Buitoni pasta

[Rod]

Strange things happen.

Recently I have noticed that none of the formerly ubiquitous Buitoni pasta products have been available. It appears that in both Sainsbury and Tesco, Buitoni has been entirely supplanted by other brands, principally Napolina but also a few other less well known brands.

(Unfortunately, I also noticed that Buitooni is a part of Nestle.)

Out of curiosity more than anything else, does anyone have a clue what is happening out there? It seems incredible that the apparent market leader can disappear seemingly overnight. Or is there some sort of battle going on between the supermarkets and Nestle?

Also, any recommendations for alternative spaghetti as Napolina is bland, too thin and just not as nice!

[Mary Fisher]

Make your own.

Mary

[Rod]

"Mary Fisher" wrote in news:42e3eb13$0$2675$ [e-mail]:

Of course, that post was to the wrong group - I did issue a cancel but obviously didn't catch up with the original. Apologies all.

[Doctor Drivel]

Add stuff to it: red peppers, garlic, galic salt, black pepper, etc, etc, etc. That stuff out of the jar is always bland, no matter who makes it. So, you may as well buy the cheapest and spice it up.

[Rod]

"Doctor Drivel" wrote in news:42e3f14d$0$59671$ [e-mail]:

I don't actually see how adding stuff to it alters its thickness. (We do make our own 'stuff' and avoid jar contents.)

[Mary Fisher]

No - this is a do it yourself group :-)

Mary

[Steve Firth]

Buitoni pasta is, if you will forgive me for saying so, utter s**te. It's mass produced blast-dried pap made from the cheapest possible ingredients.

I'll happily sell you some decent pasta.

then click on the "pasta" button. This is proper pasta made in the area most noted for quality pasta in Italy, and extruded through bronze dies to give a rough edge to the pasta to hold the sauce.

Proper pasta has a taste, it's similar to the difference between american long grain rice and Basmati rice.

[Steve Firth]

I wish that you had posted that drivel in an Italian newsgroup. The sight of you being dragged out and burnt at the stake would liven up my weekend.

[Mary Fisher]

And you know what s**te tastes like?

[Mike Barnes]

Try "De Cecco" from Sainsbury's (blue and yellow packet). According to my understanding of the Italian on the packet, it's made to a 100-year- old recipe, extruded through bronze dies, and dried slowly at a low temperature. The result will be a rough surface that sauces stick to. IMO it tastes as good as anything you're likely to get in a UK supermarket. Try it with just oil, garlic, and chilli. Yummy!

[Rod]

Mike Barnes wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Yes - we have tried that one and it is much nicer than Napolina's utter s**te. Only gripe is the considerably greater price, but for the use of bronze dies that may well be worth it. :-) Maybe that will be our new regular.

And thanks for all your posts - considering that it was a mis-hit key that started it all! The intended ng has hardly commented (so far).

[Doctor Drivel]

It certainly alters the taste.

[Doctor Drivel]

I thought you were pissing off to Italy. Please go. Go ASAP. One loony less.

[mike ring]

Rod wrote in news:Xns969DE65E49372hjhjaskhkdhkdhdhdh@130.133.1.4:

This is not a group that allows mis-directed posts to escape without de- briefing.

You've nowhere near a monster thread.... yet

mike

[Andy Dingley]

Indeed. They also supplied the chocolate bars to the new Wonka film, so I will be neither eating Buitoni, nor watching the film.

Bristol used to have a lovely fresh pasta shop on the Gloucester Rd ("fresh" as in they made it in front of you), but sadly no longer.

[Dave Liquorice]

Or any topic wander but lets change that.

Why is there no Anchor squirty cream in Tesco or Morrisons either? Been looking for a few weeks now. Both stores used have several variations, normal, light, extra thick etc. Tesco now only has a one Anchor squirty cream (that looks to be on clearance) and no own brand. Morrisons don't have it al all.

[Steve Firth]

Oh sorry that was the other thing I forgot to say, spaghetti is supposed to be thin. That thick stuff is mostly made for the Brits. You could branch out and try Buccatini, very thick strand but there is a hole down the middle (i.e. it's a tube).

[Andy Dingley]

That's two people making the same comment. Can you _really_ taste the difference in the die metal? That's quite surprising.

[Mike Barnes]

Modern stainless steel dies last longer in the factory than traditional bronze dies, but they give a polished finish to the product. You can instantly tell the difference when handling the spaghetti, it's like the difference between rough-sawn wood and polished wood. Obviously the sauce sticks better to the rough surface, with the result that you end up eating the sauce and spaghetti together rather than one after the other. I'm guessing, but I think it's probably more of an issue with fresh sauces than with industrial sauces containing thickeners.

More than any normal person would want to know about pasta dies (but nothing about surface texture), here:

[Mary Fisher]

It's not about flavour, apparently, it's as stated, to make it rough to hold sauces. I've never had a problem with sauces not sticking to any pasta.

Mary

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