Not Worth Toadying Up To On The Whole (Sainsbury's Toad In The Hole)

Member Name: skidd

Product:	Sainsbury's Toad In The Hole
Date:	15/03/09 (281 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap

Disadvantages: Far from cheerful

My daughter disdains my ready meals as a rule but when she came home a couple of months ago and found a Tesco Toad in the Hole box on top of the recycling she was quite indignant that there wasn't one for her! My next shop was at Sainsbury's and being a dutiful mother, I searched for their version and noticed it was on a special offer. These are normally £1 but until the end of July 2009 this and another fifteen dishes are offered at four for the price of three. I had quite enjoyed the Tesco version so, throwing caution to the winds, I ordered four of the same. I wish I had been less impulsive!

Just in case anybody isn't aware of this good old traditional British dish, it's just sausages in a Yorkshire pudding batter. These are individual servings and not huge at 250g but quite adequate if vegetables are added. After all what do you expect for £1? When researching this review I compared it with the Tesco version and presently theirs is described as weighing 400g but it's a mistake. When you look further into the product description it's 250g, exactly the same as their rival's offering and exactly the same price.

They are a frozen line and must be stored in a freezer or the frozen food compartment of a fridge. The maximum shelf life is until the best before date which in this case (purchased in early February) was December 2009 so they can be left to hang for quite some time.

My daughter was the first to try one. She didn't enthuse but then she rarely does. She didn't complain either but I noticed it wasn't all eaten! Maybe she didn't want to look her Mum's gift horse in the mouth or have the cheek to complain after she had specifically requested it. When I came to sample one I was very disappointed - in fact I didn't finish it either! I think neither of us was over impressed because the other two portions remained in the freezer for weeks. I was tempted to throw them out but I hate waste and yesterday I decided to give one another go, this time using my reviewer's eyes and taste buds! So I proceeded, trying to put aside my unfavourable preconceived notions!

I did as instructed, peeled the film lid off the black container, placed it on a baking tray and popped it into my oven, preheated to 200 degrees. It's not suitable for microwaving and should be cooked from frozen. The cooking time advised is 40 minutes but it looked a little anaemic after that time so I left it ten minutes longer to brown off. This could have been down to the temperamental nature of my oven. I was aware of quite an appetising aroma as it cooked.

It needed a little coaxing out of the tray using a slice but was not too difficult and, although some of the batter in the middle stuck to the container, it came out in one piece. I added some green beans, cabbage and gravy and was all set. The Yorkshire pudding had risen quite nicely all round the edges and appeared quite light and crisp as it should be. I expected my knife to crunch into it. It didn't! It was a soft and disappointing texture although the taste wasn't too bad. However as I progressed into the middle I found that I couldn't eat it because it appeared it wasn't properly cooked just soft and gooey. Under the top coat it looked more like a yellow bath sponge than a Yorkshire pudding. Most unpalatable! I wonder if I should have left it in the oven even longer but if I had the outside edges would have burnt. I pushed it to one side and turned my attention to the sausages.

There are three pork sausages which looked nicely browned. They are small, just about three inches long, but size isn't everything! According to the nutritional information they account for 36% of the total content. I would have preferred 50% but Tesco's version has 1% less sausage and again what did I expect for £1? This would have been tolerable if the sausages were edible. I found them really unappetising. The flavour wasn't exactly porky. There is quite a spiciness to them but also a slightly fishy taste which I really can't account for! The texture too is unpleasant and bears more resemblance to a gelatinous coarsely ground spam. It is even slightly pink in colour. Are they not properly cooked? I can't believe it because they have had 50 minutes in a hot oven. It was just the same as my first experience of this product. I persevered and I finished off one sausage but piled the remaining two onto the rejected inner parts of the Yorkshire pudding whilst I just finished off the vegetables. I am not really a fussy eater. I love most sausages and chipolatas but these were unacceptable.

Whenever possible, I like to balance negatives with positives in my reviews. Unfortunately this is not easy with this product. It is apparently free from artificial flavourings and colourings which is a plus. I could also reiterate how cheap they are - on this special offer they work out to just 75p but if they are inedible it's money down the drain. It's not even a very healthy option as it contains 22.4g fat, 8.2g saturated fat and 2.48g salt. Sugar is low enough at 5.3g but I think dieters would avoid its 457 calories. One other potential positive strikes me - there is no mention of it being unsuitable for those with nut allergies but if you can't tolerate wheat gluten, eggs or milk it's one to avoid. Some of the pork content is British which should be good from a carbon footprint point of view but it's mixed with Dutch pork and there is no indication of the relative percentages. At least the box is recyclable but then the tray is not!

However I did eventually find a really positive reaction to this offering. I decided to cook the last one and offer it to my Labrador, Woody. I did cover it with some Bisto gravy which he loves but I don't think I needed to. He attacked it with alacrity and his wagging tail told me he thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank heavens for that! Unfortunately he seemed to regard it as a starter and afterwards still worried for his main meal. So no economy there but at least it didn't go to waste!

For a bit of fun I decided to search for the origins of Toad in the Hole. It would appear nobody knows. In parts of America a Toad in the Hole is nothing like our version but an egg fried in the centre of a slice of bread which has had a hole cut in the middle. Some say the idea of pieces of meat cooked in batter goes back to Roman times, others that it dates back to the early 18th century. In 1861 a one time chef to Queen Victoria, Charles Elme Francatelli, issued a recipe for Toad in the Hole but it made no mention of sausages just pieces of meat. I doubt that Queen Victoria would have been amused by Sainsbury's version! As to the name, some believe it is because the finished dish resembles a pond surface with toads' heads popping out. I can't really see that! It has also been suggested that it is named after an old pub game, still played in some parts of the country, the object of which is to pitch discs into holes in a box or bench. I only found one explanation which really seemed to fit the bill and that was that Toad in the Hole is a corruption of the original name which was Turd in the Hole! Whether this is true or just down to somebody with a sense of humour, I can't say! I am just rather glad I found it after my meal!

Unfortunately I can't really find anything to recommend about this product and, although I find the Tesco one more palatable, I think next time I will try to be less lazy and actually stir myself to make one. After all it's easy enough and I am sure my daughter and the dog would appreciate it especially if I keep quiet about the alleged origin of its name!

Summary: I can't find anything to recommend this but my dog disagrees