To me, Tesco has always been the absolute epitome of a weapon of mass consumption. One of the biggest hitting supermarkets in the country they sell everything from lettuce to life insurance. Even big brands Costa Coffee and Virgin have jumped on their instant gravy train to create a potential one stop shop for all your daily needs. I imagine if products could talk here they would mostly speak Mandarin. Don't be fooled by Tesco's image though. They have spent years carefully and painstakingly crafting themselves into an icon of huge savings yet subtly encourage you to spend more than you originally went in for. Before you know it you've bought a pair of new shoes, a mobile phone SIM and a library of books when all you wanted was a loaf of bread and a pint of milk.
Having spent most of my working life in marketing, I know to approach Tesco with some level of caution as well as preparation. Forget multi buys. I'm of the "Martin Lewis" school of economics. I know that "if I don't need it, I don't buy it". I also know that cheap products generally dwell on the bottom shelves so you'll usually see me food shopping there in a mostly horizontal stance wearing glasses, as I scrutinise all the labels to ensure I am getting the best value for money. It's strange how the cheaper the items the more of a skinflint you become!
Having said all of this I don't have anything against Tesco. I shop there regularly. They know their target market and they do an extremely good job of catering for it. They have the most delicious pork and pickle pies (seriously, try them one day!) and I think that their voucher scheme is one of the things which keeps me going back for more.
So onto today's sandwich. This one is called "Turkey with all the trimmings". Sounds delightful. Another red box with a rosy cheeked cartoon Father Christmas and a rather naff looking green garland. Through the polythene window I can see a mass of sausage that a German would be proud of.
Opening the sandwich I give it a good sniff. It has the bouquet of pre-packed processed turkey. Not that surprising really as the turkey looks of the pre-packed processed variety. There is a huge quantity of sausage wrestling to burst free from the bread. If I hadn't have had a box telling me otherwise I would have assumed this sandwich was "Sausage and all the trimmings". The sausage is chopped and looks like it has escaped from the cocktail sticks at a children's birthday party. The stuffing, if you can call it that, is barely visible and wet looking. The cranberry looks ok but disappointingly there is no bacon of any kind. I thought this was "all the trimmings"? On the bright side, there's not a lettuce or spinach leaf in sight. Hurrah!
I take a bite out of the sandwich and to my huge surprise it doesn't taste bad at all. It actually has really good flavour. The cranberry is sweet and the stuffing savoury. The seasoning is well balanced; no peppery punches here, and I can just about get a hint of turkey in between the mouthfuls of sausage. I'm not a huge fan of the sausage though. It's a bit tough and they could do with toning it down. Or swap it for some crispy bacon perhaps?
I continue to take bite after bite of this sandwich. Mostly to convince myself that I do like it and I'm not dreaming. The image of it and the taste of it are on different sides of the planet. What you see isn't always what you get...
Verdict: A tasty, flavoursome, competitively priced budget sandwich ideal for sausage lovers. Worth a try.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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