Food Fairy

Water crackers

For me, the idea of these crackers is that they provide a neutral vehicle for getting the main feature from plate to mouth, so I prefer the plain kind rather than anything with seeds or pepper or whatever.

For this review I bought three brands of traditional plain water crackers, plus two brands that are positioned as premium - Waterthins and Yarra Valley Produce Company Crackerthins.

The Crackerthins are a gourmet product from DJs food hall. I bought them because I wanted something to directly compare to the Waterthins, and I've bought and liked YVPC's products in the past. Having tried them side-by-side, I can say there's literally nothing to tell them apart. They look exactly the same, they taste the same, the ingredients list is the same, the nutrition information is exactly the same, and there are precisely 1679kj per 100g of both products. When I contacted the YVPC they assured me they make all their own products, so all I can say is I didn't mind paying $6.50 for the Crackerthins when I thought I was getting something special, but if I can get something exactly  the same at the supermarket for $3.19 I won't be doing that again.

 

Arnott's Water Crackers 

These are the ideal plain water cracker - bland neutral flavour, not salty, nothing to interfere with the taste of whatever you eat them with. They have a pleasant slightly toasty taste (a lot like Sao biscuits) and are good and crisp, probably because they contain a raising agent.

Waterthins Fine Wafer Crackers    

These are a bit different to the standard water cracker - very thin and flat, much more like a wafer than a cracker, so they sort of disintegrate in the mouth rather than crumbling up. They have a mild flavour of their own that comes from cheese powder and rye flavouring, but it's not at all intrusive. They make a good alternative to traditional water crackers if you want something that looks and tastes a bit different - they do look pretty, though they're pretty fragile and don't always make the distance from factory to pantry (or plate to mouth!) intact.

Carr's Table Water Crackers    

I wanted the Carr's to win because it's the brand I usually buy and they're truer to the concept of a traditional cracker (nothing but flour, oil and salt). But compared to Arnott's they're not quite crisp enough, which makes them taste a bit less fresh than the other brands, even though they all had similar use-by dates.

Nabisco Captain's Table Water Crackers 

These have the traditional bland flavour but a different texture - just a little thicker and denser. They leave a slightly fatty mouth-feel that's not so obvious when eaten with something else. This may be because they contain about a third more fat than Arnott's and Carr's - it's still not a lot but given the fat content of what usually goes on top I really can't see the point.

Yarra Valley Produce Company Crackerthins    

As I said in the introduction, there's no discernible difference between these and the Waterthins, so I've deducted three cupcakes purely because I don't see the point in making a special trip to a gourment store to pay twice as much for these.

OVERALL RATINGS

Arnott's, Waferthins. The Arnott's are great traditional water crackers. The Waferthins have a different texture and flavour and look a bit more special, but still won't intrude on the flavour of whatever they're served with.

 

Carr's. Perfectly acceptable crackers, they just lack the crispness and toasty flavour of Arnott's.

Nabisco Captain's Table. Good neutral flavour, but they leave a slightly fatty feeling in the mouth that just isn't necessary.

Yarra Valley Produce Company Crackerthins. These are really good crackers, downgraded because I don't like to feel ripped off.

Chicken stock

Yes, I know nothing beats home-made chicken stock, but boiling up chicken carcasses is something I'm moved to do only for really special occasions. I do use packaged liquid stock a lot though, mainly for risotto and pureed vegetable soups, which means that I'm looking for body and flavour but without too intrusive a taste.

I don't care what Nigella says, on principle I don't use powdered stock because I associate it with that strong chemical 'fake chicken flavour' you get in packet chicken noodle soup and chicken flavoured potato chips, neither of which I've voluntarily eaten since I was 10 years old.  Out of habit I've been using Campbell's liquid stock since it first came onto the market, and hadn't even tried the other liquid stocks (I automatically associate Continental with stock cubes so I wasn't really tempted).

Given that this blog is all about challenging my preconceptions of what the best products are, I did include 2 powdered stocks in this test - Vegeta and Massel. I also tested all the liquid stocks I could find in the supermarkets - Campbell's Stock, Campbell's Consomme, Continental and Massel. All but the Consomme were the salt-reduced variety; while I love salt, I much prefer salt-reduced for cooking so I can season as I want to with proper salt.

For the test, I tasted all the stocks warmed up (the powders made up according to the instructions on the cans), and then cooked up in a plain risotto.

This test really confirmed my opinion of powdered stocks, which has always been: just don't go there. They both just taste of fake chicken, not surprising when the ingredients lists are just a mix of starches and flavours - including something the Vegeta people call 'flavour (chicken)' - enough said!!

The liquid Massel stock is a vegetarian product made up of flavours and herbs. The other liquids all involved a chicken somewhere (presumably a long way) down the line, with various flavours thrown in. All the liquid stocks contain yeast extract, which accounts for the concentrated generic 'savoury' flavour in all of them - like Vegemite or Maggi liquid seasoning - which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're mainly looking for a flavour boost that at least bears some resemblance to actual food.

Campbells' Chicken Stock (salt reduced)   

A mild, pleasantly savoury flavour and aroma,  without any fake chicken taste. It's the only one that actually smells like chicken! When sipped plain, there's a very slightly bitter undertaste that pretty much disappears when cooked up in risotto. It gives risotto a nice, slightly creamy-brown colour, with a good savoury flavour that doesn't dominate.

Massel Gourmet Plus Chicken Style Liquid Stock (salt reduced)   

Surprisingly, this was the only product that tasted any good when sipped straight - but given that I'll probably never do that again, that's not such a useful attribute. While it has a very strong aroma, it has a pleasant moderate level of savoury flavour. There is a hint of fake chicken but not too heavy. It tastes vaguely sweetish even though there's no sugar on the ingredients list. However, when it's cooked up in risotto the chemical flavour comes through fairly strongly and there's definitely an after-taste that lingers long after you've eaten it. It also seems much saltier than Campbell's even though the nutrition panel states it contains marginally less sodium.

Continental Simply Stock Chicken (salt reduced)   

This has a very light yellow colour and a very faint, sweetish smell (from sugar) that is very reminiscent of stock powder. The flavour is so mild it's watery and it doesn't really taste much of anything, not even fake chicken. On the plus side, it's not at all salty. I thought the mild flavour might give it an advantage in risotto because it wouldn't be too intrusive, but when cooked up it really doesn't contribute anything much in the way of taste or aroma. It does give a nice pale creamy colour to the dish, though.

Campbell's Real Chicken Consomme   

This actually smells quite neutral, but has a very strong savoury flavour and seems incredibly salty, which is probably fair given that it has about twice as much salt as the reduced-salt varieties. It has a distinctly brown colour that comes through in risotto. When cooked up the aroma is again pleasantly mild, but the flavour is strongly generic savoury and just way too salty for me.

Vegeta Chicken Stock Powder  X

Both the stock powders have a distinct fake chicken smell and taste, but the Vegeta powder is very salty and chemically, and that comes through very strongly when made into risotto. I could taste it for hours, and I don't mean that in a good way. It's also bright, bright yellow, making the food look like it came out of a packet.

Massel Chicken Style Stock Powder   X

This product is strange - when made up according to the instructions on the pack it was very watery, so I doubled the amount of powder but it was still too weak. It gave virtually no flavour at all to the risotto - which is maybe just as well, given that the dominant flavour would have been fake chicken anyway.

OVERALL RATINGS

   

Campbell's Salt Reduced Stock. It has the least chemical taste and a good depth of flavour, without being too dominant.

Massel Liquid Stock. Could work well for clear soups, as long as saltiness isn't an issue.

Continental, Campbell's Consomme. Continental would work if you only want a very mild flavour and colour boost. The Consomme would work if you don't mind the salt and the dialled-up 'savoury' flavour.

X   The powdered stocks get a zero rating. Fake chicken. Nothing else. Enough said.

Hommus

Hommus always feels like a more virtuous dip choice to me, even though some of the packaged ones are getting pretty high on fat content. Packaged hommus is pretty light on garlic (a good thing to my thinking, I'm not into raw garlic) and tahini, but you can always mix those in to szjush it up (fresh lemon juice is also good). Or even stir in some plain yoghurt to cut the kilojoules.

Hommus must be popular - I ended up buying 7 brands including some I'd never noticed before (not sure if they're completely new), plus the Coles home brand just because it was there.

I also picked up a tub of Captain's Table Middle Eastern Olive Hommus Dip, which turns out to be made by Kraft, who have clearly decided to extend their water cracker brand. This one was a bit of a ring-in because it's really a different concept to plain hommus, so I don't include it in the overall ratings. If you like olives it's really not bad - pretty heavy on the olives and chili, but you can still taste the chickpeas and there's a nice lemon tang.

Black Swan   

A nice lemony tang (like most the brands tested, it contains both lemon juice and vinegar - not that you'd use vinegar in home-made) and the flavour seems to be just a bit more lively than the others. It's one of the few where you can actually taste the tahini, though there's not much garlic. It's smooth and creamy but with a little bit of chickpea graininess to give it a less processed feel.

Copperpot   

Very similar to Black Swan. It also has a nice, grainy texture with a little bit of crunch. There's a nice tang that comes from a good balance between the lemon juice and vinegar, with just a hint of garlic.

Chris'   

This tastes a bit flat compared to Copperpot and Black Swan, maybe because it relies only on vinegar rather than lemon juice for acid. It's a bit heavier on the garlic but still quite mild. It has a noticeably dense texture.

Coles   

Looks a bit watery (even though it contains thickener) and the flavour is also thin rather than the fullbodied smoothness I want in hommus. The ingredients list says it contains lemon juice concentrate and no vinegar, but it just tastes sharp with no freshness to it.

Poseidon   

Very creamy texture. It's very mild and flat-tasting, but at least there is detectable lemon. For some reason it contains sugar, and there is a slightly sweet flavour that really doesn't belong in hommus, and which is good enough reason to lose a couple of cupcakes in the ratings.

Mum's Choice   

This is distinctly different to the other products, with a strong tahini taste that is actually quite bitter. There's also no zing, maybe because there's no lemon (or any other flavour) added. I'd normally be the first to buy into the whole mama's cooking thing, but this was the only hommus I really didn't like at all. Nice pack, though, and if it matters to you the only additive is food acid. It also has the lowest fat content (11%) of all the brands tested.

Yumi's   

If not for the spirit of experimentation I wouldn't have bought this one, because the pack does nothing for me - bright yellow and mustard just doesn't work for me. And in fact I shouldn't have bought it. This hommus is the smoothest because it's quite light and thin (not watery, just no real denseness or creaminess) and a very bland flavour. It just doesn't taste much of anything.

OVERALL RATINGS

Black Swan. Good texture, with a bit of freshness and zing to the flavour.

Copperpot. Very similar to Black Swan, just not quite as fresh-tasting.

Chris'. Good texture but the flavour is a bit flat and probably needs some lemon in to liven things up.

Coles. It's too thin-flavoured to stack up to the top raters, but there's nothing really wrong with it and would do if nothing else were available.

Poseidon. The flavour is a bit flat, but it really loses points for being sweet.

Yumi's, Mum's Choice. Yumi's is too bland and thin, and Mum's Choice is just too bitter and flat-tasting.

HOMMUS RECIPE

If you do ever feel moved to make your own, here's the basic recipe I use, cobbled together over the years from various vegetarian and ethnic cooking sources (and which I realise probably bears no resemblance to the real thing but it works for me). It's easy to make a lighter version by omitting the oil and using plain yoghurt and/or a little water. Thinned down, it makes a great sauce for lamb or felafels.

400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 clove crushed garlic

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

salt to taste

Whizz together in a food processer and adjust consistency as necessary with more oil, a little water, or plain yoghurt.

Optional extras (depending on how simple you want to keep it) - finely chopped parsley, finely chopped spring onions, a little ground cumin.

Chocolate sauce

The other day I had a craving for a banana sundae - not some de-constructed re-invented gourment version, just vanilla ice cream and sliced banana, drowned in gooey chocolate sauce. So I took myself to the supermarket and, to my horror, my only choices were Cottee's or home-brand. I know I haven't bought chocolate sauce in a while but where were the Cadbury's choc fudge and Old Gold and all the others that I swear were there last time? (Deleted, the Cadbury people tell me, due to insufficient sales.) In the interests of research I went to David Jones food hall where there used to be lots of chocolate sauces to choose from but I only found six, and only one that didn't contain liqueur or other adulterations. What's going on?

Not to be put off, for this exercise I picked up two sauces from DJs that aren't liqueur-flavoured (which as far as I'm concerned is a whole other concept) plus the Cottee's. I read the label on the home-brand and decided to leave well alone.

Random Harvest Rich Chocolate Sauce   

This is very dark and thick and clings lovingly to the ice cream in a way the others don't. There's a vague liqueur-like flavour that I can only guess comes from the unspecified 'flavour' on the ingredients list, but it has a nice cocoa-ey taste that isn't cloyingly sweet.

Ogilvie Chocolate Marshmallow Sauce   

Fairly thin and lighter coloured than the others, and tastes more like milk chocolate than cocoa (not surprising given that 'chocolate fudge' is the main ingredient). It's pleasant but very sweet - more sweet than chocolatey - and you can taste the marshmallows (I know, the marshmallows confuse the issue a bit but it was the only other non-liqueur option). Overall it doesn't deliver much of a chocolate hit if that's an issue - and when is it not?!

Cottee's Thick and Rich Chocolate Flavoured Topping 

Apologies to all the people who grew up on this, but it has the same sort of weird chemically undertaste as cheap compound chocolate, with just a hint of cocoa thrown in. It also tastes floury, which takes the edge of the chocolate even more. It really just tastes sweet, with no real depth of flavour. It has a good thickness to it, though, and I'm guessing that at the price it has more to do with keeping the kids quiet than any serious grown-up chocolate craving.

OVERALL RATINGS

Random Harvest Rich Chocolate Sauce, for being the most chocolatey.

Ogilvie Chocolate Marshmallow Sauce, but it won't be chocolatey enough if you want a real hit

Cottee's Topping. I've given this an extra cupcake only because I suspect it will have nostalgia value for quite a few people.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE RECIPE

I'd be happy to eat either of the gourment sauces again, but since I'd have to make a special trip to buy them anyway, next time I'll probably just make my own. It's easy enough to melt some really good chocolate into cream - 200g to 300ml works for me. It even works with light cream, and if anybody ever noticed the difference they've always been too polite to point it out.