Venison bourguignon, coq au vin, confit duck, salmon and beef wellingtons: this new range of supermarket meals certainly sounds fancy. But the prices have made people gulp. I taste-tested all five to find out what is good value – and what’s best to avoid
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ike Tesla cars and the ending of the Sopranos, Charlie Bigham ready meals seem to be rather divisive. On the one hand, people clearly love them: about 31m dishes were sold in the past year alone. On the other hand, they generate a heap of mockery. The critique seems to be that only a gullible idiot would shell out up to a tenner on an oven-ready fish pie, chilli con carne or – as one commentator once memorably labelled it – a tray of “Tory slop”.
Those critics will be sharpening their kitchen knives because Bigham, who is a kind of Tim “Wetherspoons” Martin for centrist dads, has just announced the launch of his Brasserie range: deluxe versions of his meals with prices that fetch up to … wait for it … £30! Thirty whole English pounds!
With a menu consisting of venison bourguignon, coq au vin, confit duck (all at £16.95) and two wellingtons (salmon for £19.95 and beef at £29.95), these creations are clearly not trying to compete with your common-or-garden Tesco lasagne. Bigham is obviously aware that these days you have to remortgage your grandma in order to afford a meal out, so he’s attempting to take on the restaurant experience itself. Why go out to mingle with strangers in the fresh evening air, he’s saying, when you can sit in your kitchen surrounded by children’s felt-tips and a half-eaten box of Shreddies instead? To add to the dining-out vibe, Bigham recommends a specific Waitrose wine for each meal, which we duly buy.
