Can't grill, won't grill (Tesco Chargrilled Vegetables)

Member Name: Chouchin

Product:	Tesco Chargrilled Vegetables
Date:	08/03/07 (654 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No peeling and chopping

Disadvantages: Don't taste like char-grilled vegetables

I can't grill.

I can bake, boil, steam, roast, sauté, and my casseroles are the talk of the neighbourhood. Cooking Christmas dinner holds no fears. But grilling, the most basic of cooking methods, eludes me. Actually, in my days of padded shoulders and power dressing I could flame-grill a hapless employee or do a lightly toasted job applicant. But nothing edible. I blame the family. An hour before any meal is ready, they are snapping at my heels, demanding to know when it will be ready; when it IS ready they are nowhere to be seen, and even I know a grill has to be eaten as soon as it is ready. The more likely reasons, though, are that I don't marinate enough, baste enough, cook at a high enough temperature, or possibly all three together.

Perversely, I enjoy grilled food, not just meat but also vegetables. So it was with joy that my eyes lighted on this product. Problem solved, I thought, as plates of perfectly grilled peppers and courgettes drifted into my mind's eye and aromas wafted up my mind's nostrils. There was a nagging thought at the back of that part of my mind which wasn't occupied with visions and aromas that vegetables that had been grilled, then frozen, then re-cooked were not going to be at the peak of perfection, but I ignored it. I should have paid it some attention.

The package is a plastic bag with the de rigeur tomato ketchup red and charcoal black bands across the top. There is an appetising picture of succulent grilled vegetables scattered with herbs on the front. Pack size is 700g and the contents as listed are aubergines, red peppers, yellow peppers and courgettes in roughly equal proportions, onion, basil and garlic dressing and vegetable oil. There are two cooking methods suggested: oven-bake at 200ºC/Mk6 for 30 - 40 minutes, or stir fry on medium heat for 6 - 8 minutes. Right, so these are grilled-frozen-baked vegetables, or grilled-frozen-stir-fried vegetables. Well they are not going to be undercooked, are they?

Open the bag and I was struck by the distinctive char-grill aroma. That must rate as one of the most delectable aromas known to man, and this is downright authentic, overlaid only slightly by a plastic tang. At my first cooking attempt I opted for the oven bake, so I decanted half the bag on to a tray and examined the contents. Frosted lumps, inevitably, but the courgette slices were a good size and had clear grill "stripes". The aubergine chunks were smaller, and the pepper and onion pieces smaller still. This was disappointing. Aubergines are large so there is no need cut them up small, and peppers quartered and grilled are delicious - diced they just disappear. These smaller pieces of aubergine and pepper had charred edges to them but no stripes.

Anyway, into the oven for 30 - 40 minutes as directed. Oven settings may vary, as the packet warns, and I reckoned these were done in about 20 minutes. Any longer and they would have started to dry up. What did they look like now? Moist, flaccid even, good colours, and an appetising smell, but of baked, not grilled, vegetables. The char-grilled aroma, the point of the whole thing, was gone. On the plate they formed a moist pile, about the same consistency as ratatouille: all the bulk and chunkiness I would look for in a grilled vegetable was missing.

But what did they TASTE like, you're all shrieking! OK, we're there now. And OK about sums it up. The overall effect was a bland vegetable mix, with only the peppers, despite my misgivings earlier, having a distinctive taste and texture. There was no bite and crunch, and certainly no grilled flavour. It wasn't unpleasant, but it had as much resemblance to fresh grilled vegetables as I do to Jamie Oliver.

I cooked the other half of the bag by the stir-fry method. It is quicker, but the end result is much the same.

If food companies want to save us precious time by offering premium processed products, and I'm all for that, I would suggest in this case that they sell packed aubergines, courgettes and peppers ready prepared, cleaned and chopped and with a small bottle of basting mix (oh, and a step-by-step grilling guide for me). All we have to do then is heat the grill and throw them on. The result will be fresher, more nutritious and far, far nicer tasting.

Except chez Chouchin. I'm still seeking the perfect home-grilled meal. Who's going to invite me round?



Packet notes:

700g, suggested 7 servings (strange amounts?)

Allergies: no nut contents, but cannot guarantee entirely nut-free as it has been processed in a factory where nuts are also processed.

Calories 85 per 100g serving

Sugar 4.9g per 100g serving

Fat 6.3g per 100g serving

Saturates 0.8g per 100g serving

Salt 0.3g per 100g serving

Price £1.49

Summary: Do it yourself