THE HUMBLE CRUMBLE OF AN OXO. (Oxo Beef Cube)

Member Name: PRINCESSPUSSYCAT

Product:	Oxo Beef Cube
Date:	05/07/08 (839 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great beef flavouring

Disadvantages: Not suitable for vegetarians.

--Ahhhhh!... OXO! -

Whenever I think of OXO, I think of roast dinner! I am a big gravy lover. I always like LOTS of hot gravy upon my meat and the more the better. Roast lamb with mint sauce and rich gravy is my very favourite meal. Good strong gravy goes 'Hand in hand' with a Sunday roast. The meat juices from the meat provide a delicious basis for the gravy and Oxo gives the natural juices a rich depth of flavour.


In production since 1910, Oxo has become a very much used British product. In their early advertising campaigns which ran 23 years up until 1999, Oxo promoted their product as the fabric of British life and would depict the great British family with 2.4 children seated around the table ready to tuck into the family evening meal. Somehow Oxo was the thread which held the mealtime in place and a steaming jug of hearty Oxo was always centre piece on the table. -


Owned by Mars Incorporated, Oxo is available in the original beef, chicken, vegetable and ethnic varieties. Part of this products appeal I think, apart from its great taste, is the fact that the stock is dried and sealed in small cubes which are covered by a silver foil. The fun part is crumbling the soft granules off the block of the Oxo cube into the boiling water or meat juices. The Oxo blends into the food easily, leaving good dark gravy and no lumps. I always find the crumbling a very satisfying process and can also control the strength of the gravy quite easily this way. The flavour is deep and rich with delicious beef flavouring. -


-- OXO BEEF --

The product is contained within a small familiar red and white box and is available in three different sizes I believe. You can also purchase Oxo in a jar in the granule form. Upon each side of the box you have a large O and X lettered in white and the description of Oxo beef upon the bottom. The size that I have contains 12 cubes and weighs 71g. It is recommended that these cubes are at their best when stored in a dark, cool place. Each cube contains 19 calories and 2.0g of salt and 0.4g fat -


--DIRECTIONS--

The recommended directions are that you crumble the cubes directly onto the food whilst cooking. Though I quite often make my gravy in a jug first with the addition of boiled water; then I season to taste. I find that way I can control the strength of the gravy more easily. Oxo recommend using 1/3 pint to one cube ratio. I like mine a bit stronger and basically just crumble until I have the strength that I want. A nice tip that Oxo have placed upon the top of the box, is to crumble an Oxo cube over spaghetti Bolognaise sauce when browning the mince. This will give the sauce a good tasty depth of beef strength. -


--INGREDIENTS--

Wheat - Flour - Salt - Yeast Extract - Maize - Starch - Beef Fat - Colours - Flavour Enhancers - Beef Bone Stock - Sugar - Onion Salt - Onion Powder -

--ALLERGY ADVICE--

This product contains wheat and Gluten.


--SUMMARY--

I really like Oxo cubes. They give a seriously good flavour to existing meat juices or when used on their own. They are great used in shepherd pie, stews, on chops and the great British roast. They really are a versatile cube which blends well into the food to enhance its flavour. They are a good price and come in a nice small convenient box too. The Oxo cubes have been standard stock to the British public since 1910. Oxo is really tasty gravy which compliments the flavour of your meat dishes beautifully. Good standard British food definitely benefits from a humble crumble of the Oxo cube. -


Oxo Cubes: From about 80p.


http://www.oxo.co.uk/


Thank you for reading
PRINCESSPUSSYCAT
July 2008*

Summary: A versatile gravy cube with great flavour