This month's expert testers:
Henry Harris: Chef of Racine (020 7584 4477), voted top new restaurant by Time Out. Harris was formerly at Fifth Floor Harvey Nichols
Alan Holmes: Head sommelier at Pétrus, soon to re-open at the Berkeley hotel, www.petrus-restaurant.com
Hand-cooked crisps
Asda Extra Special Sea Salt, 100g, 98p.
Ooh, we like these. Golden and crunchy and light and there's just the right amount of salt. The winners. Just.
*****
Waitrose Lightly Salted, 150g, £1.35.
Thicker than some of the others, and not as salty as Kettle Chips. A good crunch.
****
Safeway The Best Slightly Salted, 150g, £1.39.
There's a full-on potato skin flavour here, but still a good crisp. And not too salty.
****
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference, Charlotte Lightly Salted Traditional Panfried Crisps, 120g, £1.69.
Smaller, because of the Charlottes, and slight taste of skin which some might find distracting.
****
Kettle Chips Lightly Salted, 50g, approx, 69p, widely available.
Surprisingly unimpressive. Too much salt. Too thick. Just generally over-engineered and crude.
***
Quiche Lorraine
Tesco, 400g, £1.75.
Good shortcrust pastry and a punchy flavour, but why did they use cheddar when it's supposed to be gruyère? More a bacon and cheese flan.
***
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference, 475g, £2.49.
A fine egg custard and there's a good bacon taste. Nothing like a classic quiche Lorraine but still, not a bad product.
***
Waitrose, 400g, £1.99.
Technically the closest: lots of bacon, lots of gruyère and a good egginess. But under- seasoned.
**
Asda, 425g, £1.68.
Pastry like sponge cake and a slightly slimy filling. Not nice.
no stars
Budgens, 110g, 87p.
Spongy pastry. Claggy taste. No thank you.
no stars
Unsmoked ham
Duchy Originals Thickly Sliced Traditionally Cured Ham, 130g, £2,69, www.duchyoriginals.com
We can taste the advertised juniper and it's well seasoned. Not bad at all.
****
Tesco Finest Traditional Wiltshire Cured Ham, 100g, £1.89.
You can smell ham, but it's too dry and a little below-par, flavour-wise. Good for sandwiches, perhaps.
**
Cooked chicken
Marks & Spencer, 2 Boneless Breast Fillets, 210g, £2.99.
Good roast chicken flavour and good skin. One of the best of a slightly disappointing bunch.
****
Sainsbury's Whole, £3.99/kg.
It's moist and it tastes like the real thing. Loses a mark for appearance. It looks like it's been camouflaged.
****
Waitrose Whole, 900g, £3.99.
A bit dry and it lacks flavour.
**
Safeway Whole, 910g, £3.99.
Quite a fatty skin and not enough punchy chicken flavour.
**
Rannoch Smokery Whole, 1.229 kg, £4.50, available at Sainsbury's.
A bit pasty on the inside and a distinctly unpleasant spice mix on the outside. Not much smoked flavour. Could work well for coronation chicken.
*
Pre-prepared salads
Tesco New World Salad, 125g, £1.49.
A bold selection: baby pak choi, fenugreek, sorrel, coriander and a few other things besides. Funky and fun.
*****
Marks & Spencer Wild Roquette, Watercress and Spinach, 100g, £1.49.
Says green and peppery on the packet, and it is. It would go brilliantly with steak or roast chicken. A product of serious character.
*****
Florette Mixed Salad, 200g, £1.49, www.florette.com.
Huge leaves - we shouldn't have to make them smaller. You could bivouac under some of these.
*
Asda Mixed Leaf Salad, 200g, 72p.
'Looks like it's been sitting on a motorway service station salad bar for a week,' Henry says. Too much cabbage. Not a salad; more of a veg mix.
no stars
Chocolate ice cream
Waitrose Chocolate Truffle, 500ml, £2.49.
They say truffles and they mean it. Very intense. You couldn't eat much, but you would enjoy as much as you could manage.
****
Green and Black's Chocolate, 500ml, £3.99, 020 7633 5900.
A serious chocolatey classiness. Very light and whipped. Not the best, but very good.
***
Marks & Spencer Organic Chocolate, 500ml, £ 2.99.
Very creamy, but needs assertiveness training, to bring the chocolate to the fore.
***
Safeway The Best Chocolate, 500ml, £3.29.
A proper chocolate taste but, unfortunately, it's a little powdery. The chocolate pieces are also a distraction.
**
Vanilla ice cream
M & S Simply Vanilla, 500ml, £2.99.
Rich creaminess. Nice and smooth and butter yellow. But where's the vanilla kick?
***
Tesco Finest, 500ml, £2.59.
The daddy. It says vanilla and it is vanilla, from beginning to end.
*****
Hill Station Strong Vanilla Bean, 500ml, £3.95, www.hillstation.co.uk
This is good but, from the look of it - all the flecks of vanilla pod - we expected better. A little under-powered.
****
Häagen-Dazs, 550ml, approx, £3.50, widely available.
Vanilla comes through, but only at the end. Still, it's lovely and creamy.
***
Yoghurt
Marks & Spencer Thick and Creamy, 150g, 49p.
A fantastic potful, regardless of whether it tastes of yoghurt or not. The vanilla could be used to cheat a pukka crème brûlée. It's that good.
*****
Sainsbury's Thick & Creamy Luxurious Yoghurts, 4x150g, £1.55.
Now this is a fruit yoghurt. It smells right and there's a real branchful of fresh fruit.
****
Waitrose Thick and Creamy Yoghurts, 4x150g, £1.49.
Less thick and creamy than light and creamy, but it has a good fresh taste for all that.
***
Ski Variety, 4x125g, approx £1.10, widely available.
What can we say? No body or oomph.
*
Lemon drinks
Marks & Spencer Still Lemonade, 250ml, 50p.
A full-on lemon burst. Smells of lemon zest and while the palate is sharper there are also elements of zest and pith. Terrific.
*****
Pret A Manger Still, 250ml, £1.15.
A pale milk colour and contains real lemon bits. Has a seriously fresh lemon flavour and nose but is a little sweeter than expected. Still refreshing for all that.
****
Belvoir Organic Hand-made Lemonade, 25cl, 90p, www.belvoircordials.co.uk (01476 870286).
Good smell of clean fresh citrus but the pale watery colour is off-putting. Subtle fizz carries some flavour but lacks any real bite.
**
Lorina Traditional Lemonade, 33cl, 99p, available at Waitrose.
Nasty fake smell of damp or mouldy lemons while the aggressive fizz lacks any real flavour.
no stars
Oasis Classic Lemon, 500ml, 75p, widely available.
Sharp chemical fluid smell of lemon cleaner, and the watery sweet fluid is merely lemon- scented.
no stars
Fino Sherry
Lustau Puerto Fino, 75cl, £9, Morris & Verdin (020 7921 5300).
Toasty pine kernels, olives and a saltiness, this exudes the essence of Spain. While the weighty palate is almost oily the alcohol is less aggressive and has a smoother finish.
*****
Tio Pepe Fino, 75cl, £8.19, widely available.
An old favourite and the classic apéritif, it has a bright polished straw colour that gleams in the glass. The nose has strong floral essences, while aniseed and fennel balance the woody finish. ****
Sandeman Limited Release Rare Fino, 70cl, £6.95, available at specialist off-licences.
Intense, full-bodied aromas of new pine and chrysanthemums, which carry through. Definitely one for tapas.
****
Inocente Fino Valdespino, 75cl, £8.99, available at HWCG (01279 873500).
Gives off aromas of moist pistachios as well as a slight herby hint of lemongrass and tarragon. The very dry palate is spiced with pepper on the finish.
**
José de Soto Fino, 75cl, £4.49, available at Forth Wines (01577 866 001).
Not nice. An indistinct smell and the palate has a watery bitter edge and lacks body. Unbalanced on the finish with sharp acidity.
no stars
