Dolmio advice...

debeli

First, the company should be congratulated for having the bottle to say what many have known.

Secondly, how does the market for these execrable sauces exist?

Carbonara,Bolognese, Putanesca and many, many others can be whipped up in almost no time.

Admittedly, a good Bolognese is happier if whipped up (in a few minutes) and then left to gurgle for hours to hit the right notes, but carbonara and putanesca and others take less time from opening knife drawer to serving than it tkes to bring water to the boil and cook pasta.

And... even with the grimmest of ingredients, homemade always tastes better.

And homemade is cheaper.

This is not a rant, but if I weren't the lovely, non-judgemental chap they tell me I am, then it would be.

Seriously, my cat has vomited half-digested frogs that have more dish appeal than Dolmio Carbonara.

Probably.

ben@31

Sometimes people dont have the time for cooking, its more convenient to throw in a jar for a few minutes.

Stevo_666

What exactly have they said?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

When is your Dolmio day?

Notice it says day, not days. Dolmio have basically come out and said their products should be a once weekly thing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36054696

lancew

I agree that fair play saying that's the case is the right thing to come out with. Most of what we eat though is not healthy in excess (same could be said for cycling...). It always comes down to having a rounded diet.

I personally buy a few sauces rather than making them because they're just cheat meals for when I don't have much time. Such as a pasta bake sauce. I think of myself as a pretty good cook but its taken me a long time to get a decent pasta sauce going though, only recently since I've made a conscious effort not to buy jars has that started to change.

pblakeney

ben@31 wrote:

Sometimes people dont have the time for cooking, its more convenient to throw in a jar for a few minutes.

That's the excuse.
But what else are they doing while waiting on the pasta cooking?
Even Bolognese, make a huge pot and freeze portions. Healthy, cheap and first pot apart, quick.

Garry H

A cynical ploy. Only 4 percent of the uk population have pasta sauce more than once a week anyway (source: Mintel)

Lookyhere

Garry H wrote:

A cynical ploy. Only 4 percent of the uk population have pasta sauce more than once a week anyway (source: Mintel)

surely more of a Ratner moment? basically they are saying our Dolmio is bad for you..... why not just reformulate and state our new sauce is now even better than before?

tin of chopped tomatoes, Onion, garlic, mixed herbs, tomato paste and some fresh basil, jeez not Master chef is it.

Garry H

Lookyhere wrote:

Garry H wrote:

A cynical ploy. Only 4 percent of the uk population have pasta sauce more than once a week anyway (source: Mintel)

surely more of a Ratner moment? basically they are saying our Dolmio is bad for you..... why not just reformulate and state our new sauce is now even better than before?

tin of chopped tomatoes, Onion, garlic, mixed herbs, tomato paste and some fresh basil, jeez not Master chef is it.

I agree with you. But they 'calculated' that issuing the statement shouldn't affect their top line, much. Probably less of an effect than using better quality ingredients anyway. That's what I would say if I were cynical!

awavey

PBlakeney wrote:

ben@31 wrote:

Sometimes people dont have the time for cooking, its more convenient to throw in a jar for a few minutes.

That's the excuse.
But what else are they doing while waiting on the pasta cooking?
Even Bolognese, make a huge pot and freeze portions. Healthy, cheap and first pot apart, quick.

cooking the bolognese you know like doing two things at once by the time the pasta is done the bolognese has simmered for long enough.

if I use tomato paste, well it always goes off before I have chance to use it all properly, you dont really want it sat in your fridge for weeks on end, so it seems a waste & I hate buying food stuffs and chucking them away, whilst a jar of bolognese sauce is dead simple.

anyway its dead cheap in the supermarkets now, so perfect time to stock up

pblakeney

awavey wrote:

PBlakeney wrote:

ben@31 wrote:

Sometimes people dont have the time for cooking, its more convenient to throw in a jar for a few minutes.

That's the excuse.
But what else are they doing while waiting on the pasta cooking?
Even Bolognese, make a huge pot and freeze portions. Healthy, cheap and first pot apart, quick.

cooking the bolognese you know like doing two things at once by the time the pasta is done the bolognese has simmered for long enough.

if I use tomato paste, well it always goes off before I have chance to use it all properly, you dont really want it sat in your fridge for weeks on end, so it seems a waste & I hate buying food stuffs and chucking them away, whilst a jar of bolognese sauce is dead simple.

anyway its dead cheap in the supermarkets now, so perfect time to stock up

Precisely, They can cook a perfectly good, healthy, sauce during that time.
PS, a good bolognese doesn't need paste.

mrfpb

Maybe the high sugar sauces could be put in smaller packets and sold to cyclists as "energy foods"

homers_double

I'm detecting a distinct lack of red wine in these recipes.

BelgianBeerGeek

homers double wrote:

I'm detecting a distinct lack of red wine in these recipes.

Well spotted HD. My sauce always has a slug or two of wine. The purists always recommend white with a ragu, but I drink red. Also needs a healthy slug of balsamic vinegar and some Worcestershire sauce.
I generally make a vat, eat some, and freeze the rest in batches. Cheap as chips.

homers_double

Italians would spit at a white, Worcestershire sauce is a good call though and I use it all the time.

Plus don't buy "cooking wine". You wouldn't drink cheap censored so don't cook with it.

BelgianBeerGeek

The wine I'm drinking is the one that goes in the sauce. Which isn't saying much. Now, I've seen numerous cooking progs saying that cheap white goes in the sauce. Including St Jamie of Oliver. Are you calling BS?
(Not after a fight, just curious)

homers_double

If you want a butter or cream sauce then use white, red has a different depth so is needed in meaty dishes, lamb, beef etc.

You're flashing off the alcohol anyway so that isn't what you're adding, you're complimenting the meat so choose accordingly.

I make a good chillie, and i do mean good. It takes about 4 hours to cook and is best done the day before. I use Rioja as it has good depth and body, a cheap bottle of French dishwater just doesn't cut it.

homers_double

Oh and just to add, use steak in your chillie, not mince. People will think you're some sort of deity.

verylonglegs

I use this recipe as something to have with pasta. There is only me so I cook it and freeze the rest for later.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/anaut ... olog_66229

MisterMuncher

homers double wrote:

Oh and just to add, use steak in your chillie, not mince. People will think you're some sort of deity.

Use cheek and shin, and dark beer (not stout) rather than wine. Takes longer, requires more prep skill, but is worth it in the end. Steak in a slow cook is a waste of money.

Lookyhere

MisterMuncher wrote:

homers double wrote:

Oh and just to add, use steak in your chillie, not mince. People will think you're some sort of deity.

Use cheek and shin, and dark beer (not stout) rather than wine. Takes longer, requires more prep skill, but is worth it in the end. Steak in a slow cook is a waste of money.

i like cooking but really? its a tomato based sauce, origins in peasant cooking - no wonder people buy Dolmio

joelsim

Not sure what's difficult about throwing a bit of mushroom and ham into a pan, adding to the pasta and then throwing in a couple of eggs to make a Carbonara.

Nor the same with a 35p tin of tomatoes and a glug of red.

People who buy these sauces really need to look at a recipe book to see just how easy cooking is, with natural ingredients and no sh*te.

How on earth can Dolmio make pesto unhealthy? Wow.

Garry H

By making it with sh*t ingredients, necessitating the need to add salt and sugar and all sorts of other cr*p to give it some taste?

joelsim

Exactly Garry. Cooking from scratch really isn't difficult and in most cases takes about 2 minutes extra.

Lookyhere

Joelsim wrote:

Exactly Garry. Cooking from scratch really isn't difficult and in most cases takes about 2 minutes extra.

a while back, GF wanted some biscuits, tesco is 4 miles away, 25min round trip, she drove in and i baked some from scratch, by the time she returned, mine where on the cooling rack, nicer and healthier

i was replying to those who started talking about adding different types of Red and beer/stout to the ragu - italian pasta sauces are peasant food and should be basic and done simply and easily.

debeli

Joelsim wrote:

Not sure what's difficult about throwing a bit of mushroom and ham into a pan, adding to the pasta and then throwing in a couple of eggs to make a Carbonara.

Nor the same with a 35p tin of tomatoes and a glug of red.

People who buy these sauces really need to look at a recipe book to see just how easy cooking is, with natural ingredients and no sh*te.

How on earth can Dolmio make pesto unhealthy? Wow.

Absolutely... It's not just the simplicity, it's the pleasure of making it and eating it.

Nobody is too busy to knock up a quick pasta sauce.

However, I do not feel the same about pesto. I make my own in two batches a year, but it is a bit of a hassle. I have to grow insane (INSANE) quantities of sweet basil, buy a lot of pine nuts and use a lot of parmesan and oil. Then.... it is a lot of grinding and grating and chopping and mixing.

It really does take a while, but it is worth it. I think my own pesto is quite fattening, simply because the four ingredients make it so.... But adding sugar? Really? How can that be yummy?

capt_slog

I use the dolmio type tomato stuff for putting on the top of pizzas, it works really well for that.

I used to use tinned tomato, add tomato paste, and lots of other stuff but this is easier and as the jar can be resealed and put in the fridge, I don't think there is much difference in the price.

Bobbinogs

I think the advice from Dolmio is actually to be welcomed, after all food is supposed to be part of a balanced lifestyle which might even include (heaven forbid) the odd bit of cake.

However, if one looks at the ingredients for their pesto then it does vary from the classic 4 ingredient recipe, but not too much that jumps out as alarming:

Sunflower Oil, Basil (30%), Cashew Nuts, Cheeses (from Milk) (5.0%) (Grana Padano Cheese, Pecorino Romano Cheese), Emulsifier (Whey Protein (from Milk)), Salt, Garlic Cloves, Acid (Lactic Acid), Potato, Natural Flavouring.

The main concern with their pesto is the relatively high level of fat/salt but the actual breakdown is interesting:

Per 100g, 52g of fat (fairly predictable and clearly seen in the ingredients), 1.4g of salt (again, fairly predictable and clearly seen in the ingredients) and then 3.3g of sugar. The last bit is the one that puzzles me. Assuming that the ingredients are listed as usual in descending order and that the "natural flavouring" is actually sugar, which would be a bit sneaky but not inaccurate...where does the rest of the sugar come from?

I have also made my own pesto, yes all very nice but what a lot of fuss for something not too dissimilar to a jar of Berio pesto, which can be had for a £1 on offer. I like the odd cheat ingredient where I think it makes sense and tastes good. I wouldn't eat a pesto made with sunflower oil though, standards and all that :-)

ugo.santalucia

I have never been able to buy a pesto that was edible. It's a very simple sauce to make, having access to decent basil, but probably hard to store in a jar, given how quickly it oxidises... hence they come up with a list of ingredients that has nothing to do with a pesto and an olive-green colour which looks (and tastes) revolting.

joelsim

The point is, in all of this, it's better for you to use natural, fresh ingredients. Just as quick, healthier and far better tasting.

I must buy less than 10 ready meals per year. Everything else is cooked from scratch.

homers_double

Lookyhere wrote:

i was replying to those who started talking about adding different types of Red and beer/stout to the ragu - italian pasta sauces are peasant food and should be basic and done simply and easily.

It is, adding a glug of Chianti to a pan isn't exactly difficult and trust me, peasants drink chianti at a fraction of the price that we do.