Beef casserole
Tesco Finest Beef Bourguignon, 600g, £5.99
A truly luxurious beef bourguignon. A rich, sumptuous sauce, with fine, tender pieces of beef. The real thing. *****
Marks & Spencer Steak and Ale Casserole with Dumplings, 650g, £4.99
The mushrooms are a little watery but there's some depth to the gravy and good, fluffy dumplings. ***
Sainsbury's Beef Bourguignon, 600g, £4.99
An overly smokey flavour from the lardons and the beef has been so thoroughly cooked it has become a part of the sauce. **
Waitrose Beef Stifado , 400g, £3.99
'A disaster,' Gordon says. The sauce is far too acidic, the meat is overcooked and there's a nasty flavour of redcurrant jelly. *
Safeway The Best Beef Bourguignon, 525g, £5.99
The onions in here are huge. And the packaging says they're roasted but there's no sign of it. Also, it's made with rump steak. Why? *
Fresh Carrot and Coriander Soup
New Covent Garden Soup Co, 600g, £1.69, widely available
Peppery and too much coriander but an effort has been made. A serious nutmeg punch. ***
M & S, 600g, £1.59
This one has carrot flavour and more body, but we didn't get the coriander at all. **
Tesco, 600g, £1.39
Very watery and no carrot flavour. Tasted as if it had been cooked for too long. **
Waitrose, 600g, £1.59
A plastic and insipid taste and too much salt. *
Sainsbury's, 600g, £1.59
Smoother but, again, not strong enough. *
Potato dauphinoise
Tesco Finest, 400g, £2.49
A very nice product. Good, whole slices of potato which stay together and a lovely crisp gratin top. A little too garlicky for Gordon. ****
Asda Extra-Special, 400g, £1.88
All the marks go on the potatoes, which are thickly cut and remain in one piece, rather than turning mushy. The sauce, though, is terribly underpowered. ***
M & S Creamy Potato Gratin, 450g, £2.09
Good on flavour but there's a little too much butter in here and the potatoes have been sliced too thinly. ***
Waitrose, 420g, £2.49
The sauce has split giving it a scrambled egg texture and, though they may say they've used gruyère, it has the taste of cheap cheese. *
Selfridges, 100g, £1.25
No cream. No cheese. No passion. Or, as Gordon puts it, 'an embarrassment to the word "dauphinoise".' no stars
Fresh mushroom soup
Tesco Finest Wild Mushroom and Madeira, 600g, £1.99
Tastes of mushrooms and the pieces have retained texture. We got no flavour of Madeira. ****
Waitrose, 600g, £1.99
Tastes powdery and less than fresh, as if too much thickener has been used. *
M & S, 600g, £1.99
A terribly watery, sad mushroom soup. And the sherry listed in the ingredients? What sherry? no stars
The Real Soup Co Mushroom with a Hint of Garlic, 500g, approx £1.99, stockists: 01434 602503
Dull and powdery. We were not surprised to read this is 27 per cent mushroom bouillon. no stars
Primal Soup Wild Mushroom, 500ml, £2.49, stockists: www.primalsoup.co.uk
Too reliant on the potatoes used as a thickener. Dull, dull, dull. no stars
White wine vinegar
Fattorie Giacobazzi Vin Santo wine, 250ml, £2.99. Available at Sainsbury's
A sexy bit of vinegar. Tastes of cherries and golden peaches and yet, unobtrusive. 'Would go great over strawberries.' ****
Aspall, 350ml, 99p. Available at Sainsbury's and health food stores.
Quite balanced and a good wine taste. Very grapey. ***
Waitrose, 500ml, £1.19
A zesty kick and serviceable for a salad if there's nothing else, but a little rough. Incidentally we suspect this is exactly the same product as... **
Sainsbury's, 500ml, 99p
...this one and that they are produced under licence by the same manufacturer. Same bottle. Same size. Same flavour. **
B. R. Cohn Chardonnay Vinegar, 200ml, approx £8, www.brcohnoliveoil.com
Very rough. Nothing refined about it. Or as Gordon has it: 'This is the kind of thing an Essex girl called Chardonnay would put on her chips.' no stars
Fresh tomato soup
Tesco Finest, 600g, £1.99
So thick it could pass muster as a pasta soup. Terrific texture to the tomatoes and a well- judged use of the sweetness from the carrots. The only winner. *****
Waitrose, 600g, £1.79
'Ooh, that's nasty,' Gordon says. No boldness. No depth. No good. no stars
Sainsbury's, 600g, £1.59
Looks good - but isn't. More carrot than tomato and very peppery. no stars
M & S, 600g, £1.59
The ingredients list says it all. Too much carrot. Too much tomato purée. Too much sugar. no stars
New Covent Garden Soup Co, 600g, £1.69, widely available
Oh dear. This is carrot and potato with a hint of tomato. no stars
Chicken stock
Knorr, 8 cubes, approx 90p, widely available
Unsurprisingly, this one looks the most plastic but it tastes more of chicken than any of the others. Unfortunately there's a slight back taste for which it drops a mark. ***
Tesco, 300ml, £1.15
It looks like it's made of chicken roasting juices and tastes like it too. A good stock. ****
Sainsbury's Slowly Prepared, 300g, £1.39
Quite strong and very yeasty. There's almost a Bovril flavour to it. **
John Lusty, 410g, Selfridges, £1.05
'Oh my God,' Gordon says, his lip curling. 'It just tastes powdery.' no stars
Joubère, 300g, £1.15, widely available
Dismal. A flavourless, watery excuse for a stock. no stars
Fish stock
Joubère, 300g, £1.15 , widely available
Dismal. Could be a diluted vegetable or chicken stock unlike... no stars
Le Fond, 200g, £2.95, available at Selfridges, tel: 08708 377377
... this one, which tastes like beef consommé, and... no stars
Knorr Touch of Taste Concentrated Bouillon, 180ml, £1.99
...this one which tastes of Marmite. Not a single one... no stars
Sainsbury's Slowly Prepared, 300g, £1.39
...of these dreadful products managed to have the fishiness we wanted including... no stars
Knorr, 8 cubes, approx 90p, widely available
...these cubes, which didn't taste of fish at all. A huge disappointment. no stars
Apple juice (pressed, non-organic)
Sainsbury's Cloudy, 1l, £1.59
Starts off tasting tart and acidic, like an apple sorbet, but has a good, rounded finish. ****
Copella, 1 litre, £1.99
The smell of Cox's Pippins explodes from the glass. Crisp, lively and not too sweet, it has a finely balanced acidity on the finish. *****
M&S, 1l, £1.79
Very distinct smell of green apples which follows through on the palate: like biting into the original fruit. Marvellously balanced. *****
Safeway, 1l, £1.65
Slightly orange colour, and smells of dried or baked apples. A fine, tangy palate. ***
Waitrose, 1l, £1.69
A cloudy, pale colour and a smell like apple Danish pastries. Not overly sweet. ***
Apple juice (organic)
Grove Fresh Organic Juice Co, 1l, £2.39
Smells of apple tarts and has a fresh, crisp and almost citrus taste with a sharp, drier finish. ****
Safeway, 1l, £2.09
Has a delicate smell straight from the orchard but the taste is distinctly oversweet and it lacks any length. **
Sainsbury's, 1l, £2.29
Slightly perfumed on the nose but it's reasonably tangy with a curious earthiness. **
Libby's, 1l, £1.20
Smells crisp and fresh but it tastes syrupy sweet. No character at all. *
Waitrose, 1l, £1.59 Both smells and tastes of tart green apples. A good, refreshing acidity. ***
