Hidden gems at the supermarkets...

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... I'm going to tell you about all the secret and amazing foods you just (most likely) ignore when you wander down the aisles....

Alibi Max
Location: world food, Polish section
What is it? A polish version of Lion, but bigger and nicer and cheaper. 50p normally. Currently 3 for £1 at Tesco.

Wedel - Jaffa cakes
Location: polish food
What are they? The only Jaffa cakes you will ever eat ever again. Also come in cherry flavour and raspberry.

Chilli and Lemon grills
Location: world foods, asian food section
What are they? Then is delicious potato snack you'll ever have. Lemony and spicy and delicious little crisps

quorn southern fried nuggets
Where? Freezers vegetarian section

What are they? A Good, spicy, cheap (especially as they're £1 a bag right now)
L alternative to chicken nuggets.

frozen garlic/ginger cubes
Where? Freezer, Asian section
What are they? About 30 cubes if crushed garlic, ginger (or both mixed together) around £1-£1.50. saves peeling and chopping fresh, and way cheaper than any 'lazy garlic'

Want to share yours?

I have learnt so much from reading this thread thank you

Those Taj bags are brilliant, I actually get the garlic and ginger combo one, I hate crushing garlic myself. No faff, no stinky hands, no over powering of garlic in my cooking.

I love those Wedel jaffa cakes, but recently discovered Lidl jaffas and I'm pretty convinced they're the nicest ever - the orange layer goes right to the edge, like the M&S/Bahlsen ones, but they're slightly less rich and sickly than those ones. They're 89p for 24, which is a total bargain.

I'm a big fan of Cofresh wasabi nuts from the world food aisle.

I love the world food aisle, the chopped tomatoes/kidney beans and coconut milk are so much cheaper. I love trying random drinks I find on there too.

We have an Asian supermarket a few minutes walk from our house and the fruit it so much cheaper than the supermarket.

Asda big bar of hazelnut chocolate. So much nicer than whole nut, costs a quid.

They do actually have "British" food sections where i am, but they are always on the "it's special so costs more" side.

I'm sorry but nothing and I means nothing beats Lidl Jaffa cakes!

They used to do lovely a raspberry version too but I haven't seen them for years

I like the world food aisles, there are lots of nicer versions or things that are rarer to find or can only normally be found at a specific asian supermarket etc

the sesame snaps or equivalent are really nice.

The British section at our supermarket is Frey Bentos pies and cherry coke! Plus mushy peas in a can and Robinsons.

The frozen garlic and ginger might only be in larger stores or in stores in or near cities. Tesco especially seem to be very good at targetting their stock to local demographics.

The cheap world foods section (as opposed to the expensive version sometimes seen) also has coconut block for less than a pound that is equivalent to 4 cans of coconut milk so massively cheaper. You can also just use a bit at a time to make up what you need as coconut milk or coconut cream and it keeps for ever in the fridge.

Shin cups! Korean ramen that I actually live for (pot noodle type things).

Spicy broth within is just the best!

Polish section:

Pretzel sticks. Cheap and so good.

Jezyki biscuits. A biscuit with caramel, crispy rice, raisins on top and all covered in chocolate. 9 in a pack and about £1.30. But worth it. If you've got a proper polish shop near you they do make other flavours with coconut or cherry too. Yum.

Independent polish shops seem to have fab fruit and veg and really cheap salami.

What a great thread

We love the jarred meatballs and jarred butter beans and sausages from the polish aisle both nake brilliant quick lunches

Dear @justagirlwholovesaboy ok I'll bite. OP was NOT talking about reductions or particularly special offers, but good items people have found in different sections if the supermarket like "world foods"

Dingbat

thanks Binary - you're a great sales person - I was looking at those chilli and lemon things last night and wondered if they'd be any good so I'm definitely buying. I always buy the Bombay Mix in the world foods aisle and the KTC tinned tomatoes which are great quality and cheap.

I think Justagirl may be having a bad day or something

Just to say that I've not heard anyone called Dingbat for years! Brilliant word.

I may have to reintroduce it to my family.

Bamba peanut puffs in the world food aisle in Sainsbury's. Like peanut butter wotsits. They are like crack.

I was inspired by this thread and just went to my local Tesco (in a city). No Taj garlic and ginger bags but Tesco have their own range of finest chopped garlic and ginger so got one to try out. Thanks OP, I bloody hate chopping garlic!

Israeli kids are weaned on them gaggia - there's now research saying that this accounts for lower peanut allergies there.

Yes to those cherry Jaffa cakes! I thought I was the only one who knew about them
(Not literally obvs, before I get jumped on by justagirl )

Frozen mozzarella sticks you say?
runs off to Asda

I love the frozen summer berry mix in Tescos, fab for putting at the bottom of a jar, covering with oats and milk and eating a couple of hours later. Also love cheapo gingernut biscuits.

East End tomatoes (Tesco for me, don't know if other supermarkets do same brand). I use loads of tinned tomatoes, and they are regularly on offer at 4 for £1 so I stock up.

Ditto their desiccated coconut.

Who gives a shit if she sounds like a salesperson

How are these secret or hidden

Many people may not have realised that, as well as the 'standard' aisles of spices, canned tomatoes, pulses etc these products also appear in another aisle, at much lower prices/bigger quantities.

For example, you could pay £1.65 for a 24 g jar of Schwartz spices such as curry powder, coriander, turmeric etc, or about 70-80 pence for a 100 g packet in the world food aisle, so massively cheaper.

There are also some toiletry items like this. Asda sell cotton wool pads in the baby aisle that work out at 1 pence each but they also sell cosmetic cotton wool pads that work out at 0.3 pence each and are presumably still suitable for cleaning up babies?

groceries.asda.com/search/cotton%20wool

Supermarket own brand painkillers often contain exactly the same active ingredients and are sometimes even exactly the same as Nufofen etc - you have to look for the product licence code here.

What I've learned from this thread is that Poland is much better at jaffa cakes than we are.

Do they have a huge variety of flavours in Poland I wonder? Like Japan is with kitkats?