- [Mike] We are Sorted. A group of mates who have your back when it comes to all things food. From cooking battles to gadget reviews. - Ben, it's not worth it. - [Mike] And cookbook challenges, to a midweek meal Packs app. - [Jamie] Crack your eggs, bake. - [Mike] We uncover the
tools that'll help us all cook and eat smarter. Join our community, where everything we do starts with you. (classical music) - Hello, everyone, and
welcome to fridge cam, and another one of our
pretentious ingredients episode. Today, two normals, Jamie, who likes big flavours, and Mike, the palette of a 10 year old. They're going to be judging our potentially pretentious ingredients. I've got four of them. Let's see how this goes. - What 10 year old likes lobster? A pretentious one. - D'you want to lift the
cloche on number one? - I do, Ebbers. Ooh. - You look confused. - Yes. I mean, it looks fruity. - [Mike] They look intimidating - Intimidated by something so small. - Ebbers, I have absolutely
no idea what that is. Do I eat? - By all means have a taste. - Whoa! - Ooh! I feel like I've bitten
through orange peel. - I mean, they're nice,
they're very sweet. It's almost like a peel holding just a big ball
of marmalade together. I'm not gonna lie, when
I first bit into it, it gave me toothache. That's how sweet it is. - Look all that. It's all oozy and I'm going
to have to suck it, Ebbers. - Nobody needed to see that. These are glacé clementines
in a wooden box. Handmade in France, luscious
clementines, come from Corsica and take two weeks to candy. They're first cooked and then
steeped in sugar solutions in increasing strength for many weeks, until they are sumptuously sweet. - There we go. This is why I was expecting. - I think they're meant to be
kind of after dinner treats. - Wow, there's loads! - 13. - I don't mind them. I think they're okay. But, the telling thing is that I have not gone back for that. - They're big old portions. - They're big old portions and
they're really, really sweet. - It is sickly sweet. It is so-
- No, no, no, no. Sumptuously sweet. Can you see yourself whipping these out at the end of a meal? Where are these useful? - I don't know. I don't see a use for them
to be perfectly honest in my life. I think they're quite polarising. - A small quantity of that throughout a fruitcake or on top of something
would work really nicely, but I've had enough of that
and I've had two bites. That's been made for gifting, hasn't it? That's like, "Rather than chocolates, Cassandra we thought we'd bring you something a little bit more special." And you'd hand that over
instead of chocolates and Cassandra would go, "Oh darling, we haven't
had these since 1973 when we were in the Pyrenees." - What about price-wise? - Oh, I'm going to go punchy, because this is the format
that we're talking about, and say that these are two pounds each. So I'm going to say £26 for the box. - Let's go with £30. - Sold to you for £30! Bang on!
- Is that what it is? Really? - Which makes them £2.30 a clementine. - If I got these out at a party, everyone else would feel
like I misread the room. - Pretentious or not, Jamie? - That is completely out there,
and therefore, pretentious. - I don't think they're pretentious, 'cause I don't think they're impressive. I actually look at those and go, "Oh, bless 'em, look at the little cases." I don't think, "Wow, you are spoiling us, ambassador." - Well, you've come
dressed for the candy shop, so I've got another sweet
treat under the cloche. Number two! - Candy shop. They're gold. I'm already thinking pretentious. - They're pebble sized. They're pebble sounding. - [Mike] They're solid,
like you couldn't break 'em. - Cinnamon-y My initial impression is that it's like a coated almond. - Did you have strong coffee this morning? Because you are on form! That is an almond inside of there. - Is it? It feels like it's going to crack a tooth whilst I try and get into it though. - Whoa! Oh, man, I was not expecting that. I thought I chipped a tooth. It's a nut. They're are quite nice once
you get your head round them. You know when sometimes you
go around to someone's house, and they've got like a
bonsai tree with pebbles? They look like the pebbles that surround like the bonsai tree or like
at the bottom of a fish tank. - The description, "As this is Harvey
Nichols, there will be no boring confectionary here. Big and shiny. That's how we like our indulgent snacks. Hence why we created these
enormous, gold almond dragees. Delicious, crunchy almonds in crispy coats that are sure to add a little golden glamour to proceedings." - Do you know what? They do exactly that. They're completely unnecessary, but I don't think many people
aren't going to enjoy these. - They could have just
written the word, pretentious, couldn't they?
Yeah. - So a dragees, sometimes
known as confetto or Jordan almonds, is a
bite-sized form of confectionary with a hard outer shell,
often around nuts. Typically, for decorative, symbolic, or even medicinal purposes. They used to use them to sugar coat, some nasty tasting medicines. - A spoonful of sugar. - Does help the medicine go down. - It's like they were
cut from the same cloth. - You've read the line where it says, "Pimp your nuts."
- [Ben] Yep. - Did Jamie do the
marketing for these guys? (Ben laughs) - I think these are
best used as decoration that you don't realise is edible. - Interesting you say that. 'Cause according to the Huffington Post, it is technically illegal to sell silver dragees in
most states across the US. In fact, all brands selling
them must label the sprinkles as for decoration only. In France, they've been
banned from next year onwards. Now read the ingredients
on the back of that one. - Number one, sugar, almonds, starch, maltodextrin. Colour, titanium dioxide. - Fun fact about titanium dioxide? - Go on. - They coated Saturn Five rocket with it when they sent it into space. - Excellent. Well, it must be robust. - Outside colours, silver
and Quinoline Yellow. - So it has got the silver in it, but they are potentially banned elsewhere. - I don't like this
warning that's on the back of the packet. "May have adverse effects on activity and attention in children." What? - Hey, it's nice of them
to give you a heads up. - You can buy a bag of
sugar-coated almonds for £2.99. That's a 300 gramme bag. How much do you reckon they are? I don't think it's even
near 300 grammes in there. - 175. - Oh, they could be anything,
they could be endless. I'm gonna to say £10. - Eight pounds? - £12.95. - That's a lot, but I kind of
expected them to be that high. and I'm no way saying
that they are worth that. - I think I agree. If you're looking for
decorative sweet treats or something to decorate a cake, there's much cheaper, arguably
better ways of doing it. Probably without adverse effects. - Well, we'll see what
those adverse effects are. Make sure you subscribe to the channel so you can watch my demise over the course of the next six months. - Pretentious or not? - The idea and the concept
are not pretentious. What they've done to it and what they've used
within it is terrible. Pretentious. - Absolutely pretentious. - I'm just glad you haven't
got Baz here to test them. "May have adverse effects on activity and attention in children." He does not need any more adverse effects! - [Mike] Hello, Mike here, again. Sorry, we've just paused the
video to ask you to subscribe and hit the bell. You won't regret it, promise, and it really does make a
difference, so thank you. Back to the video. - Number three. (upbeat music) - [Jamie] Flat-bread. - Yeah. - (whispers) Genius. - Well they don't look pretentious. Instantly that means they're
going to be really expensive. Flat-breads. - Won't be able to call
me normal for much longer. - That is indeed very flat bread. Have a taste. - Cinnamon Grahams. - Have you got cinnamon
up your nose today, because I didn't think there was cinnamon in the dragees either, but. - Cheese. - Cheese. - They're tasty. - Is it Parmesan-y? - My goodness, you're on fire today!
- Whoa! - [Ben] These, traditionally
known as mother-in-law tongues, are crisp, light flat-breads
handmade in the heart of Piedmont. North-west Italy. A famous food and wine region. Perfect eaten as a snack, with antipasti, or cheeseboard. Trying is believing. Which is why I have another board for you. - Oh, okay! Ebbers' deli is open! Fantastic! - This looks fabulous. I would certainly expect to
see something along this line with my antipasti. - Okay, not eating that. Might eat a bit of that. - So, Jamie, these are made by Seggiano, a company that loves true Italian food. They say, "Sourcing the best products
from all over Italy with quality, integrity,
and provenance at its core. This is the brand to fall in
love with for the new season." (Mike grunts) - Italians are so good at food. This is amazing. (flat-bread crunches) What do I think of them? Okay, they're really crunchy,
they're really tasty. They're not massively cheesy,
which is a good thing, because it means like
that subtle parmesany-ness compliments whatever you eat it with. - We need to talk about this
mother-in-laws tongue bit, because I have a mother-in-law who happens to be half Italian. (Jamie laughs) - How long's her tongue? - Well, this is what, this is the thing. I'm not going to say anything along this line of conversation, because I'm scared of her. - I think it is just the shape and not in flat-bread form, but I have a mother-in-law's
tongue at home in my flat already. It's a plant. It's an indoor houseplant. - Mother-in-law's get a bad rep, and I've got a really nice one. They feel rustic. There's no sog to that, they are crunchy, and they are dry, and that's really good. - Do I like for more than
any other kind of cracker? Yes. Any other kind of flat bread? I don't know. - What d'you reckon price-wise? - I think they're high quality
and I think they're cool, and I think they taste nice. So I imagine they're gonna be expensive which is why I'm reviewing them. Six pounds. - If I said three pounds,
that is probably something I would pick up in a
deli or in a supermarket, and feel justified in spending. - Now, if you buy these directly from the brand online,
you're looking at £4.50. - Oh really? I think that's okay, because
you'd only serve them up on an occasion. And if you can justify, you know attributing your budget smartly across the rest of, you
know, your antipasti board. Watch pick the premium videos. We'll help out with that. I think you could attribute
more of your budget to something like this,
because it's got a really cool story behind it and they are
fundamentally a great product. - But are they pretentious? - No. - I don't think they're pretentious. They are what they are. - While I leave you to much on that, I'll fetch the final one. - Excellent. I'll only be a minute. - The one we've all been waiting for. - Well, you've already given
me snacking meat, Ebbers, how's it going to get better than that? - Number four. - Here we go. Oh. - Oh, we're back to
unidentifiable pastes on spoons. - Oh, what is that? Smells like fish food. - It's not pleasant. (upbeat music) Oh, it's anchovies. Is it anchovies?
- Yeah. - Are you going to give this to Mike? - Yep! (Mike chokes) (Mike coughs) - It tastes like seawater
with dead fish in it. - Well it's better than
having live fish in it, innit? - Oh, I'm going to be burping that up for the rest of the day. Right, so that's some sort
of like mackerel spread or something, isn't it? - This is a contemporary version of the very British
19th century treat, AKA gentleman's relish. - Oh, you've been dying
for years to give us your gentleman's relish. - [Ben] This is not mine. This is Fortnum and Mason's. - It comes in a jewellery pot - "Distinguished by the
sheer quantity of anchovy, to this salty armada, we have added dill, garlic, and fragrant Sarawak pepper to make a delicious contemporary version of the very British 19th century treat. Fabulous on hot, buttered toast." I'm sure we've had it or used it before. It's very good to add to things to give it a real kind of incredible
depth and umami saltiness. We've talked about adding
anchovies to meatballs, into sauces, into stews. Things like Worcestershire sauce is preserved and fermented anchovy. This is even more pungent. - Pungent is a really
good description of that. But, there is the most astonishing amount of flavour in that. - Key phrase, use very sparingly. - No denying, it does say use sparingly. It also says can be added
to mincemeat for different tasting cottage pie. To fish cakes, potato
cakes, or croquettes. Alternatively, it can be used as a topping for jacket potato. In a Welsh rarebit, which is
what I've created for Jamie. For you, scrambled eggs. - [Mike] Ah, so you've
made something with it. Let's see. (upbeat music) You get a very, very subtle hint of fishiness, but you get
more salt than anything else. Have you seasoned the eggs at all? - I deliberately didn't, because the paste is so well-seasoned, and no pepper either, because again, it's got the pepper in there. It's got a little bit garlic,
it's got little bit dill. It is its own seasoning paste. - Really tasty eggs, mate. - Cheers. You're a git. When you have it like that, obviously it's gonna
slap you around the face. In a Welsh rarebit, it becomes
much more of a background note flavour. It enhances all of the flavours around it. - If you didn't know that was in there you'd say that was
delicious, and it has, urgh, I'm gonna say it, depth. But really nice seasoning
and a bit of warmth. - And I'm not sure you'd buy
it if fish wasn't your bag. I'm going to throw
something else into the mix. What you're eating is anchovy relish. They can't actually call
it gentleman's relish, because that can only
come from the company you've got there in the white pot. Gentleman's relish, created
in 1828 by an Englishman named John Osborn, has to have
a minimum of 60% anchovies, and it is so top secret
there is only one person in the business who
knows the exact recipe. What all the other spices and herbs are. - What I would say is only
having one person in the business knowing the exact recipe feels foolish. - It looks exactly the same, doesn't it? Why's it called gentleman's relish when it's probably not
pleasant for all genders? - Good question. I guess it was named after
the gentleman, John Osborn. But they used to do angler's
relish with smoked mackerel. They do poachers relish
with smoked salmon. The original is £2.85. - Oh. - But how much for Fortnum
and Mason's anchovy relish? - There's a couple of different taxes going on there, isn't there? There's a ceramic pot tax. There's also, and we
know this is a hefty tax. The Fortnum and Mason tax. Part of me is saying five pounds, part of me is saying eight pounds, So I'm gonna go somewhere
in the middle and say £6.50. - £6.85. - £18.95. - Whoa. - Ooh chi mama. That's a lot of money. You know the one word that comes to mind? Excessive. - It's probably a very, very good product. - It is, I love it. - But it is pretentious. - Yeah, pretentious A F. No. - D'you know how pretentious it was? That's why I cooked for
the Queen on her birthday. - Really? (Jamie laughs) - Welsh rarebit with a
bit of gentleman's relish. - Oh my god, you gave the
Queen your gentleman's relish. - Okay, over to you guys. Comment down below which
of those d'you think was the most pretentious if any, and come and join the
conversation on Twitter by sending us links to potentially
pretentious ingredients that we should have a look at. And to do that, use this hashtag. - [Mike] Before you go,
just a quick shout to say thanks to all of you who
are using and sending us your thoughts on our Packs app. We wanted to create a
tool to help you boss your midweek meals,
cut down on food waste, and reduce the cost of
your weekly food shop. And you are helping us do just that. So thank you. We wanna make this as accessible
as possible right now. So if you haven't tried it, you can now, for a full month, absolutely free. The link is in the description box below. And now for the bloop. (box bangs) - MDF. - No, balsa wood. Used to make model
aeroplanes out of that stuff. - Shock. (Mike chuckles)
