Aldi's Christmas hamper
I’ve been quizzing people lately: why shop in any other supermarket besides Aldi or Lidl? I’m in love with them both, although I can’t help but feel like an adulterer as I slink past one to go to the other.
Yesterday at Aldi, I mentally jotted up the price of my trolley, and was delighted when I worked it out at about €15. It came to just under €9, and yet again I left with a smile on my face.
Aldi have sent me some of their Specially Selected products to sample, and think I might just do the bulk of the Christmas food shopping here. The range isn’t perfect: I think I’d need to be suffering from severe caffeine withdrawal before I’d consider drinking the coffee again.
However, most of the Specially Selected products are delicious in their own right, rather than “delicious as own brands go”. Some of Aldi’s Christmas highlights include:
- Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice: €2.59. Perfectly sweet with an irresistable tang
- Luxury Layered Yogurts: €2.19 for four. Delicious and great value
- Parma Ham (90g): €2.99. I find Aldi’s cold meats outstanding, and the parma ham is the perfect accompaniment to the traditional melon starter
- Steak: €11.99 for 650g. Easily enough for two. Ok, I know steak isn’t exactly Christmas fare, but this really is the best value steak you’ll find out there. Try it, it’s incredible.
- Cheeses: unlike Lidl, Aldi understand what makes good cheese, and they’re working with Irish producers to stock some cheap yet very delicious cheeses for just €2.99 each
- Relishes: just €1.99 each and tasting like they’ve just been home-made. Yum.
- After Dinner Mints: €1.99 for 300g. A box of After Eights in Tesco will set you back €3.45. I don’t think you’d notice the difference in a blind taste test
- Irish Organic Hot Smoked Salmon: €3.99 for 125g. SnackBox spat this out in disgust. I’d certainly eat it again, but I do agree it’s not delicious enough for Christmas day
- Luxury Cocktail Truffles: €4.49 per packet. Again, difference of opinion between SnackBox and I. He thought they were too sweet, but I’m not sure he’s ever really met chocolate like I have. For this price – about half what you’d pay for a branded product – these are great value.
- Wines: €14.99 for a rich and spicy Chateauneuf-du-Pape, €11.99 for a very good Sancerre.
Click here to see Aldi’s Christmas brochure. I’m still munching my way through the Christmas cake, pudding and mince pies, but I’ll keep you posted!
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