14 August 2010

Barry Norman's Pickled Onions [By Spectre] (Sainsbury’s)


After my initial confusion as to why the veteran film critic would bring out a brand of pickled onions, I was quite taken by the clapperboard label; "Hot and Spicy", and "Crunchy" the label proclaims. These pickled onions came out a couple of years ago and have since been declared the strongest pickled onions available in the UK. They are from a 19th Century recipe passed down from Barry Norman's grandmother to mother and finally to Barry. After years of eating regular pickled onions and recently discovering Morrison's "The Best" pickled onions in balsamic vinegar, I was looking forward to trying something different.
On opening the jar I immediately noticed the mustard seeds bobbing around in the vinegar. The mustard seeds had a nice heat to them and popped in my mouth as I bit into them. On smelling the pickled onions I suddenly had plenty of offers to try them from prospective tasters in the room and practically had to fight them off to get a small pile of onions to myself. The pickled onions are zingy with a good crunch (as stated on the clapperboard label). They have a lovely heat and strong tang to them that makes these pickled onions one of the most flavoursome and moreish snack foods I've ever had the pleasure of trying. For an alternative to crisps or popcorn, I reckon a good film snack would comprise of some pitted olives, pickled gherkins, regular pickled onions, and balsamic pickled onions, all topped with Barry Norman's Hot and Spicy. On the other hand the balsamic pickled onions and Barry Norman's would do nicely with perhaps some strong cheese on the side. I can almost hear Barry say "and why not?" at the suggestion. I'm sure it would make a healthier movie munch, just don't expect to be kissed much when the credits roll...
By Spectre

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