driver commented on the poshish ones which were on top in the delivery basket. Tesco's provide them with a bag of oranges , he said, but he didn't like them much. So I tossed him one from the bag while I went off to the kitchen. He ate it there and then, and was taken aback how much better it was than their handout ones. I guess Tescos can't sell them!

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My recent thing is Cashew Nuts. Unroasted unsalted.
A cashew nut is a cashew nut, right? ? Not sure , yet. They do vary.
200g: Waitrose 3.00, Tescos 2.75, Aldi 1.69, Lidl 1.49
Twice the price for the same thing? ALdis were a bit soft and bland. Lidl - ok I think.
They do improve after 10 minutes at 180°

Salted ones can be cheaper, but I CBA to wash it off.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

do you not find most apples are tasteless ?

Perhaps you've been on the hardcore oranges so can't taste subtle flavours any more.

Actually some apples are really nice, occasionally with the sort of subtlety you get from a nice white wine. Most are fairly bland, but I like this - I use them as a mouth refresher after savoury food normally.

 

[JonathanM]

I also noticed Aldi have removed best before dates on some of their fruit and vegetables. I know some people frowned on these dates but I actually found them useful as a rough indicator of how long produce would last after you bought them, which I can't always tell from just looking and squeezing.

Anyway, Aldi have gone back to their old system from years ago where there is a code instead. So the mandarins I bought last week had a code 0603, which means the third day of the 6th week of the year. I find it useful when choosing which bag to buy as sometimes there is quite a disparity in how old two bags in the same pile are.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Perhaps you've been on the hardcore oranges so can't taste subtle flavours any more.

Actually some apples are really nice, occasionally with the sort of subtlety you get from a nice white wine. Most are fairly bland, but I like this - I use them as a mouth refresher after savoury food normally.

I like my fruit.

Apples, for the last few years are tasteless, just water.

Oranges and their varieties, as discussed can and do vary

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I also noticed Aldi have removed best before dates on some of their fruit and vegetables. I know some people frowned on these dates but I actually found them useful as a rough indicator of how long produce would last after you bought them, which I can't always tell from just looking and squeezing.

I normally try to always get my milk from Lidl, because it's the cheapest source and with the longest BBE date - usually at least 7 days, plus simply reliable. The time before last, they only had a few 'blues', in the rack, dated BBE 1st Feb, with just three days to run. As I would be stuck, I bought it, then bought more before the 1st, but kept that original 1st bottle. It was still usable until the 5th, and I'm very sensitive to soured milk. My guess is that it was accidentally stamped with the wrong date.

 

[Justin Passing]

In the interest of scientific reeeesearch, I looked at the Lidl easy peelers as I was passing. They have Egyptian Tango or Morroccan Nour. They weren't very appetising.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

They usually improve through the season, but I look forward these days to the Nadorcotts or Tango, coming from Spain and Morocco, after Christmas.

Lidl had two varieties in this week, amongst them the Nadorcotts from Spain, but described as fun size easy- peelers, so I got some to try. They were acceptable, not bitter, not particularly tasty though. I'll be keeping an eye open for the not fun size version, to see if they are any better.