OT Horrible Nuts

[Harry Bloomfield]

I absolutely love chomping on nuts. Many years ago, you could buy them and they would be fresh, in their shells and fit to eat, but over the last few years, no matter what the source, in their shells or ready to eat - many would be stale or rotten, no matter how much I paid for them or where bought.

A bag of chestnuts for roasting, from Lidl were way past their best. A tub of ready shelled mixed nuts and fruit, from a local top class/ top price green grocers were dried out and past their best. I usually chuck more out, than I eat.

Today I was in Lidl and thought to try some of their Alesto mixed nuts, not expecting they would be much better. Nice selection and all of them absolutely nice and fresh - lovely. I went back in for another bag, despite the long checkout queue.

[Chris]

I don't wish to hijack your thread, but has anyone noticed that Big D dry roast nuts are *extremely* salty, despite claiming to contain only a small amount of salt? I'm wondering whether it's legal to claim a bag contains 1 gram of salt if 25g of the stuff has been absorbed into the nuts separately?

[Michael Chare]

That's is what I dislike about Lidl, and no self checkouts if you just have a few items.

[Roger Hayter]

I have noticed exactly the same thing. I wonder if there is any other country iin the world where people would put up with this? Or maybe most people just buy them for the ambience and don't eat them.

[Andy Burns]

newer ones have them, but they make very annoying bong sounds

[alan_m]

When (Planters?) first introduced dry roasted peanuts to the mass UK market (or at least were the first to extensively advertise them) they seem to have a nice spicy tasting coating but soon afterwards as they gained popularity the spice turned to near 100% salt.

For me the same has happened to pork scratchings and the secret ingredient in that well known brand of fried chicken.

[alan_m]

I'm currently staying with friends and have been over the Christmas period. The bags of nuts in shells will soon be thrown out uneaten. It's almost like an unwritten rule that nuts must be purchased in the festive season irrespective of the need. I also suspect my mother will have a couple of bags of nuts in shells that will have been purchased prior to Christmas and left in a cupboard just in case anyone will want one.

[Brian Gaff]

I was thinking of Nuts that fit on screws in this group actually. Did the packages of the duff ones say 'May contain nuts'? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Maybe they are experimenting with a salt substitute? Brian

[Tim Streater]

We used to do that with dates when I was little. Box of dates, everyone would eat just the one, leaving the mostly full box to be thrown out a few weeks later. happened every Christmas.

[charles]

SWMBO bought a bag of mixed nuts/ I had to put the almonds in a vice to crack open the shells! Being a keen DIYer, I had a portable vice I could bring into the kitchen/

[Harry Bloomfield]

Andy Burns explained :

Our local is only two months after first opening. Lots of check outs, but 3/4 to 2/3rds are closed. I wonder if they are short of staff?

[Andy Burns]

Presume they open/close extra lanes on demand, e.g. dragging someone away from shelf-filling? Aldi sometimes open an extra till for literally a couple of minutes to clear a backlog ...

[Harry Bloomfield]

It happens that Tim Streater formulated :

My dad would buy himself those as a treat, packed in a long, oval, cardboard pack, with a colourful cardboard lid. Local greengrocer has had them on sale, in a similar cardboard pack at two for a £1, with a little plastic stick to eat them, but fitted with a clear lid. I remember them being horribly sweet and sticky.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Chritsmas food is an orgy of cornucopiansm. Everything anyone could possibly want has to be there in quantity.

I am struggling to finish the second giant game terrine I cooked.

A few items went mouldy unfinished sadly...

[Harry Bloomfield]

Andy Burns pretended :

Maybe not as effectively as Aldi. The local Aldi just had a refurb including a Tannoy system which announces tills opening and closing, quite noisily. The Lidl seems much quieter.

[Roger Hayter]

I think this is playing on local psychology. We probably find a bit of inconvenience reassures us we are getting a bargain. It also saves them money, of course, but I do wonder if the German shoppers would put up with this?

[Roger Hayter]

Much nicer dates are available. I think we have these here foreigners to thank for this.

Try Medjool dates, packed loosely rather than squashed together.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Nothing more than usual wasted here. We didn't buy a turkey, just a turkey crown. One year, an employer gave me and everyone (when I was single), a massive turkey. I really wasn't to to any form of cooking back then, so I tried to give it my mother. It was far too big for her oven and by then just too late to pass on to an institution for their Christmas.

[Bob Eager]

That's what Aldi do. On any given day, there is a priority list of staff who can be dragged away at short notice from whatever they are doing (frozen food shelf fillers are exempt).

I never seem to waut long at all. Thed only downside is when they announce a till is opening, I get there first...and then find my son will be manning it. He is not allowed to serve family.