Fancy some turkey-flavoured cheddar with your crackers this Christmas? How about some prosecco-infused mini sausages or even humbugs that taste of stuffing? These are just some of the delights that could be served up at a Christmas party near you this year. Dare you try them?
Over the past few years, the Christmas sandwich has become something of a fixture in sandwich chains and supermarkets in the run-up to the big day. Usually landing on shelves in late October/early November, these offer office workers and the like the very essence of a Christmas lunch between two slices of bread.
As new traditions go, a festive sandwich is fairly easy to stomach (aside from the 2015 Tesco cherry and chocolate monstrosity, that is), as we discovered in our Christmas sandwich taste test.
But some of the festive-themed food you see at this time of year can be just plain weird, some might even say stomach-churning, with retailers seemingly trying to outdo each other year on year.
Who could forget the Pot Noeldle from 2010? Or the ‘Christmas tinner’ of 2013, closely followed by Pilgrims Choice turkey, sprout and carrot-flavoured cheddar from the same year? The delights of 2015 included M&S brusselmole and Tesco duck eclairs. While last year saw Co-op purvey Christmas dinner-flavoured crisps
This year, the festive-themed food madness continues. Aldi has gone particularly adventurous with prosecco-flavoured cocktail sausages, sloe gin mince tarts AND a brisket-packed Yorkshire pudding burrito, while Portobello Road Gin has concocted a spirit with essences of turkey.
Meanwhile, Tesco has gone down the Willy Wonka road and created candy cane flavoured crisps: hand-cooked potato crisps with a dusting of peppermint. You can even buy a three-course Christmas dinner in the form of humbugs online.
It seems no food is off-limits. My local chip shop is even willing to deep-fry Brussels sprouts and mince pies. What next, a whole turkey made out of tofu?
Do people buy these products because they like the taste, or just to flaunt photos of them on social media and cause a stir? Or is it all a clever marketing trick to make the festivities last even longer and increase our expenditure?
Whatever happened to keeping things simple and using quality ingredients for great taste – why is no one paying attention to that old adage: ‘Don’t play with your food’?
Do you think these ‘festive foods’ are becoming ridiculous, or do you look forward to seeing what they come up with next? What items have you noticed? Did you try them and would you buy them again?
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