Arthur Potts Dawson 

The great organic taste test

Arthur Potts Dawson is obsessed with keeping his restaurants as environmentally friendly as possible. Here he tests organics from bread and beans to shortbread and soup
  
  


Organic wholemeal bread

Doves Farm
800g, £1.39, Waitrose

Chunky log of a loaf. A bit musty but I like the texture. It makes nice doorstep slices which are perfect for a ploughman's.

3 stars

Artisan, Rye and Spelt
800g, £1.77, artisanbread-abo.co.uk

Most interesting of the bunch. I like the seeds and grains but it's trying a touch too hard. Charismatic at least.

3 stars

Sainsbury's
800g, 89p

Very thin. Tastes processed and dry and sort of collapses in your mouth, lifelessly.

1 star

Hovis
800g, £1.34, Asda

Malty, airy and processed. Not much happening here. It must be the freshest of the lot, but it's bounciness is short-lived. Dull.

1 star

Organic oatcakes

Waitrose, Scottish
300g, £1.09

Ooh good. Character, texture, crunchy but not too dry. The oats taste toasted and the grains are tasty. I can detect caramel which is unusual.

4 stars

Daylesford Organic
150g, £2.50, daylesfordorganic.com

Sweet and tasty. Crunchy and quite melty. Unusual version of an oatcake, probably good with cheese although it would tackle a cup of tea far better.

3 stars

Nairns
250g, 79p, Asda

Very noncommittal. But, it does the job. It's an oatcake proper, it has a purpose and it pulls it off.

3 stars

Village Bakery
250g, £1.99, village-bakery.com

Straw-like to the point of collapse. Overly dry. You can see the oats but it is so fragile and crumbly you can't put anything on it. Over-baked perhaps?

2 stars

Organic strawberry jam

Whole Earth
250g, £1.39, Asda

Wow this has no sugar. And that's a pretty decent sugarless jam. This must be quite expensive. Verging on compote but versatile and the right, natural colour.

4 stars

Duerr's
340g, 85p, Morrisons

This looks the best. It is sugary, maybe too sugary, but I like the jellyish consistency. It's jammy jam, fruity and it tastes wonderful.

4 stars

Tesco Fairtrade
340g, £1.39

This one screams 'strawberry' and is the most strawberrily of the bunch. Proper jam or at least jam as I remember. But I'm not sure if that's a good thing. It's not very natural tasting.

3 stars

Sainsbury's
340g, £1.29

Too sweet. I think the sugar is overcompensating for the lack of actual fruit. It's acidic and tastes cheap.

1 star

Organic mature cheddar cheese

Marks & Spencer
£9.80 per kilo

This is a brave piece of cheese. It's allowed some heat through, starting mild then going sharp. I can feel the texture and it has a post-chewing snap. This is proper cheddar.

4 stars

Godminster
400g, £10.70, TheCheeseShed.com

It hasn't been allowed to dry out. It's almost damp. The flavour is rather good but a tiny bit winey for me.

3 stars

Dairy House
320g, £4.61, thedairyhouse.co.uk

Mild, creamy, fatty, buttery. But not much more than that. It's just cheddar, innit.

3 stars

Tesco
320g, £2.64

Milky and a bit young. Lumpy on the tongue and bit weak. Like soft cheese.

1 star

Organic unsalted butter

Sainsbury's
250g, £1.19

Nice texture, good colour, nice touch of flavour. Fairly creamy but not bland. Not bad at all.

4 stars

Yeo Valley
250g,£1.29, Asda

Sort of butter, I suppose. Very mild, not really jumping at me, just sort of looking at me quietly from the plate.

3 stars

Rachel's
250g, £1.49, Asda

Too fatty and not nearly enough flavour. I prefer a little bite or distinctive features in my butter.

3 stars

Lurpak Spreadable
250g, £1.53

This is rather damp and sloshy but it spreads very well, I'll give it that. For a spreadable it works. But as a rich butter, not terribly well. Bit of a non-starter.

2 stars

Organic cornflakes

Sainsbury's
375g, 89p

Nice crispy bite, these actually taste toasted. They're big, thick, crunchy and far superior to the others.

4 stars

Morrisons
500g, £1.15

A bit processed but otherwise nice and corny. Lighter than the others and they don't go soggy.

3 stars

Whole Earth
375g, £1.19, Sainsbury's

Quite good. I actually prefer thin and light flakes and these are just that. Nice bubbles.

3 stars

Tesco
500g, £1.15

Doesn't do much for me. Not crispy. Dull coloured and flakes in the hand.

2 stars

Organic shortbread

Island Bakery
150g, £1.80, abelandcole.co.uk

Just sweet enough. Baked so it's just starting to colour. The size is perfect and it tastes of butter.

4 stars

Waitrose
160g, 99p

This tastes a little cheap, but it's very passable. Sort of the shortbread yardstick. Buttery, but a bit heavy on the wheat.

3 stars

Daylesford Organic
250g, £4.50, daylesfordorganic.com

The colour is nice. It starts buttery but diverts into caramel territory. It's a heavy hybrid of a biscuit with too much butter.

3 stars

Marks & Spencer
200g, £1.29

Too crumbly. Anti-social to eat. The butter tastes cheap and it leaves a horrible dry feeling on the tongue. Not very nice and liable to shatter if you touch it.

1 star

Organic tomato soup

Sainsbury's tomato and basil
400g, 75p

This is lovely. A bit like gazpacho. But thicker and nice hot or cold. Very good and very tasty.

4 stars

Marks & Spencer
415g, £1.19

This one has character. But it's rammed with vegetables which have been semi-chopped and it looks a bit lumpy and unappetising.

3 stars

Suma
400g, £1.11, goodnessdirect.co.uk

Clean herbs in here. Dried though. Slightly chalky and fairly tomatoey. Would be nicer if it was thicker though.

3 stars

Duchy Originals
600g, £2.89, widely available

This is child's food. Starchy, bland and tasteless. It needs salt. In fact, it needs flavour. Laughable.

1 star

Organic mayonnaise

Meridian
260ml, £1,69, goodnessdirect.co.uk

Peppery and thin, it could do with some Dijon. It's a touch watery and I can't work out what's holding it together. There is no egg colour in here. But certainly passable.

3 stars

Waitrose
325ml, £1.45

Too sweet and plastic-tasting. Very emulsified. It's a bit like butter but the overall flavour isn't bad.

3 stars

Abel & Cole
325g, £2.60, abelandcole.co.uk

This one needs more emulsification. It's a bit like salad cream. Good on a salad. Less good in a tuna sandwich.

2 stars

Biona
230g, £2.09, goodnessdirect.co.uk

Now this must be salad cream. It's like jelly. It actually wobbles. Unpleasant to look at and it tastes well below par.

1 star

Organic baked beans

Whole Earth
420g,69p, Waitrose

Vinegary sauce but great robust flavour. The beans are lovely and soft and the most flavoursome of all.

4 stars

Tesco
420g, 45p

Nice juice, oddly fruity. The beans taste a bit powdery but there's a good ratio of bean to sauce and they taste good cold.

3 stars

Asda
415g, 45p

Clean taste, not too sweet. The sauce is nice but they're a touch stodgy. Good body and lovely beans.

3 stars

Heinz
415 g, 57p, widely available

A noncommital dish of beans. Sticky sauce, odd colour. The beans are a bit floppy and soft.

3 stars

Organic olive oil

Meridian
500ml, £3.99, goodnessdirect.co.uk

Lots of flavour. A nice fruity blend. It's clean and spicy and flavoursome. Good dark colour. Lovely.

4 stars

Filippo Berio
500ml, £3.99, Asda

Nice and fruity. Bit fatty and verging on dull. But the aroma's good and I think this is oil of a fairly high quality.

3 stars

Waitrose, Italian Extra Virgin
500ml, £4.39

Clean, hot and weird. In that order. The flavour is OK but it's a bit of a non-event. Lacking in aroma.

3 stars

Marks & Spencer
250ml £2.59

Dull and oily. The colour keeps it in my good books but it's not very nice. I'm not a fan.

1 star

Organic tomato pasta sauce

Daylesford Organic
530g, £2.95

This is basically fresh, mashed cherry tomatoes. They are of a high quality so unless this is over a tenner, it's great. Ready to eat, versatile and great in a Bloody Mary!

4 stars

Seeds of Change
300g, £1.79

Herby and a little sweet. Good for a quick pasta lunch. It's almost lovely and doesn't need salt which is good.

3 stars

Asda
300g, £1.58

Nice and chunky but lacking in character. Loads of vinegar.

2 stars

Dolmio
500g, £1.79

A bit lifeless. The tomatoes are insipid and unripened. Not great and not something I'd eat.

2 stars

· Arthur Potts Dawson is executive chef proprietor at Acorn House, 69 Swinton Street, London WC1 (020 7812 1842) and Waterhouse, 10 Orsman Road, London N1 (020 7033 0123)

 

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