Tomato Famine

[GeoffF100]

My local Asda has had only cherry tomatoes on the vine at an eye watering price for some time now. I did better in Morrisons, and got some plain cherry tomatoes at a more reasonable price. No common or garden fresh tomatoes though. Troubles in Spain apparently:

https://insurance-edge.net/2022/04/07/w ... -uk-shops/

Also, the cost of heating greenhouses has soared over here. Asda also has no olives, and their own brand tinned chickpeas have gone to. I am having to buy those at Tesco. 60p for a tin of chickpeas is a lot more than the 35p that I was paying until recently, and I am a big consumer.

[UncleEbenezer]

Tomatos do tend to vary a lot between suppliers, even different supermarkets.

But for your chickpeas, why buy tins? I buy dry chickpeas in a packet, then of course soak overnight before use. Beats tins hands down both for price and quality. In fact, time to go eat some (in the context of a slow-cooked broth) right now.

[kempiejon]

My local Asda has had only cherry tomatoes on the vine at an eye watering price for some time now. I did better in Morrisons, and got some plain cherry tomatoes at a more reasonable price. No common or garden fresh tomatoes though. Troubles in Spain apparently:

https://insurance-edge.net/2022/04/07/w ... -uk-shops/

Also, the cost of heating greenhouses has soared over here. Asda also has no olives, and their own brand tinned chickpeas have gone to. I am having to buy those at Tesco. 60p for a tin of chickpeas is a lot more than the 35p that I was paying until recently, and I am a big consumer.

As this is LBYM I have to chip in with dried chick peas, raw they're about a quarter of the cost of tinned, you'll have to factor the faff and cost of cooking the peas which by my rough calculations knocks it down to about half price. Costs can be improved by batch cooking, using a pressure cooker or slow cooker and of course induction is better than gas but cooking method is driven by what you have.

[GeoffF100]

As this is LBYM I have to chip in with dried chick peas, raw they're about a quarter of the cost of tinned, you'll have to factor the faff and cost of cooking the peas which by my rough calculations knocks it down to about half price. Costs can be improved by batch cooking, using a pressure cooker or slow cooker and of course induction is better than gas but cooking method is driven by what you have.

There may be cheaper source of supply, but:

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/p ... /256538611

500g for £1.15. I get 250g of cooked chickpeas for 60p. Assuming that chickpeas double in weight after cooking, 500g becomes 1 Kg, i.e. four times as much as the tin. That is 29p per tin + energy cost. I have got to soak, cook at great length and chill before I can liquidise them and use them to make my breakfast.

Chickpea flour (besan) is cheap. I could get creative:

https://simpleindianrecipes.com/Home/Oa ... hilla.aspx

[Loup321]

My reckoning (I think I only measured it once) is:
100 g dried chickpeas = 240 g cooked chickpeas = drained weight from 1 400 g tin of chickpeas.

The advantage of dried is you can cook exactly what you need. If the recipe calls for a small tin, you can do that (obviously, it's better to cook more, so have 2 chickpea recipes that week). Morrisons have changed the size of their own brand tins of beans, so it's 300 g rather than 400 g (don't know the drained weight). Very few of my recipes ask for anything other than a 400 g or 200 g tin drained.

[Lootman]

But for your chickpeas, why buy tins? I buy dry chickpeas in a packet, then of course soak overnight before use. Beats tins hands down both for price and quality. In fact, time to go eat some (in the context of a slow-cooked broth) right now.

I make a lot of hummus, and always used tinned chick peas. But last time I tried the dry ones, soaked them overnight of course, but the hummus did not come out as well. It tasted good enough but the texture was all wrong.

[MDW1954]

Fascinated to see all these posters cooking chickpeas! We largely only add them to curries, or the occassional homemade hummus.

What are people doing with them? What am I missing?!

MDW1954

[GeoffF100]

I liquidise them and mix them with oats, ground linseed, water and some apple juice, along with some frozen berries for a mighty breakfast. The lentils thread has another besan recipe.

[UncleEbenezer]

Fascinated to see all these posters cooking chickpeas! We largely only add them to curries, or the occassional homemade hummus.

What are people doing with them? What am I missing?!

MDW1954

So you use them in two recipes. That's not too bad!

I'm not a frequent user. But I would divide uses into two categories: ground up - as in hummus - or whole. For the latter (unless you get much more expensive chickpeas with a real taste), you'll want to infuse flavour from something. Either marinade them a long time, or slow-cook. Earthy flavours - like ginger or turmeric - can do nicely. Or in a salad, something acidic like lemon or vinegar, though I've only experienced that as consumer, not as cook.

Yesterday's slow-cooked broth I mentioned above had leeks, tomatoes and wild garlic as other principal ingredients, spiced up with ginger and a scotch bonnet chilli. A meat-eater might have substituted beef or chicken for the chickpeas and called it a casserole. Not a recipe I'd consider a prime candidate for offering to anyone who matters.

[MDW1954]

Thanks, guys. Interesting, and helpful.

MDW1954

[kempiejon]

Mostly I do hummus and spinach and chick peas daal. Some more recipes I like are falafel, spicy roast chick peas and as a salad, dressing them with oil and vinegar and with finely diced onion and tomatoes.

[jaizan]

Only about 2 months until my home grown tomatoes start to have fruit......

[johnstevens77]

But for your chickpeas, why buy tins? I buy dry chickpeas in a packet, then of course soak overnight before use. Beats tins hands down both for price and quality. In fact, time to go eat some (in the context of a slow-cooked broth) right now.

I make a lot of hummus, and always used tinned chick peas. But last time I tried the dry ones, soaked them overnight of course, but the hummus did not come out as well. It tasted good enough but the texture was all wrong.

It is not easy to obtain the same result time and time again when making hommous. In my last job before I retired, I had 12 Lebanese chefs and cooks in my Lebanese section, and even their results varied to some degree. (Altogether, 120 chefs and cooks in the brigade). For the texture, did you cook them with a pinch of bicarb or over or undercook them, did you remove most of the skins after they were cooked? For taste, one has to juggle the accidity of the lemons, (some times I adjust that with lemon salt, (citric acid), how much tahina did you use, did you add a little salt and do you like a little garlic in your hommous. If you have slightly undercooked the chick peas, it would need to be thinned out with some of the cooking liquid, if overcooked and wet, then you would have to use less lemon juice and more citric acid. (Not everyone adds garlic to hommous bil tahina, the correct term).
I make hommous often at home, soaked overnight or longer and cooked 12 mins in a pressure cooker with a pinch of bicarb. Also, I have posted several times on the subject on the food board.

john