Where to buy the best ready-to-cook dishes for a fuss-free Christmas feast

11 December 2017 | Research tools

Cooking up a Christmas feast can be taxing and tiring. Luckily, supermarkets now offer convenient, ready-made festive meats, sides and desserts to take the hard work out of catering for a crowd. The Sunday TImes put 16 of these dishes to the taste test.

HOW the taste test was conducted

It's free and fair!

Unlike previous tastings we’ve undertaken, this was not a competitive process where the same items were pitched against each other. Instead we asked four of the largest retailers to share four items for a Christmas celebration with a group of 40 hungry Sunday Times readers.

Chef Kabelo Segone and his team at HTA in Randburg, Joburg, oversaw the preparation of the food according to the packaging instructions.

We then presented the prepared items, without any packaging but with the prices, to our tasters. They were asked to rate each item individually out of 10 points and judge them on appearance, taste and suitability for the festive season.

Auditor Morne Kok oversaw the preparation, tasting and scoring process and tallied the scores, giving an average for each product.

THE RESULTS

SPAR

9. COOKED GAMMON

Judges's comments:

Good balance of saltiness and sweet.
Too wet and expensive.
Juicy, good smoky flavour.
Delicious.
Little tough, but good.

Price: R159.99 per kg

Score: 8.5/10

10. FRESHLINE SALT/CORNED BEEF

Judges's comments:

Bit dry and bland.
Never had corned beef for Christmas, it's a tasty alternative.

Price: R119.99 per kg

Score: 6/10

11. FRESHLINE VEGETABLE KEBABS

Judges's comments:

Tastes good, I would buy it.
A five-year-old could put this together!
No flavour, lacks salt.
Nothing to write home about!

Price: R32.99 for six

Score: 6/10

CHECKERS

13. READY-TO-COOK TURDUCKEN

Judges's comments:

This is different. Interesting.
The turkey is moist but the glaze lacks oomph.

Price: R269.99 for 1.5kg

Score: 7/10

14. READY-TO-COOK LEMON THYME POTATOES

Judges's comments:

Potatoes looked amazing but had no flavour and the lemon made it sour.

Price: R60.99 for 1kg

Score: 4/10

15. READY-TO-BAKE VENISON PIE

Judges's comments:

Garlic-lover's paradise, lacks flavour, can't taste venison.
Meat is chewy, pastry OK although it has a soggy bottom.

Price: R109.99 for 1kg

Score: 5.5/10

16. APRICOT AND SPARKLING WINE-FLAVOURED JELLY BAVARIAN CREAM

Judges's comments:

Not too sweet.
I don't like the look of the canned fruit.
Wine in jelly is a hit for wine lovers. Cream part tasteless.
Jelly nice, but cream leaves an awful vegetable-fat aftertaste.

Price: R99.99 for 780g

Score: 6/10

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