Just dont tell my fitness instructor... PLEEASE!! (Marks and Spencer Ultimate Mash)

Member Name: pania22

Product:	Marks and Spencer Ultimate Mash
Date:	26/06/09 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: creamy potatoey heavenly goodness

Disadvantages: amazingly heavy, laden with fat and the pepper is a little disppointing and lacking in "crack"

If anyone asks me, my favourite meal is salad and mash. I love to put a massive pile of rocket on a plate, accompany it with cucumber, tomato and avocado and put an equally massive pile of mash potato alongside it. I've no idea why this is my favourite meal, it just tastes sooo good and that's the way I like it. Heading home tonight after a 12 hour hard, moany people littered shift at work I realised that a) I was extremely hungry and b) I hadn't had a hot meal since I don't know when. Only problem was that it was near midnight and all the shops were shut except for the BP on the corner that also housed a marks and sparks.
You may have seen these revolutionary BP/M&S integrated fuel stations around and what an invention they are. Some of the best food around has come out of its city centre locations to a place where we can easily and readily get our hands on it with little walking actually involved. Mr Mark and Mr Spencer I salute you. The only problem is that it is a touch on the expensive side.
So, wandering around looking for something that I fancied my eyes settled on a "buy 3 for £5" offer on Marks and Spencer's ultimate mash potato. The offer is for a 450 g microwaveable tub, which would be about the size of a mans fist when on a plate, just to give you an idea. Working out at £1.66 per pot this puts it on a par with Tesco mash and is a reduction of 33p per pot from its usual price. Looking good!
I take a look at the packaging and see that it is in typical ready meal attire of a black plastic tub, green cardboard sleeve and has a picture of the food within on the front. The sleeve declares that the product contains "cream and added black pepper" and it's the addition of the pepper that is quite appealing to me. So off I pop to the till, make my purchase and head home looking forward to a quick and easy hot meal.
*cooking*
So, back home in the kitchen, standing at the microwave ready to go. I turn the tub over to read the very clear and easy to follow cooking instructions, set out according to your microwaves power and features 2 times for each power band, cooking time and standing time. I see that my portion requires 6 minutes for my microwave which is of the highest power level plus a minutes standing time. I note happily that it doesn't require stirring mid way through, a feature of most other microwaveable mashes that makes me feel very impatient indeed! So I pull back the corner of the cellophane lid and bung it in and let it do its thing. So simple even my ex could cook it (he he )
I am also exceptionally surprised to note that this could be oven cooked?!?! Oven cooked mash!! That just doesn't seem right to me. Not of interest to me but may be to some so worth mentioning.
*The taste*
Amazing!!!
I took the mash out of the microwave and turned it onto a plate, noticing surprisingly that it hadn't gone brown around the edges as most microwaveable products that you don't stir can do. I took my first mouthful and immediately tasted the butter and the cream within the mash. You could taste that the product was high quality as it didn't contain that earthy taste of slightly old potatoes but was just a nice creamy constant taste in my mouth. I have to admit to doing the corny eyes closed with fork in mouth and declaring "Mmmmm" loudly. Would I have done this if I hadn't been alone? I doubt it!!! The mash was smooth with not a hint of a lump in sight, it was almost as if the potatoes had been pureed before being used. The black pepper that was acclaimed on the front of the packet could not be tasted within the mash at all and that was a disappointment for me, along with the fact of how heavy the unbelievable creaminess made the mash in my stomach. Usually I can manage a whole pack of mash (yes really, I can) but could only manage half a pack of this before I was full meaning that half went to waste. Not particularly good on the pocket that one!

*nutrition*
Or not as the case may be... the only drawback for heavenly food, It has to be bad somewhere along the line!! And this most certainly is! Per half a pot serving the damage is
395 calories! (eep!)
15.39 g Saturated fat (oh my goodness!)
28.6 g carbohydrate
2.9g protein
That's not nutrition that's pure all out indulgence hidden in reverse nutrition technology! Gulp!

*my opinion*

In my opinion this little gem does everything I would want from a mash. It's creamy, smooth, lump free and just pure selfish end of the day indulgence which let's face it we all need a little of at times right? I would gladly buy this again although it does loose a star for the absence of the much hailed "cracked black pepper" taste and the heaviness of the meal. I think if I were to combine this with a salad as I usually do then I may well struggle to eat my meal and end up feeling heavy and bloated instead of happily full and fulfilled. This mash beats Tesco ready-made mash hands down, mainly in the area of its quality. The slogan "it's not just food, it's M&S food" is, in this case, exceptionally appropriate.

Summary: so bad for me but it tastes so good!