Viking Platter Swedish Style Cod Roe

Taste

I was looking forward to tasting these, but wow, I guess it’s an acquired taste. The cod roe was SO salty, and I only had a little bit. I had an overwhelming feeling of fishiness. The suggestions for use were for sandwiches, salads and garnish, but I wouldn’t use this on any of those…

Rating - 2

Look

It’s in a tub that you squeeze out. You can get some very nice pattern with the design they’ve got, so I guess at least there’s some novelty there!

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

150g for $5. I know it’s imported, but I wouldn’t pay for this.

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 4.5

Ingredients

mildly smoked selected fish roe (50%), vegetable oil, sugar, potato flakes, water, tomato puree, salt ,preservative (0.2%), sodium benzoate), antioxidant

Available At

Harris Farm Market
Website

Naked Naturals Dip

Taste

I discovered these fresh dips from naked naturals at the local organic shops recently, and have been pretty hooked. They usually lay some out to try and since then I’ve been buying up big. The range include:

• Fresh Basil with chunks of Feta & Cashew - has quite a bit of nuts in it, making it seem like a spread, but with a hit of basil
• Baby Beetroot with lemon & a hint of chilli - I really like this, the chilli really enhances the earthiness of the beetroot
• sundried organic tomato & feta - not that tomato like but sweet with a salty hit of feta

Rating - 7.5

Look

The dips have a very intense colour, I wonder how they manage to do that? In terms of packaging it’s pretty stock standard.

Rating - 2

C-factor

150g for $1, on special at the Organic shop. Usually it’s about $5 so I guess I got a bargain.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10.5

Ingredients

Fresh Basil

sunflower oil, cashew nuts (20%), peanuts, fresh basil (11%), feta and gouda (7%) (cows milk, salt, lactic culture, vegetarian rennet), lemon juice, garlic, lemon zest, ascorbic acid ,pure sea salt

Baby Beetroot

beetroot (29%), 9sugar, food acid), sunflower oil, cashews, peanuts, feta and gouda (cows milk, salt, lactic culture, vegetarian rennet), garlic, horseradish, sugar, cider vinegar, lemon juice (1%), cumin, wasabi, chilli (0.1%),pure sea salt

Available At

Organic Shops

Josephine's Chunky Dips

Taste

We picked up teh Macadamia chilli & Ginger, as it seemed like an intriging combination, and I loved it. I wonder why no one has done this before, but a ginger dip is very refreshing and gives it a kick. It'll be a great dip to add to cooking, especially white meat.

Rating - 7.5

Look

A beautiful yellow colour without much oil, otherwise the packaging is of a top class dip. I'm a fan.

Rating - 2

C-factor

150g for around $3, not bad at all.

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

arrots, canola oil, glace ginger (11%), macadamias (9%), cashews, ground coriander, garlic powder, parsley flakes, lemon juice concentrate, salt, chilli
(.05%), preservative

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

South Cape Red Pesto & Cream Cheese

Taste

This dip from South Cape was quite yummy. A little bit salty a little bit creamy. It is less boring than normal.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Quite spectacular, the dip is in two layers, you can mix it or eat it separately.

Rating - 2

C-factor

150g for $3.50, a fair price.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10.5

Ingredients

cream cheese (70%), (milk, cream, salt, milk solids non-fat, vegetable gum, cultures), lemon juice, salt, white pepper.Topping: cashews (20%), vegetable oil, sundried tomato, capsicum (11%), water, red chilli puree, parmesan cheese (7%), olive oil, vinegar, garlic, white pepper, food acid, salt , preservative

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Black Swan Dips

Taste

This was part of a Christmas Entertainer collection from Black Swan and included 2 dips. The Gourmet Hommus uses top grade ingredients and it shows. This is unlike all the cheaper quality hommus on the market. Instead you get a very nutty and not so oily hommus. The colour is also more natural too.

The Basil with Chilli and Pinenuts is also of top quality, but I found the basil a bit more bitter than I like. However, this dip is not as oily as some others out there so I like that. All in all, some pretty decent stuff for a very reasonable price.

I recently got the opportunity to dry the "normal" hommus for comparison, and apart from it being a little bit too lemony, was also very pleasant, not as good as the "gourmet" mind you, but you do get what you pay for. I was very interested in looking at the ingredients list which used canola oil and thickeners instead.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Great Christmas packaging, but it means they can't sell this after Christmas. The colour of the dips do look fresher.

Rating - 2

C-factor

2 150g dips, plus a dipping bowl, for the bargain price of $3, bought after Christmas. I should have got more!

Rating - 2

Swiss Points - 11.5

Ingredients

Gourmet Hommus

cooked chickpeas (76%), sesame seed paste, extra virgin olive oil (7%), garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, sugar, food acid (2%), herbs & spices

Basil with Chilli and Pinenuts

cashews, vegetable oil, spinach, basil (12%), pinenuts (10%), parmesan cheese (milk microbial rennet, lactic culture), extra virgin olive oil, garlic, chilli (1%), vinegar, salt, sugar, food acid, herbs & spices

hommus

cooked chickpeas (60%), vegetable oil (canola), sesame seed paste, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, sugar, herbs and spices, food acid, thickeneres

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Yumi's Dip

Taste

I picked up this little gem at the Gluten Free Expo. I've tried some of their dips before, and they were indeed Yumi!. This time, I picked up the:

• Smoked Trout Mousse - a creamy mess with a deep distinguishable smoky trout flavour
• Gourmet Tuna Mousse - heavily of fish and lemon, also creamy but with more solid.
• Gold Chunky Pumpkin & Pepitas - I wasn't sure what pepitas was but it turned out to be pumpkin seeds, so pumpkin on pumpkin! Anyway, there's a very sweet taste of pumpkin and a hint of spiciness, but it's not very chunky at all!

Rating - trout - 8, tuna - 7, pumpkin - 7.5

Look

A bit old fashioned. Each one came in a foiled-sealed container. As mentioned, all the dips looked creamy and smooth. The pumpkin had a really bright colour and was very inviting, but the other two were just pink and brown gook.

Rating - trout - 1, tuna - 1, pumpkin - 2

C-factor

The seafood comes in 200g and the Chunky in 150g. It's usually quite expensive but I picked up the 3 for $7.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - trout - 10, tuna - 9, pumpkin - 10.5

Ingredients

Smoked Trout Mousse
smoked trout (48%), mayonnaise, pure lemon juice, preservatives

Gourmet Tuna Mousse
tuna (49%), mayonnaise, onions, preservatives

Pumpkin & Pepitas
pumpkin (50%), vegetable oil, honey, lemon juice, pepitas (5%), eggs, garlic, vinegar, herbs & spices, salt preservatives

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Copperpot Chunkies Dip

Taste

I'm a fan of Copperpot's double dips. So this time I tried the Hommus with kalamata & Cashews - a drier hommus with heavenly pieces of olives and small chunks of cashews. The olives were fresh and added the sour and salty texture to the dip. I also tried the Moroccan Hommus with cashew - again a drier hommus with similar pieces of cashews adding great texture and blended well with the chickpeas. The Moroccan spices added a subtle sweet and spicy kick that elevated this above other hommus.

Rating - Kalamata -8, Moroccan - 7.5

Look

They went for a very fun packaging instead of the classy look. Through the clear plastic container you can see the vivid colour of the dip. There are no artificial colour use so the colour is not very appealing. But you eat this for the taste and not the look right?

Rating - 2

C-factor

200g $4.30. More expensive than others, but then again, I think this is better than others.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - Kalamata -11, Moroccan - 10.5

Ingredients

Hommus with Kalamata & Cashews
chick peas (48%), cashews (19%), veg oil, kalamata olives (10%), tahini,
parmesan, garlic, vinegar, black pepper, lemon, preservative
Moroccan Hommus with Cashews
chick peas (54%), cashews 922%), veg oil, tahini, Parmesan, water, Moroccan
spice (2%), garlic, salt, vinegar, lemon juice, preservative

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Wattle Valley Spicy Hommus

Taste

This offering is more runnier than I expected for hommus. I am a fan of their chunky dips but I'm not so sure about this one. The hommus is heavy with lemon juice, and I can't really taste enough nuttiness of the chickpeas. The addition of chilli is a good idea though, lifting the flavour of the hommus and giving it that little something extra.

Rating - 6

Look

Again, not a fan of the packaging, but the hommous itself looked rather creamy and pinkish, especially with the red chilli flakes throughout.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

200g for around $2.39

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 8.5

Ingredients

chick peas (45%), water, canola oil, sesame paste, lemon juice, white vinegar,
salt, garlic, red chilli flakes, preservatives, colours

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Copperpot Double Dip

Taste

I first tried the Cheese & Chives and Smoked Salmon. The Cheese and chives tasted of...well...cream cheese and chives, the texture was thickest. The smoked salmon had a strong salmon flavour, and was creamy. One of the better dips on the market.

I also tried the Zesty Eggplant and Green Olive. Surprisingly, the eggplant was fiery and tomatoey, very beautiful, and I love the salty tang of the creamy green olive.

Rating - Cheese - 7.5, Eggplant - 7.5

Look

I think this double dip thing is a pretty cool idea. The flavours don't exactly go together, so I would advice eating separately. The handy plastic lid help you seal what's leftover.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

At $3.59, Copperpot is pitched in the middle-high end of the market, but I think it's better than average, so give it a try.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10

Available At

Coles
Website

Wattle Valley Chunky Dip

Taste

Like the other dips from Wattle Valley, the Grilled Eggplant with Cashews and Parmesan was a little bit spicy and a little bit oily. The base of all their dips chunky dips are pieces of nuts and oil. I don't think I can particularly taste any sort of eggplants in this. In their herbs based dip, I appreciate the nuts, but for this one, I would like a bit more eggplant.

The Asparagus with Cashews and Parmesan on the other hand was excellent. You can really taste the asparagus throughout, while the chunky nuts add depth and complement the asparagus freshness.

The Dill & Chives with Cashew & Parmesan was the best yet. The chive added that "vege" taste and the dill flavour really tied everything together.

The Black Olives was great. A salty and spicy hit of black olives is a perfect pairing.

The Artichoke with Cashew & Parmesan was just like marinated artichoke blended with nuts. The artichoke was marinated in vinegar and in this case less successful.

The Baby Spinach with Cashew & Parmesan tasted like the others actually. I was expecting the sweet taste of spinach but got none. It was nevertheless pleasant enough.

The new ones in the range was your basic chuncky with added tuna. I tried Exotic Thai with Tuna & Cashew and the Chilli Red with Tuna, Cashew & Parmesan. The Thai was ok, you can taste the coriander and lemongrass in it. The chilli red is one of their best, a tomato and capsicum mix with a hint of chilli, I'm just not sure what the tuna adds to them, in my opinion, not much.

Rating - Eggplant -6, Asparagus - 7.5, Dill - 7.5, Olive - 7, Artichoke - 6, Spinach - 6, Exotic Thai - 6, Chilli - 7

Look

I have to say the colour wasn't too great. It looked like a dark greyest brown... not something you want to eat. Luckily I don't judge my food from its colour (hey I am Asian and will eat anything). The packaging was a good size and comes in a closable container.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

150 g for $3.59

Rating - 0.5

Swiss Points - Eggplant - 8, Asparagus - 9.5, Dill - 9.5, Olive - 9, Artichoke - 8, Spinach - 8, Exotic Thai - 8, Chilli - 9

Ingredients

Eggplant

cashew nuts (30%), eggplant (30%), canola oil, balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese (4%), spices, salt

Dill

cashew nuts (30%), canola oil, dill (12%), chives (8%), lemon juice, parmesan cheese (4%), white vinegar, spices, salt, preservative

Chilli

canola oil, cashew nuts, tuna, sundried tomatoes, capsicum, vegetable oil, parmesan cheese, white vinegar, herbs & spices, salt

Exotic Thai

cashew nuts, canola oil, tuna (25%), coriander, lime juice, vegetable oil, ginger, lemon grass, salt, kaffir lime leaves, chilli, spices, preservative

Artichoke

canolia oil, cashew nuts, artichoke (20%), parmesan cheese, white vinegar, herbs & spices

Available At

Supermarkets

Salmon Mousse

Taste

This is kinda like a pate, with a layer of gelatine surrounding a very pink salmon mousse. There was a strong salmon smell and taste but the texture is exactly like a mousse. Personally I like smoked salmon, or raw salmon for that matter, better, but this is another alternative, probably for those who don't like the salmon texture?? It also reminds me of salmon dip.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Very pink and pretty, with a very moussy texture that also holds its shape when cut. This will look great on a white platter. The cling wrap is not very resealable though.

Rating - 2

C-factor

I got this one on special at Harris Farm (does anyone see a theme here??).

Rating - 0.5

Swiss Points - 10

Available At

Harris Farm Markets
Website