Food Surprise. I promised long time friend of the blog (hey Darren!) that I'd cover a vegan option and here we are, the single Christmas sandwich left in the local Aldi mid-afternoon. When Aldi first began opening shops in the UK in the 90s it seemed immensely exotic from the name (which takes the first two letters of the founders of the company the Albrechts with the German name for Discount, Diskont) to the contents, which if memory serves still had English translations stuck over continental labelling on a number of products.
Slowly it entered the mainstream. As late as 2008, The Guardian was sending Jay Raynor in to sample the goods, like a travel writer entering some remote clime suggesting it as "It's stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap." That article's a fascinating record of how the business used to be. Now it's much closer to its rivals often beating them to awards. Some items are still cheap, but you're more likely end up spending much the same as you would elsewhere. We love their steaks, but they're sometimes a couple of pounds more expensive than the Asda opposite.
But visiting still feels like an oddity as, for example, the checkouts don't have a particular place to pack your bags, expecting you to put your shopping back into your baskets or trollies and do that business at a long counter at the front of the shop, which in a lot of ways I prefer because it stops you from the anxiety of trying to balance out the weight in your bags as the good fly furiously through the checkout, much nicer to take your time, put everything in its place. Now that I come to write this, I remember Kwik Save in Speke used the same method.
What of the sandwich? It's fine. Instead of the faux Turkey I've seen in other supermarket vegan alternatives, this is parsnip fritter with a vegan sage and onion mayo, spinach, fried onions and roasted pumpkin seeds on cranberry and poppy seed bread. It's a bit bland, none of the flavours really breaking through, maybe the onion, just a general sweetness. But it is moist, not stodgy like some and given the price, just £1.75, I certainly wouldn't be averse to having it again, even though I've never really been a fan of parsnips.
When I was writing this post, I asked the Twitter hive mind some questions. Like, how do you feel about vegan food being labelled as such? Does it just make it easier to shop because you can see it a mile off or do you feel like you're being identified as somehow different to other shoppers? This has the word vegan three times on the front as well as the "plant menu" description. What have been your favourite pre-packed sandwiches this year?
@shauney said, "Not had many but I think it’s very important they are clearly labelled vegan because it can be frustrating having to read ingredients etc!"
@wimpyking offered: "Enjoyed the Pret Meatless Meatball hot wrap- have had sadly few pre-packed sandwiches this year though. Happy for products to be badged clearly."
If you have something to add, I'll update this post with any replies either on Twitter or to my email address, stuartianburns@gmail.com
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