Bresaola

La Fromagerie
Bresaola
50g, £3.65
Nicely marbled and pulls apart easily, which means it is quite heavily cured. Not too strong and has a smooth texture.
★★★★

Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference Bresaola
80g, £3.75
Tastes very beefy! Good fat content, good cure and not too dry. The presentation is excellent.
★★★★

Natoora
Bresaola from Lombardy
60g, £4.15
A classic bresaola, but feels a bit plastic and shaped. It doesn't seem like an artisan product and the flavour is a little too subtle for me.
★★★

Tesco
Finest* Bresoala
90g, £3.50
This bresaola hasn't kept the lovely pink colour it's supposed to have and it has a strong, salty cure. Not a fan of this one.
★★

Chicken liver parfait

Waitrose
Heston Chicken Liver Parfait
80g, £3.99
Smooth, rich, creamy: everything a chicken liver parfait should be.
★★★★★

Marks and Spencer
The Collection Smooth Chicken Liver Parfait with Calvados
175g, £6
Too much iron flavour here. Too raw and strong for my liking.
★★★

Selfridges
Chicken liver parfait
100g, £2.20
Should be pinker. Tastes like the livers are overcooked; the herb flavours are too strong.
★★

Fortnum and Mason
Chicken Liver Parfait
250g, £15
A bit solid and the flavour is off. There's something strange about the taste.
★

Chorizo

Brindisa
Alejandro Magno Chorizo
250g, £6.25
Looks traditional: it has balanced fat content and good colouring. Very smoky, lots of pimenton. Tapas quality – delicious.
★★★★★

Waitrose
Waitrose Chorizo
Iberico de Bellota
75g, £2.99
Quite nice for a sliced chorizo – good texture, low in fat. Needs to be stand-alone though – might get lost in a sandwich.
★★★★

The Co-operative
The Co-operative Spanish Chorizo Ring
225g, £2
A small chorizo ring with lots of iron notes and a good strong pork flavour.
★

Lidl
Espana Chorizo
Spanish Salami
200g £1.99
Looks awful – like it's going to taste sour. It's like eating vinegar. Worst thing I've eaten today!
No stars

English ham

Tesco
Finest Blossom Honey Roast Wiltshire Cured Ham
100g, £3
Fantastic balance of salt and meat flavours. The taste of pork is still there beneath the cure.
★★★★

Ginger Pig
Glazed English Ham
1kg, £17.50

Cooked beautifully, the presentation is stunning, but it's just too heavy on salt.
★★★

Riverford
Cooked Ham
1.5kg, £46.75
This has the best ham flavour of them all but unfortunately it's overcooked. Very dry.
★★★

Morrisons
Signature Honey & Mustard Smothered Yorkshire Cured Ham
700g, £9
Looks good but tastes a little processed. It has a bounce when you bite into it.
★★

Saucisson

Wholefoods
Pierre Oteiza Jesus Salami
100g, £4.29
Looks great, with good fat content and marbling. Porky and peppery.
★★★★★

La Fromagerie
Saucisson de Pyrenees
100g, £3
Strong, heavy cure and nice fat content. It's slightly too salty but I like the delicate peppercorns.
★★★★

Tesco
Finest Saucisson Sec
200g, £3
I really like the spice flavouring on the rind, it's powerful and adds complexity to the heavy cure.
★★★★

Waitrose
Unearthed French Peppercorn Salami
100g, £2.74
Lovely, and a more subtle salami than the others. It is well balanced but the fat content is slightly too high.
★★★★

Chutney

Selfridges
Boxing Day Chutney
220g, £4
I didn't like this to look at, but it's surprisingly lovely. It's dark, bitter and I love the pruney, figgy flavour.
★★★★

Harrods
Boxing Day Chutney
330g, £5.25
Tastes burnt, but in a good way! It's got notes of treacle and the fruit tastes toasted. Would go well with a strong cheddar.
★★★★

Marks and Spencer
Christmas Fruit Chutney
300g, £1.99
Looks nice and tastes good too, although I think it might be better suited to filling mince pies. The Christmas spicing is great but more for pudding than ham.
★★★

Riverford
Pear and Ginger Chutney
340g, £3.45
Really unbalanced. Not enough sugar, way too much vinegar. It's the kind of chutney you get at conference centres.
★