This month's expert testers:
Gennaro Contaldo
Chef and proprietor of Passione, London (020 7636 2833). His first cookbook, Passione (Headline), is out in March
Alan Holmes
Head sommelier at Pétrus (020 7636 2833), where a group of businessmen once spent £44,000 on wine
· Green pesto in jars
Harvey Nichols, 270g, £5.95 stockists 020 7201 8538
Very cheesy and, unlike the others, there's no artificial taste. Good texture, serviceable pesto.
3 stars
Barilla,190g, £1.69, www.barilla.co.uk
A good taste of basil but too sweet and creamy. Fine for crostini but not for pasta.
2 stars
Asda, 190g, £1.29 stockists 0500 100 055
The texture isn't bad and if there were nothing else in the house we'd eat this. If we had too.
1 star
Sainsbury's, 190g, £1.49 stockists 0800 636262
Very salty; you taste only the cheese first. Gennaro: 'I would not offend my bread with this.'
no stars
M & S, 190g, £1.69 stockists 020 7268 1234
Awful. It tastes more of olives than pesto.
no stars
· Mozzarella
M & S (buffalo),125g, £1.59 At last, a Mozzarella that has the acidic, lactic taste they should all have.Good for salads. ..... Tesco,150g,98p stockists 0800 505555 Rubber. Don't eat it;play squash with it.(Gennaro spits it out.) no stars
Galbani from Waitrose, 125g,82p stockists, 0800 188884 And this one too.A good texture,but where's the taste? Did someone steal it? no stars
Sainsbury's, 400g,£2.59 And this one. Spit, spit, spit.You could build houses out of it, the stuff's so solid. It looks like a brick and tastes like one . no stars
Safeway,125g,89p stockists 01622 712000 Nasty, bitter and very bland.(Yet more spitting out.) no stars
· Parma ham
Asda Extra Special, 60g, £1.19 Immense value and a great porky flavour.This pig lived a very happy life. The real thing. .....
Waitrose,80g, £1.99, A thicker cut Parma ham and,again,good.Leaner and saltier. ....
M & S,85g,£2.99 Another fine ham,with a lush,silky texture. ....
Safeway The Best,80g, £2.99, Well cut,very moist and a nice strong flavour with a salty end, just as it should have. ....
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference,60g,£2.99 Badly packed,in a big heap in the box.No depth of flavour.An all-round bad product.Sainsbury's should be ashamed of itself. no stars
· Green olives in jars
M & S Kalamata and Green Olives,340g £2.19 Gennaro:'Fabulous. If I could give a six I would.I would use it for anti-pasti any time.' ..... Montabano Italian Olives from Puglia Sainsbury's,390g,£2.95 Put this at the bottom of a cocktail glass. And leave it there. Big ,solid, terribly bland. . Buongusto Bella di Cerignola Waitrose,390g,£2.29 Another one for the cocktail glass.Like 1,000 other kinds of olives out there. Totally undistinguished. . Carluccio's Olive Bella di Cerignola,800g, £9.95, stockists 020 7580 3050 Fine if not astounding. Comes away from the stone well but the flavour of fennel is a little overpowering. ... Raineri Olive Della Riviera Ligure from Sainsbury's, 350g,£2.99 Small,dark,salty and intense.The taste of Liguria. ....
· Prosecco
