If there is one thing you should make a detour to Lidl for, it’s chocolate. They have quite a lot of complete junk in the sweets aisle - tacky brightly coloured gunk that screams additives, though it is handy for putting together a box of stuff to give away to kids at Halloween - but hidden among the junk are some real chocolate gems.

Now I admit to being a total junkie when it comes to dark, and I mean really dark, chocolate. I love the stuff. I do occasionally (well, ok, fairly often) treat myself to some Green & Black 85%, and am partial to their 70% also. It comes in at about €3.50 - €4 per bar, depending where you buy. Now I think it’s worth that, because it’s so good, but it does mean it’s not an everyday kind of chocolate.

For that we have Lidl’s range of single estate plantation chocolates. That may not sound particularly everyday, but at €1.49 for a large (100g) bar, they are priced for regular indulgence.

The 75% Trinidad is my favourite, it comes in three small bars to a pack. But it hasn’t been available for a while in my Lidl branch so I’ve recently fallen back on my second fave, the 70% Ecuador.

This is properly rich, dark and intense with a pleasant but not overwhelming bitterness. It looks gorgeous, a shiny and black bar with 8 large squares. Even the packaging is nice. Opening the embossed card envelope and sliding out the gold covered bar is a pleasure in itself!

What it definitely isn’t is a mediocre chocolate dressed up nice, as you might suspect at it’s low price. This is the real thing, a premium high quality chocolate for the price of a very ordinary one.

I make a fab chocolate pot dessert which uses this and Lidl’s Mascarpone. It looks and tastes very expensive, but isn’t at all. Next time I do it I’ll take pics and post the recipe.

Tags: Chocolate, Prices, Reviews
Posted in Chocolate | 2 Comments »

Memorise that label - this stuff is an absolute steal.

While the wine prices in Lidl are good, the wine is very variable. There are great ones, and frankly vile ones so it can be a bit of a lucky dip - unless someone else has done the dipping for you.

Prosecco is a sparkling Italian wine and this one is just as a Prosecco should be, fresh, light, with a sort of lemony-berry flavour and very easy to drink. Ok, so we’re not talking fine wine here, but this is a very cheap, very drinkable bottle of fizz that also makes a perfect base for cocktails.

Apparently it has a rating of 84 on the highly regarded American Wine Spectator ratings, which translates as “Good to very good, a wine with special qualities“. I wouldn’t argue with that.

It’s walking off the shelves of Lidl stores around Ireland right now, and no wonder, at a special price of €4.99 (normally €6.99) it’s an absolute bargain. If we ever get a summer this stuff will be perfect for drinking outside on a sunny evening. It’s not too high in alcohol either at 10.5%, which is no bad thing in a summer wine - I know if I drink one of the higher alcohol wines in the sun I just fall asleep.

Prosecco is traditionally used as the base for a Bellini. To make Bellinis puree 3 peeled peaches until very smooth, pour into a jug and top up with a bottle of chilled Prosecco. It’s meant to be white peaches, but ordinary ones do fine. You can buy 9 peaches in Lidl at the moment for €2.69 - so for well under €20 you could serve up three jugs of this. Very good at a picnic or barbecue (though you may have to leave Ireland to get suitable weather) and if you show nobody the bottle who’ll know it was cheap too?

Tags: Bargains, Reviews, Wine
Posted in Wine | 6 Comments »