PRICE: £1.69 per 184g pack containing two pieces, currently on buy 2 for £3 offer at my local Sainsbury's

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per portion):

Calories: 170
Kj: 700
Protein: 16.0g
Carbohydrate: 4.8g
(of which sugars): 1.3g
Fat: 9.4g
(of which saturates): 2.7g
Fibre: 0.2g
Sodium: 0.25g
(equivalent as salt): 0.6g

INGREDIENTS:

Water, wheat flour, wheat starch, cornflour, rice flour, salt, vegetable oil, Demerara sugar, aniseed, black pepper, cinnamon, chilli, tomato powder, fructose, dried onion, garlic powder, onion powder, plain caramel, salt, natural flavourings, soya lecithin, yeast extract, parsley, cayenne pepper extract, clove extract, ginger extract, pimento extract

ALLERGY ADVICE & OTHER WARNINGS:

Contains wheat, soya
Although great care has been taken to remove all bones, some may remain

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It can often be difficult for me to find ready-prepared chicken dishes/recipes that appeal to the point where I will buy them over and over again. Having not tried it before, I bought a pack of Birds Eye Reggae Reggae Chargrilled Chicken, to see if my palate could be tempted into making them a regular feature on my dinner plate.

Birds Eye Reggae Reggae Chargrilled Chicken (hereafter referred to as "BERRC") is to be found in the frozen food section of major supermarkets, and comes in a mostly orange-coloured flat box with an image of a cut-open piece of the glazed chicken on the front. The rear of the box shows nutritional information, ingredients list, storage/cooking instructions, allergy advice, bones warning and various claims from Birds Eye that the product has been responsibly farmed.

Two fairly small sized chicken breast portions rest loose inside the box, and they aren't sealed inside a separate cellophane wrapper. Due to the thinness of the chicken pieces plus the uniformity of size, I guessed them to be made from chopped, reformed chicken rather than an un-tampered with straightforward chicken breast. The breadcrumb coating is a pale brownish/yellowish colour, and seems reasonably thin, which is what I like. On removing the chicken pieces from the pack, I could see no evidence of the "reggae reggae" glaze, so assumed it to be stuffed inside.

The chicken only needs 20 minutes in a fairly hot pre-heated oven, and during the cooking process I could detect little or no smell - maybe there was a faint aroma of cooking breadcrumbs, but it was hardly noticeable.

On removing from the oven, the chicken pieces had shrunk a little, and the dark brown coloured "reggae reggae" glaze had seeped from wherever it had previously been in or on the chicken and appeared to have hardened onto the baking tray - I needed to scrape it off with a knife, but found that it was still fairly soft and quite gluey in texture. I smeared this glaze equally onto each of the pieces of chicken, then served onto the plate with the vegetables I had as an accompaniment.

The breadcrumb coating had turned a slightly darker, more tan-coloured shade during the cooking process, but I can't say that the chicken pieces appeared particularly appetising. They rested on the plate, a little tired-looking, and I was hoping that appearances in this case would be deceptive.

My knife slid very easily through the first of the chicken pieces, and I noticed that my previous suspicions had been correct; this was definitely reformed chicken, and not what I call the "real thing". Moving a forkful towards my mouth, there was no perceptible aroma, but once I began to chew, the chicken did actually have a reasonably good flavour and it was quite tender. From the "reggae reggae" glaze, I was expecting some kind of spicy zing, but there was very little. Though it added quite a nice, piquant flavour to the chicken, the serving of the glaze was far too meagre for it to really enhance the overall experience. I was also expecting the glaze to taste far hotter than it did and pack more of a punch.

I didn't overall find BERRC very exciting, but it wasn't bad and I happily finished my meal.

In summary, I would say that I'd prefer it that the chicken pieces weren't of the reformed variety, and I'd like the serving of "reggae reggae" glaze to have been far more generous, plus instantly visible, and not to have leaked out during the cooking process. If the glaze were more abundant, I feel the power-pack element as regards taste could have been delicious. Each chicken piece was very small, and I assume Birds Eye intend that one serving should equal one piece of chicken, but I don't think that would be sufficient for most adult appetites. It has to be said though, that £1.69 isn't a too bad price, but it is reflected in the fact that the chicken is "re-mastered". It's an even better bargain at the moment, whilst Sainsbury's are running their "buy 2 for £3 offer".

Though I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at BERRC, I doubt if I shall be in a hurry to buy them again above certain other prepared chicken products that I feel are more instantly appealing. My verbal overall rating is that it's a so-so product that's OK to have in the freezer to use in an emergency, but nothing to get excited about.

Thanks for reading!

~~ Also published on Ciao under my CelticSoulSister user name ~~