Review 2021: The Christmas Sandwich Reviews: Jamie's Christmas Turkey Feast.

Food  Yes, yes I forgot to photograph the sandwich again, yadda yadda yadda.  I was so mesmerised by Mr Oliver's face, plastered as it is across the top of the packaging and the side, same photo by the way, that it completely slipped my mind.  Best get this out of the way early.  I have a potentially irrational dislike of Jamie Oliver.  He's often immensely irritating in his media appearances, a smugness which I'd also attribute to the James Cordens, Ed Sheerans and Michael McIntyres of the world which comes from them seemingly being absolutely fucking everywhere and knowing it.  

When the Shell deal was announced there were plenty of exclamations of hypocrisy.  Here's an especially withering column at Marketing Week from someone who clearly dislikes him as much as I do and an anti-corruption campaigner at The Guardian suggesting the deal was an attempt to burnish their dumpster-like reputation.  I have a mental box somewhere in my mind palace within which I hide people like him away so I don't have to think about them.  But today, my appetite conspired against me and there he is, grinning from the top of the packaging.  

There's a video on the Shell website in which Mr Oliver is depicted making examples of these sandwiches.  It's as cringy as you might expect and it's also interesting in how it describes the sandwich.  On the packaging the turkey is listed as "lemon and rosemary marinated" but in the video Jamie says "flavoured with rosemary and lemon" which isn't the same but I'm splitting hairs.  What certainly isn't similar is that the sandwich he prepares has nice thick slices of turkey and what you get in the package (also illustrated on the same page) which is a bit more granular.

All of which said how does it taste?  I was a bit concerned when opening he package because it smelt spicy, like a chicken curry.  The flavour is different; you can detect the lemon and rosemary in the turkey and the stuffing has a nice nutty texture.  It's also nice and moist.  Now that mission creep has set in I can't say whether its better that anything I've reviewed.  It's certainly not the worst.  But I would also say given the choice, I'd probably pop a little bit further up Smithdown Road and buy the better value Tesco sandwich instead. That's a pound cheaper and has sausages.