Value For Money

CONOR POPEreviews relish

Ballymaloe Country Relish

€2.95 for 310g, €9.52 per kg

Given this Cork company’s almost stellar reputation, we would have been mightily surprised if its relish had not been good. And it was. Very good, in fact. It is the thickest of the relishes tried and has a complexity of flavours that its rivals struggle to compete with. It is made with 41 per cent tomatoes and there are also a lot of large, juicy sultanas in the mix. A top product, certainly but there is, however, no escaping the fact that it is the most expensive of the products tried.

Verdict: Good. Dear ***

Chef Chunky Relish

€3.29 for 390g, €8.43 per kg

This is not the nicest product we tried this week by a long shot, but it is not half bad. There is a distinct hint of tomato but ultimately it is the cloves and the vinegar which come through most forcefully. We would have liked higher spiciness and lower priciness. The cost of this new-to-the-market product is, by our reckoning, quite shocking. It is very close in cost to the artisan relish from Ballymaloe but worlds apart in terms of taste, texture and appearance.

Verdict: Too dear **

Aldi Irish Kitchen Country Relish

€1.79 for 320g, €5.59 per kg

Like the one from Ballymaloe, this relish comes from Co Cork and is made for Aldi by an unidentified supplier – although we have our suspicions who this supplier might be. It is excellent and rivals its considerably more upmarket (and more expensive) neighbour in terms of taste, texture and appearance. In fact, it might just be better. There are less tomatoes in the mix than in any of the competition – just 14 per cent – but what it lacks in “tomatoiness” it more than makes up for in “onioniness” and there are loads of crunchy pieces in the mix. It is also very spicy.

Verdict: Worth buying ****

Branston Tomato Red Pepper Relish

€2.30 for 415g, €5.50 per kg

Made by the famous pickle people, this certainly has pedigree. It should also be widely available, although after tasting it we’re not sure we’d care about being able to find it again. It is gloopy, too sweet and excessively processed. It is nowhere near as nice as the artisan products from Cork, although to be fair it is around half the price of the dearest product and you do sometimes get what you pay for. It has a slightly washed-out colour and the vegetables listed in the ingredients were bitty and inconsequential.

Verdict:Cheap but tastes it **

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