We test many, but few make the grade... Here’s our pick of the best new things from producers large and small
Wildness tamed
If you can’t get hold of wild garlic for our recipes on p70, get a piece of the action with Tracklements’ special edition Wild Garlic Sauce. It’s actually more of a wild garlic mustard, with honey as well as the wild garlic picked in Wiltshire woodlands. The flavour is intriguing, somewhere between Scandi-style mustard & dill sauce and tartare sauce. Try it with hot-smoked trout, pan-fried white fish or even roast pork. £3.75 for 170g, delis and farm shops nationwide and tracklements.co.uk
STOCK UP ON STOCK
Wise cooks know the quality of the stock you use is the difference between an okay and a great casserole, risotto or gravy. Homemade is economical and freezes brilliantly (find a comprehensive guide at deliciousmagazine. co.uk) but when you don’t have time, Take Stock is a quality understudy. Fish, vegetable (vegan), beef or chicken – they’re all organic and additive free, gently seasoned with a clean flavour. The stocks are pasteurised and sold in ambient cartons with a two-year shelf life, so they’re useful storecupboard standbys. The price tag is high, but that’s a reflection of the quality of the ingredients and the small-batch production.
£6 for 500ml, Booths – or direct from takestockfoods.com
You’ll go nuts for them
Manilife is famous for its quality nut butters, so a foray into snacking, by way of Cocoa Dusted Peanuts, demanded to be checked out. Imagine a richly roasted peanut meeting a liberal dusting of ethically sourced cocoa and you’re there...
A savoury-sweet (but not overly sweet) hybrid of the highest order. £3 for 75g (£2.87 if you buy a box of 8), mani-life.com; also stocked by Planet Organic
SPLURGE GIFT – OR DIY
Every now and then a product has us all fighting to try it – in this case, sneaking an extra one and wrapping it up to take home. Harvey Nichols’ chocolate-covered medjool dates are staggeringly good (covered in milk, dark or white choc, with adornments from pistachio crumble to gold leaf and spiced biscuit). The dates inside, ethically sourced from Jordan, are so fudgy they’re like caramel, and the choc-to-date ratio is just right. They’re also staggeringly expensive at £60 for a box, but then this is a hefty boxful of 20, weighing in at 750g. As a last-minute Easter gift for someone
