Topic: When your local takeaway blatantly buys their ingredients from Lidl

[Buelligan]

Linda McCartney do a lovely Vegetarian Caveat, better than the meat ones I recon

Do they sell them in Lidl?

[wosl]

[tag] Barry Wom considers album title rewrite [tag]

I'd like you to have a karma.  Or two.  I'd like you to have two karmas.

[FerriswheelBueller]

Linda McCartney do a lovely Vegetarian Caveat, better than the meat ones I recon

You’ve obviously never had a decent lamb caveat.

[Small Man Big Horse]

[tag] Barry Wom considers album title rewrite [tag]

I keep on singing the thread title to Coldplay's Fix You, which as you might imagine is quite annoying.

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
When the tears come streaming down your face
'Cause you lose something you can't replace
When your local takeaway blatantly buys their ingredients from Lidl
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

[greenman]

Honestly for what I assume is relatively inexpensive takeaway I would consider that somewhat reassuring, I always somewhat fear such places are sourcing ingredients from some ultra cheapo industrial supplier with lower standards than any supermarket.

[Janie Jones]

Those chips are always shit, unless it's a Chinese/chippy hybrid. I usually eat about one or two, think "Yep, they're still shit", then give the rest to the dog, along with the complimentary bag of prawn crackers.

I wanna be your dog.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

OK. Can you lick your own genitals? If so, the gig is yours.

[gilbertharding]

I once saw in my local Asda a couple of Chinese looking lads loading up their trolley (like, literally emptying the shelf) with cases of peanut butter - which was on roll back. I presumed at the time that they worked in a restaurant (I might have been wrong, of course), and had 'done the maths' that this discount made Asda a temporarily economic source of one of their ingredients. It didn't make me think anything, positive or negative, about the local Chinese takeaway - just that this keeping an eye on costs without affecting the end product - was probably a sound way to run a business.

Obviously it's possible they might just really have liked peanut butter, and I was being a bit racist.

[Shit Good Nose]

Obviously it's possible they might just really have liked peanut butter, and I was being a bit racist.

As is assuming everyone from the far East is Chinese, as is assuming that all East Asians like peanut butter.

You're on a lose-lose-lose with that one.  #cancelled mate, #cancelled.

[hummingofevil]

I'm a fairly handy home cook and reckon i could knock out some amazing pizzas from Lidl ingredients alone. Base is just your basics, they do quite good cheese and plenty of options for good toppings (though anyone who orders anything other than a margherita pizza is a bit of a pervert IMHO.

But Thai? I suppose you could knock up a Thaish meal but there are definitely things in Thai food you can't get in Lidl. Fish sauce? Palm sugar? Lime leaves? Suppose just because you buy some things from Lidl doesn't mean you have to buy everything.

My mate who lives in Singapore said that nobody there ever makes pastes from scratch and its all from jars and all delicious. Another mate said same about Italians never making pasta at home and the dried stuff we all eat is absolutely fine. Anyone care to corroborate those statements about all the people in two different countries?

[im barry bethel]

You'd often see the owner of the corner shop buying up pot noodles by the case when they were banging them out for 50p

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I will take a closer look at this but surprised to read it's even feasible to run a business from supermarket ingredients. I thought you would source goods from wholesalers in bulk due to the better margins.

I know a pub where the curry means the bloke opening a jar of Pataks but then conversely the chicken is very good quality and freshly roasted. So you get this fantastic tasty chicken with supermarket standard sauce. Weird. But the pub is a husband and wife operation and the portion sizes are enormous so I will cut them slack for that. Spoons curry is the real rip off. Depressing shit eating that.

[Shit Good Nose]

I'm a fairly handy home cook and reckon i could knock out some amazing pizzas from Lidl ingredients alone. Base is just your basics, they do quite good cheese and plenty of options for good toppings (though anyone who orders anything other than a margherita pizza is a bit of a pervert IMHO.

But Thai? I suppose you could knock up a Thaish meal but there are definitely things in Thai food you can't get in Lidl. Fish sauce? Palm sugar? Lime leaves? Suppose just because you buy some things from Lidl doesn't mean you have to buy everything.

My mate who lives in Singapore said that nobody there ever makes pastes from scratch and its all from jars and all delicious. Another mate said same about Italians never making pasta at home and the dried stuff we all eat is absolutely fine. Anyone care to corroborate those statements about all the people in two different countries?

Italians using ready made pasta I can confirm is true for most everyone but your old school mamas way out in the sticks and your top notch Michelin restaurants.  Otherwise 9 out of 10 kitchens will be using De Cecco.

I can also believe that about Singapore, given that in Korea and Japan everyone buys their equivalents of Pot Noodle rather than make it themselves.

It's the same as what I mentioned above RE Patak's lime pickle - every now and again the ready made stuff is just as good, if not better than home made.

[Wet Blanket]

But Thai? I suppose you could knock up a Thaish meal but there are definitely things in Thai food you can't get in Lidl. Fish sauce? Palm sugar? Lime leaves? Suppose just because you buy some things from Lidl doesn't mean you have to buy everything.

Those are entirely in-keeping with the mad shit you find in Lidl. It's the bizarre absences of everyday items that really make your head spin, like pickled onions or Granny Smith apples on my most recent visit

[gib]

Our local cash & carry is Booker who are now owned by Tesco. Loads of the things are cheaper in Tesco, so yeah.

[Shit Good Nose]

I will take a closer look at this but surprised to read it's even feasible to run a business from supermarket ingredients. I thought you would source goods from wholesalers in bulk due to the better margins.

Both establishments are very close - the Thai is practically next door - and I have seen the pizza bloke take a trolley full of flour, eggs, salad items, continental meats etc down to his shop before wheeling the trolley back, so if nothing else they're both saving on delivery, and I suspect they cut their margins of error even tighter knowing they can just pop back out to buy something if they run out, so no doubt that saves a few more quid and reduces waste.

Also bear in mind we live in a small town/large village, so it's not a bustling metropolis where they feed 5000 people every day of the week.

[hummingofevil]

Those are entirely in-keeping with the mad shit you find in Lidl. It's the bizarre absences of everyday items that really make your head spin, like pickled onions or Granny Smith apples on my most recent visit

Challenge accepted. Will report back in 3 hours.

[hummingofevil]

Italians using ready made pasta I can confirm is true for most everyone but your old school mamas way out in the sticks and your top notch Michelin restaurants.  Otherwise 9 out of 10 kitchens will be using De Cecco.

I can also believe that about Singapore, given that in Korea and Japan everyone buys their equivalents of Pot Noodle rather than make it themselves.

It's the same as what I mentioned above RE Patak's lime pickle - every now and again the ready made stuff is just as good, if not better than home made.

My friend told me that brand specifically but I didn't mention it as wanted to tease out confirmation without prompting. You have made my day. 18 years of thinking he is fibbing resolved. Oh the rigatoni!!! So good.

[holyzombiejesus]

I know that there are exceptions and that middle class people hear about them and go scurrying off to Lidl for their extra-virgin olive oil or whatever, but, generally speaking, the cheaper food isn't as good, is it? When they do those adverts comparing a price of two baskets full of food, the reason that, say, the tomatoes are a fraction of the cost in Aldi is that they are watery and with less actual tomatoes in the can. The toilet paper is half the price because you need to wind twice as much round your hand so it doesn't split and their pop tastes weird. Or am I wrong?

[Shit Good Nose]

Those are entirely in-keeping with the mad shit you find in Lidl. It's the bizarre absences of everyday items that really make your head spin, like pickled onions or Granny Smith apples on my most recent visit

True, although as I said earlier, there will be certain things that they both have to get in especially - the Nduja sausage in, the pizza place, for example, is definitely not the same as you get in any supermarket around here.  Ditto the large prawns the Thai place uses.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Both establishments are very close - the Thai is practically next door - and I have seen the pizza bloke take a trolley full of flour, eggs, salad items, continental meats etc down to his shop before wheeling the trolley back, so if nothing else they're both saving on delivery, and I suspect they cut their margins of error even tighter knowing they can just pop back out to buy something if they run out, so no doubt that saves a few more quid and reduces waste.

Also bear in mind we live in a small town/large village, so it's not a bustling metropolis where they feed 5000 people every day of the week.

Yes I suppose the supermarket supply chain and delivery network might actually save money vs. paying a sell-to-trade firm to deliver, or even driving to a site yourself.

Personally I have no serious issues with a takeaway firm using ingredients from either if they are good cooks and the hygiene standards are ok.

[holyzombiejesus]

I'd prefer to see them in Lidl than a Brake Brothers van outside their shop.

[Shit Good Nose]

I know that there are exceptions and that middle class people hear about them and go scurrying off to Lidl for their extra-virgin olive oil or whatever, but, generally speaking, the cheaper food isn't as good, is it? When they do those adverts comparing a price of two baskets full of food, the reason that, say, the tomatoes are a fraction of the cost in Aldi is that they are watery and with less actual tomatoes in the can. The toilet paper is half the price because you need to wind twice as much round your hand so it doesn't split and their pop tastes weird. Or am I wrong?

Right in some cases, wrong in others.  There's no blanket rule of thumb unfortunately, and it's very much trial and error.

To take loo roll as an example, Lidl's Floraly three ply (which I think you can only get in a bulk pack of 18 rolls) is mid price, but it's better than every premium shit paper out there - it's soft, doesn't leave dust all over your asshole, doesn't disintegrate on contact with brown, and breaks apart quickly in the pan making it easy to flush.

But their premium stuffed vine leaves are fucking awful.

[MojoJojo]

I know that there are exceptions and that middle class people hear about them and go scurrying off to Lidl for their extra-virgin olive oil or whatever, but, generally speaking, the cheaper food isn't as good, is it? When they do those adverts comparing a price of two baskets full of food, the reason that, say, the tomatoes are a fraction of the cost in Aldi is that they are watery and with less actual tomatoes in the can.

It depends. For most things cheap tinned tomatoes will be fine, just a bit less sweet which can be balanced out by adding a little sugar, but for some recipes e.g. https://www.thekitchn.com/marcella-hazans-amazing-4ingre-144538 where the tomato flavour is all there is then getting the best tinned tomatoes makes a difference. At least that's what my experience with my shitty tastebuds is.

[hummingofevil]

I know that there are exceptions and that middle class people hear about them and go scurrying off to Lidl for their extra-virgin olive oil or whatever, but, generally speaking, the cheaper food isn't as good, is it? When they do those adverts comparing a price of two baskets full of food, the reason that, say, the tomatoes are a fraction of the cost in Aldi is that they are watery and with less actual tomatoes in the can. The toilet paper is half the price because you need to wind twice as much round your hand so it doesn't split and their pop tastes weird. Or am I wrong?

Best obvious comparison is with booze I suppose. Decent bottle of cognac in Lidl is 15-20% cheaper than equivalent in Sainsburys.

Home Bargains is where its at anyway. Like for like with brands. 27p for 55p cans of Vimto. And their owner was on that list of highest tax payers published last week so money being made somewhere. Probably something deeply unethical somewhere down the line but in one's round here the staff seem to always be quite cheerful and they have plenty of tills open (unlike the Lidl model where the staff get relatively well paid but if you not actively serving customers you need to be stacking which is quite weirdly stressful as someone who has done it myself). 

[Buelligan]

OK. Can you lick your own genitals? If so, the gig is yours.

Be very careful Janie, he doesn't mean your own genitals.  Capisci?

Italians using ready made pasta I can confirm is true for most everyone but your old school mamas way out in the sticks and your top notch Michelin restaurants.  Otherwise 9 out of 10 kitchens will be using De Cecco.

Not sure that's entirely true, I know plenty (four) Italians, some living in Rome (a city), some round here (the sticks), all in the 20-35 age group, all of whom make their own pasta.  I'll admit, they don't always always do it but they make pasta several times a week from scratch.  I make my own pasta and I'm not even Italian (if you like ravioli, you have to make your own).

[willpurry]

Were you expecting them to be getting their raw materials from the Thai equivalent of Abel and Cole or something? Id think myself lucky if they were getting their ingredients from Lidl, rather than from some dodgy wholesaler bringing in arsenic laced chicken fom the phillipines or something.

"You were right.  Definite traces of arsenic.".

[Shit Good Nose]

Not sure that's entirely true, I know plenty (four) Italians, some living in Rome (a city), some round here (the sticks), all in the 20-35 age group, all of whom make their own pasta.  I'll admit, they don't always always do it but they make pasta several times a week from scratch.  I make my own pasta and I'm not even Italian (if you like ravioli, you have to make your own).

As I said - 9 out of 10.

I've holidayed in Italy about 20 times and it's always been De Cecco in most of the restaurants, and have Italian family and friends (which must number about 30-odd in total), and nearly all of them buy ready made pasta, and of those nearly all of them swear by De Cecco.

I know literally two people who make their own pasta - a mate who isn't Italian and it's fucking awful, and another mate(who is Italian)'s 90 year old grandmother.  All of the other Italians, including my mate and his parents (originating from Rome and Sora) - De Cecco all the way.

[Buelligan]

My pasta is excellent.  Just wanted to make sure that was recorded.  And so is the handmade pasta of my friends.  Until you have eaten freshly made ravioli, tossed in a little butter and fresh sage, your mouth has not experienced full orgasm.

[Shit Good Nose]

My pasta is excellent.  Just wanted to make sure that was recorded.  And so is the handmade pasta of my friends.  Until you have eaten freshly made ravioli, tossed in a little butter and fresh sage, your mouth has not experienced full orgasm.

And until you've eaten my (non-Italian) mate's freshly made pasta, you've never eaten actual shit.

He's a terrible cook and, bless him, he always brings his latest endeavours to our gents gatherings.  We just don't have the heart to tell him nearly all of it is dogshit, mainly cos he had a stroke some years ago and we feel a bit sorry for him.

He did make some nice wild garlic bread.  Once.