VALUE FOR MONEY:White pudding...

Shaws White Pudding

€1.99 for 300g €6.63 per kg

We’re a bit wary of the value for money to be found in products which are as heavily advertised as Shaw’s on the basis that someone has to pay for all that marketing, and we suspect it’s probably us. And we still don’t like the somewhat misleading picture of old Mr Shaw on the packaging either but we were pleasantly surprised by the pudding.

It’s cheap – although it’s on special offer now – and is made with 32 per cent pork (and 8 per cent pork fat) which makes it meatier than its Denny rival. It is very flavoursome – in a greasy Irish fry-up, good for a hangover kind of way.

VERDICT: Great taste, good value. ****

O'Dotherty's White Pudding

€3.42 for 275g €12.43 per kg

Just one of these huge pudding wheelswould be enough for any breakfast plate. They’re very meaty and there’s no filler in the form of bread crumbs or oats. They’re the least greasy of the puddings by a long shot, and the flavours are nicely balanced (or to put it another way, not woefully salty). This is an artisan product which means you will pay artisan prices. Some tasters thought this was a bit too meaty and bemoaned the absence of lighter bread crumbs or oats.

VERDICT: Meaty, lovely but pricey ***

Denny Butcher Style White Pudding

€2.38 for 300g €7.93 per kg

This had the lowest price of the white puddings we tested and was nearly a quarter of the cost of the most expensive one. As is so often the case, unfortunately, the cheapest product was also the worst and so represented no value for money at all. The texture was all wrong – crisp on the outside (which was absolutely fine), ridiculously mushy on the inside (which was not so fine). Despite the fact that we made sure to cut our slices fairly thickly they all but completely disintegrated the moment they were introduced to a knife. It was also very greasy and tasted pretty unpleasant, unless you like the taste of cheap meat.

VERDICT: Not great at all. **

Dunnes Stores White Pudding

€0.88 for 300g €2.93 per kg

We might be picky but we were irked by the packaging. The pudding is six-and-a-half inches long – the same as its rivals – but the packet is three inches longer than that which created the impression that we were getting more bang for our buck – if our local butcher pulled such a stunt we would be very cross.

This has just 16 per cent pork – the lowest meat percentage – and the prominent texture was oats although that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Of more concern was the flavour which was notable by its absence.

VERDICT: Lacking in meat and flavour *