Food Any mass produced foods you find better than home made

There are so many things I haven't tried to make that it's hard to compare: tomato ketchup or quince paste for two random examples. I wonder if you could make jelly babies as well as Basset's? Supermarket own brand versions of those taste all wrong :)
 
I agree, I can make perfectly good crumpets but they are no better than commercial versions-often the crumpets are the best bread-type product available in a supermarket- and a nuisance to make.
Crisps are also a nuisance to make but given the right sugarless potato can be very much better than commercial versions, if only from a freshness and choiceness of cooking medium point of view.
I don't think membrillo is particularly for wine drinkers any more than are are other chutney/relish type things, which tend to the tautological if drinking wine.
By far my favourite use for quinces is Tarte Tatin.
Tabasco is a better sauce than its homemade equivalent, and I haven't yet got anywhere near making beancurd as good as commercial(Chinese, not supermarket, which are weird and bad) varieties, nor Chinese lye water noodles-don't try the latter at home, or ramen, you'll just end up with a broken pasta machine.
 
Dried oregano from the shop always seems better than homemade.

I actually prefer homemade sandwich pickle.

I'm in two minds as to whether my homemade hummus is actually any better than shop-bought with extra virgin olive oil stirred into it at home.
 
Quinces are wonderful combined with apples in a crumble and as an ingredient in Justin Gellatly's (ex-St John) mincemeat. And I'm sure I'll agree with Tom as soon as I can experience quince tatin.

Homemade pickle is vastly better than industrial.

The best crisps I've had were handmade from a small place in Madrid, where they were simply stacked up in the window (this was 30 years ago, I suspect now the equivalent product would be quaintly packaged and ten times the price). Hummous should be made with plenty of tahini, lemon juice and salt, judicious garlic, enough water to loosen and no olive oil. The best oregano I've had came directly from Greece, the perfume, freshness and vibrant colour were incomparable.

I'd add to the good suggestions of quality chilli sauces, beancurd and noodles: dried pasta of any kind.

I think Richard's having us on with salad cream.
 
GuyD'nis said:
I'm in two minds as to whether my homemade hummus is actually any better than shop-bought with extra virgin olive oil stirred into it at home.
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Hummus really is much better made at home, and shouldn't have olive oil in it(perhaps stir some more tahina into commercial versions). The non-negotiable secret is to skin the chickpeas, tinned will do fine. Just put them into a bowl of water and rub firmly, the skins will rise to the top, repeat a few times.
Though while hummus is nice sometimes I find its status as an essential part of the national diet utterly unfathomable. Children like it but should probably be given bread and dripping instead.
 
Thom Blach said:
Hummus really is much better made at home, and shouldn't have olive oil in it(perhaps stir some more tahina into commercial versions). The non-negotiable secret is to skin the chickpeas, tinned will do fine. Just put them into a bowl of water and rub firmly, the skins will rise to the top, repeat a few times.
Though while hummus is nice sometimes I find its status as an essential part of the national diet utterly unfathomable. Children like it but should probably be given bread and dripping instead.
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This is exactly how we make hummus, which is very much an essential part of our national diet, however reading this thread has created a strong desire for a buttered crumpet which I have not tasted for 40 years or so and is unobtainable here.
 
Reading this thread I realize that I have not been making authentic hummus (shudder), as I do use a tiny bit of olive oil. I shall try it without any at all and see whether that is an improvement. Changing the subject slightly, I have found that the ready-made tzatziki from many Turkish groceries is extremely good (Meze brand I think). The yogurt is properly thick and the size of the diced cucumber and the proportion thereof seems perfect to me.
 
Mustard, sometimes. The best Dijon mustards are better than what one can make at home but English needs to be freshly mixed from powder, domestic grinders don;t make a good job of mustard seed
 
Ketchup - been served some shocking "home made" restaurant examples - even with coriander in it. Plain Heinz or low sugar Heinz or preferably Stokes everyday of the week over home made imitations.
 
I remember when Albert Roux used to have a column in the Evening Standard, someone asked him about making baked beans from scratch and he told them not to bother. It was one of the few mass produced foods he would have in his cupboard and couldn’t be easily improved upon.
If I recall correctly, he said that it was a luxury food when it was initially introduced, but that doesn’t seem right?
 
I suspect tahini is the Greek iteration and that it was first introduced to the UK by Cypriots. I'm sure every Arabic speaking community has its own pronunciation. Our Lebanese neighbours are quite good at Arabic accent spotting.
 
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