Getting in a pickle! (Tesco Pickled Sliced Beetroot)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Tesco Pickled Sliced Beetroot
Date:	09/06/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious, uses a good sweet pickling vinegar, attractive slices

Disadvantages: The occasional slice is hard

One of my favourite lunches at the moment is a good mature cheese and beetroot on a crusty cob. I have never had a particular favourite brand when it comes to pickled beetroot and really an equally happy with slices or whole baby beetroot that I can slice myself.

This time around I happen to have the Tesco Pickled Sliced Beetroot, which cost me 48p for a 340g jar.

It's very good considering it's almost half the price of Baxters Beetroot and I certainly have no complaints. Admittedly a few of the slices can be a little harder than the beetroot I am used to, but this just takes a bit of getting used to and I have not come across any slice that is so hard that it is rendered inedible.

In the main this beetroot has a good consistency which is neither too hard nor soggily soft (a common problem with own brand pickles I find) and the sweetness of the pickling vinegar compliments any cheese I have used perfectly. The vinegar is actually nicer than the rather tart Haywards beetroot I used recently and it compliments any other foods rather than completely masking the different flavours which is great as I like the taste of beetroot to be an accompaniment rather than a flavour all of its own.

I also like the fact that the flavour of the beetroot itself is completely apparent in this jar, I find that pickled beetroot rarely tastes of the vegetable at all but here I think Tesco have gotten the balance just right. The pickling vinegar is sweeter than I am used to, but it doesn't taste sugary in the slightest - again this can be a problem when using supermarket own brand pickles, especially beetroot.

The slices are not terribly consistent in size, but then who would want them to be? In this jar I am using at the moment I have had slices almost too big to get out of the jar in one piece and also tiny slices (not broken bits, actual slices) no bigger than my thumbnail. They are sliced to a fairly uniform thickness though which for me is the main consideration as I hate it when I bite into a sandwich expecting a good taste of beetroot only to find that on this particular portion there is just a wafer thin shaving of the yummy vegetable.

I cannot praise this highly enough. I think this beetroot is easily as good as it's more expensive counterparts and is absolute excellent value for money as it's just 18p more expensive that the Tesco Value beetroot which is absolutely foul.

Summary: An excellent pickled beetroot from Tesco, why pay more?