Not HP, Not Daddies, No Way, Never, No More

I have always been disposed to try the 'basic' ranges. I am generally skeptical that premium brands are any better, like for like, in most cases. I used to use the example of aspirin when giving presentations on the power of marketing (I've since discovered that John Hegarty uses the same case study) where the power of the brand means that people pay 5 or 6 times more for what is exactly the same active ingredient. Anadin's ad campaign, Nothing Acts Faster, was brilliant - nothings acts slower, either, of course.

Of course, this nonsense applies to food as well. The worst outcomes are with fresh veg, where we'll never have the pleasure of comically mis-shaped carrots in the supermarket because the buying public apparently won't buy anything that doesn't look like it's been preformed in a carrot factory. Muppets. We are wasting so much of the harvest due to this silliness. I can't fix that, but we can start moving away from ludicrously priced branded products to the cheaper versions.

On to brown sauce. Was it just me that felt that the recipes of HP and Daddies changed when they went to Holland or wherever it is that they're made now? More vinegary? I switched my allegiance away from them sometime ago - not due to financial constraints but to taste alone. I found that the Aldi brown sauce, Bramwell's, was just as good as the big brands. Recently, though, I've not been over to Aldi and have been experimenting with other, even cheaper sauces.

Top of the list is the Sainsbury's Basic - no longer in the glass bottle pictured as it's just been changed to a squeezy plastic bottle. It costs only 25p! That's 6p per 100g compared to about 40p for HP.

I like the taste, I have to say. It doesn't contain any E numbers and it's amber on the bizarre scale of badness for sugar and salt whereas most brown sauce is red. Perfect for the traditional Dunkley breakfast of sausages and tomatoes.

If this anoraky tale of bargain brown sauce leaves you wanting more, I found an almost perfect fan site out there, http://www.tablesauce.co.uk - who would have though that there'd be a site dedicated to the bottled elixir? Perplexing that they only have a brief mention of OK sauce (a past favourite - fruity brown sauce that is, apparently, still in production) and nothing at all on Ideal Sauce. Still work to do out there....

Chilli Apple & Pear Sauce

Sometimes the traditional British roast needs a kick up the backside, and this alternative to apple sauce for pork dishes certainly does the trick. You could also serve this with a veggie roast dinner or as a condiment for sausage & chips.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

3 apples

3 pears

Half a small red onion

Good pinch of chilli powder to taste or a finely chopped red chill

Pinch of cumin

Teaspoon demerara sugar (or any sugar) 

Water

Butter

First peel and core the apples and pears then chop them into small chunks. Peel and finely chop the onion. Put a good knob of butter into you pan and fry the onion. Don't let it get too hot - you want soft onions. After about 3 minutes stir in the chilli and cumin. Stir and then add the apples and pears. Give them a good stir and then add enough hot water to keep everything moist. 

Stir regularly and roughly crush the fruit with a wooden spoon. You don't want to lose all the texture, but you need a good, thick sauce. Keep adding water in small amounts - you don't want the sauce to dry out or burn. Taste the sauce - if it's not got enough kick add a little more chilli. Don't go crazy - you want balance not blisters.

After about ten minutes add the sugar and a little more water. Stir vigorously and then add a good knob of butter. Taste it again and add more butter if you fancy it. 

That's it - the sauce is ready. Can be served hot or cold - delicious with left overs, as in the pic where it's served with pork and bubble & squeak