Tag Archives: Cup a Soup

Cup a Soup Chronicles IV – Ainsley Harriott Thai Chicken and Lemongrass

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Thai Chicken and Lemongrass Cup a Soup

Cup a Soup Chronicles IV (17.03.21)

Ainsley Harriott Thai Chicken and Lemongrass Cup a Soup – TESCO £1 for three sachets

I went for something a little more upmarket today – Ainsley Harriott’s Thai Chicken and Lemongrass. It’s a little more expensive, at £1 for 3 sachets, but is it worth it? Often when you read reviews you find that the extra money isn’t worthwhile. With Batchelors at 20p a sachet and Ainsley’s at 33p, will the more expensive soup win the day? It’s hard to imagine that anyone is actually interested, but yes, it does.

It’s full of flavour, it tastes good and it has a good bright colour. This is a far better experience than Batchelors’ Oxtail, but to be honest, I’d struggle if I had to decide between Batchelors’ Oxtail and a colonoscopy. I’d probably select the soup, simply because I get to keep my trousers on, but it would take some thinking about. This looks like it’s soup, rather than an industrial adhesive. It even produces it’s own soft focus by steaming up the camera lens. No steam actually seems to escape from the other soups I have tested. I must check this in future.

Chicken & Lemongrass Soup

This is actually a soup that I wouldn’t object to eating by the bowlful, though now that I know how much salt these things contain I am less keen on eating soup that is bought in. I’m not sure how much salt there is in home made soup, but I’m sure it’s a lot less than the amount in bought soup. I will have to have a look at the ingredients labels on some cans.

Still too much salt!

 

Uplifting messages on soup packets.

There was a third message but I tore it open and used it before I realised they were all different. It’s nice to see the manufacturers trying, even if the slogans are excruciating.

Cup a Soup Chronicles III – Bachelor’s Oxtail

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Cup a Soup Chronicles III (25.02.21)

Batchelor’s Oxtail – TESCO 79p for four sachets

That’s right, it’s 4p more than ASDA. If that was the only bad thing I had to say about TESCO it wouldn’t be too bad, but it isn’t. They rang this evening, at around 4.30 to tell me they had cancelled my delivery due to driver absences, but they would arrange for me to pick it up at the Click and Collect bay if I still wanted it. I have just come back from doing that, which is why  I am publishing another soup review so soon.

I sympathise with TESCO and their driver problems, but, to be blunt, that is their problem, not mine. They are a massive company and they should do better. If all else fails, send it by taxi. And don’t leave it some poor lad from Customer Services to ring me, make the duty manager at the store ring me. I think he’d have a different view of things if he needed to listen to the customers and their views about his store, which has now cancelled deliveries twice at short notice.

They have, to be fair, sent me a £10 voucher for my inconvenience, but part of that is a refund for the delivery that they didn’t make. They must think I’m stupid not to notice that half the voucher is just a refund.

Anyway, the soup…

It’s another variation on the theme of grey, this time with a hint of reddish brown.

Oxtail Soup and a free mug we were given by a local scrap merchant

It looks slightly chocolatey, but it has a pleasant spicy flavour, albeit with  a slight aftertaste of glue. However, I haven’t had oxtail soup from a can recently, so it’s possible I might detect that in a canned soup if I tried hard. There is a lot of cartilage in an ox tail, as I recall from when I have seen them offered for sale, and it’s quite likely there is a taste of glue from that.

There were some small songy bits left in the bottom of the cup when I finished – possibly bits of ox? Freeze-dried and reconstituted ox…hmm, lovely.

It was spicy, warming and not totally revolting, but if was having company to dinner I don’t think I’d select this as the soup course.

It looks quite healthy until the end

 

How many shades of grey?

I posted this in “Uncategorised”. I was going to post in “Food” but it didn’t seem appropriate.

 

Cup a Soup Chronicles II – Bachelor’s Mushroom with Croutons

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Cup a Soup Chronicles II (22.02.21)

Batchelor’s Mushroom – ASDA 75p for four sachets

Well, it’s another grey soup, but this time grey is acceptable. Mushroom soup is meant to be grey. It’s also meant to taste like mushrooms and this one did, though a lot of it seemed to sink to the bottom as I drank.

You need to gauge things just right with the croutons. It takes a few minutes to get them nicely soft. Depends whether you like your croutons crunchy or soft.

When I prepare this one I stir, leave it to stand for a few minutes to soften the croutons and then stir again before drinking.

Bachelor’s Mushroom Cup a Soup

I normally drink the mushroom, and have only branched out because I need variety for a series of reviews. It would be difficult to have  a whole series based on Mushroom Cup a Soup of different makes. Who knows, I may even find a soup I prefer to mushroom.  It’s unlikely but it’s possible. Mushroom is one of my favourites.

Somehow I seem to have come to the end of the review without using many words. I’ve already said it’s my favourite, that grey is acceptable as a colour for mushroom soup and that the croutons are better if allowed to soften a bit. That really sums it up.

I only had one this time because, although I like my readers, I don’t think it’s worth having a stroke just to test a second cup of high salt soup.

Bachelor’s Mushroom Cup a Soup

That’s the difference between testing soup and scones – I could eat scones all week and not bother about it, because they seem wholesome.  Cup a Soup is just a sachet full of chemicals and strikes me of being a foodstuff that is nice once in a while – when you come in from a long cold walk for instance. It’s not something I’d want on regular basis.

Nutritionally it’s one step down from a Pot Noodle, and it’s over a year since I had a Pot Noodle. At least you get decent noodles in a Pot Noodle. It’s probably one step down from the box it comes in too, as that is lower in salt and, I assume, higher in fibre.

Ah well, next week it’s Oxtail. I used to like Oxtail soup when I was a kid. I’ve never had it as a Cup a Soup and it will be interesting to see what it’s like.

Bachelor’s Mushroom Cup a Soup – lower salt but higher in everything else than the Chicken Noodle

 

Back to Work

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Old Oaks of Sherwood Forest

Old Oaks of Sherwood Forest

First day back at work. Julia’s test kit is “in the post” but it’s of little interest now as we have counted off enough days to be out of quarantine. What a shambles. I was back at work today, but still can’t see why I am needed. It’s just that people are getting fed up with being inactive. The shop owner, thinks we should be doing things . I, having made inactivity into a way of life, am quite happy not to do things. I didn’t get where I am today by doing things. I was happy doing nothing, but all good things must end and I am now having to work. Of course, I have plenty to do without work…

We had pancakes tonight, with syrup and lemon. This, believe it or not, was not the high point of my day, but it was quite close.

I just looked for my phone and can’t find it. I think I’ve left it at work. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. This is most annoying.

I have been going through an old camera card and selecting photos to use. Today’s selection is  a selection from a walk around the old oaks of Sherwood Forest. It’s all changed now, with the new visitor centre and stuff. I haven’t been to the new one yet. It’s on my to do list, but so are a lot of other things.

Old Oaks of Sherwood Forest

Old Oaks of Sherwood Forest

Just a short post tonight as I have a lot to do. Towards the end of the week I will be testing mushroom Cup a Soup.  It’s a depressing thought that this is the best life has to offer at the moment. If you thought the last one looked grey…

Old Oaks of Sherwood Forest

Old Oaks of Sherwood Forest

Cup a Soup Chronicles I – Batchelor’s Chicken Noodle

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Cup a Soup Chronicles I (12.02.21)

Batchelor’s Chicken Noodle – ASDA 75p for four sachets

There haven’t been many scones in my life over the last twelve months, but as I was sitting at work drinking Cup a Soup last week, I thought “I know what I can do”. So here I am, doing it.

Cup a Soup

I’ve been meaning to ty the Chicken Noodle for a few weeks but ASDA have been unable to supply it. I don’t know why, it’s not that good that people will be stocking up with it.

My first thought was that it looked like washing up water after a hard day cooking  – a little grey with a sheen of grease. My second thought was that it tasted a bit like washing up water too. As I got to the bottom I found that despite energetic stirring at the beginning,  a lot of it had settled back in the bottom of the mug, particularly the noodles. I wondered where they had got to – they had seemed a bit sparse. Be warned at this point, do not scoop out the noodles and eat them, when they are semi-dissolved and eaten in bulk they resemble wallpaper paste.

My second cup, taken later in the day, was a better experience. I stirred it several times whilst drinking it and the colour, flavour and noodle distribution were all greatly improved. The main problem, once that was solved, was that two of these soups provided me with 50% of my daily salt ration. That’s not good.

For 75p it’s not expensive and as long as you stir several times whilst drinking, the taste and noodle issue is solved.

look at all that salt!

Doing its dishwater impression