M&S food

A comment by observant commuter has got me thinking about M&S food...

What foods produced by M&S do I rate highly? Well, I quite like their little pots of deli items - I occasionally like buying dips and nibbly bits and bread and having a kind of indoor picnic on days when I can't invisage doing anything when I get in other than flopping on the sofa. But they're not actually that good - I was disappointed with some deli, mini lamb koftas - they were ok, but I expect M&S food to be tasty. Here is where I think I'm going wrong... homemade food is just consistantly better. And, as I increasingly buy fewer ready-made products, I forget how bad mass-produced food can be.

Is it that I've been taken in by M&S's genius food-porn adverts? Any chocolate lover who wasn't taken in hook, line and sinker by the spoon going into the chocolate pudding, releasing the dark, glisteningly rich sauce, can't truly like chocolate.

I think my assumptions about M&S food also go back to childhood - not living near a local Marks and Spencer, or places to bulk buy children's clothes before the start of a new term, we'd all pile in the car and take a trip shopping to the nearest big shopping centre. The highlight for me was when just before we went home when Mum said 'oh, lets just drop in to M&S and grab something for lunch'. Ready-made food was so rare in our house it was a treat - for us, who liked something different and special for lunch (and we got to choose it) and for Mum, who didn't have to cook or prepare lunch after dragging three kids around the shops. I remember we regularly had to have chicken goujons (one brother's favourite) or one of those whole-Chinese-takeaways in one (the other brother's favourite), or sometimes in later years, crispy aromatic duck, which we all loved, or my favourite - prawn provencale. You could cook it in the oven or the microwave - it was just large prawns with mushrooms in a hearty tomato sauce, but it was so tasty... Perfect convenience food with a chunky french stick, and, as far as I remember, it had no rubbish in it.

About a year ago I tried to find it in M&S and I was distraught to find they don't stock it anymore - my favourite convenience food has been discontinued. Of course, I can make it myself, but it's not quite the same as those early M&S special meals.

And so, what do I think M&S do well? I always thought it was ready meals and convenience food - and I do think they're much better than the offerings at most supermarkets - but I'm not convinced it consistently matches my expectations. It disturbs me that they're pushing their 'cook' range which, at the same price as a take-away, is far above the budget of anyone like me. I prefer to think that a quality supermarket would not need to distinguish between the quality of products as Tesco and Sainsbury's do, with their 'value'/'basics' and 'finest'/'taste the difference' ranges - it all should be good. I've tried a couple of M&S's 'Cook' meals when there were on offer - I remember a steak being very tasty, but a burger smeared with a cheesy sauce could certainly have benefited from some improvement. Their confectionary's good but sometimes lacking in flavour. They do plenty of quality novelty items when it comes up to Christmas or Easter, which I suppose make good stocking fillers or egg-hunt items, and their wine and gifty selection is fine.

But, yesterday, stuck at Waterloo station at 7pm, about to go straight on to a birthday celebration, I needed something to eat - fast. I grabbed an M&S chicken caesar wrap, aware a friend had recommended them to me in the past, and, I'm afraid it was pretty disgusting. Far too much mayo, not enough meaty filling, and a flavour lacking in any sort of caesar. It left a nasty taste in my mouth. It was a shame, as I have enjoyed their wraps in the past - particularly the hoisin duck one, until the day I realised my flabby wrap was filled with a selection of duck fat and bone - I should have taken it back, but I couldn't face making the effort.

I think that's my problem with M&S - they have a reputation for selling good-quality, highly priced food, but I find my experiences with their products has varied immensely. But if I see another of their 'it's not food, it's M&S food' adverts, I'm sure I'll change my tune. Again. They're very persuasive, you see.