Inside the Aldi store. Source: NewsComAu

One word: Aldi

Now don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it, all you foodies out there. Because that’s what I did, and I was proved wrong.

Aldi supermarkets are the brainchild of German brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht, and have been in Australia since 2001. But that doesn’t mean all of Aldi’s stock is imported from Germany or elsewhere across Europe — the majority of their goods are sourced from Australia, including their Christmas fare.

“We do stock a small number of iconic brands that we know consumers love, like,

Vegemite, Milo and Mars Bars. But the bulk of our everyday range of products are our

own exclusively branded goods,” says an Aldi spokesperson

“We preselect the best quality product in each category so our customers are not

overwhelmed by dozens of varieties of the same product. These products are blind tested,

sampled and benchmarked to ensure they are equivalent to, if not better than market

leading brands.

“To keep our costs down, all of our processes are streamlined. For example, we display

our product range in reusable crates and we don’t give out plastic bags. Everything we

do is designed with one goal in mind – to help our customers stretch their grocery dollars

further without compromising on quality.”

Lucky for me, Christmas lunch provides the perfect excuse to test some of these products out and see if they really are comparable to top brands in other stores. I have to feed ten people, which is quite the charge! But first thing’s first: Let’s go shopping.

Filling up my trolley. Source: NewsComAu

Aldi’s store layout makes sense to me. Big heavy things like cans at the start, things that can be easily squashed like fruit and vegetables at the end, aisles so wide there’s no chance I’ll ram into anyone on my travels.

I work through the store logically, and select enough food to feed ten people the most delicious entree, main and dessert menu I can conjure up. I’ve organised to borrow a friend’s house for Sunday lunch, and so the fun begins ...

ENTREE

Sunday is forecast to be hot, so I’ve gathered together a range of cheeses, olives and nuts, as well as some spicy pear paste which is from Aldi’s new Specially Selected range, to start off our festive meal. We can’t go too hard too fast! I’ve also chosen some delicious smoked salmon for $5.99 per kilo, as well as some spicy pumpkin dip and my favourite fine wafer biscuits. So gourmet!

The salmon is an absolute hit with my guests, and the half a kilo I’ve bought is polished off almost instantly. The cheeses — a bush pepper cheddar for $3.79 and a Camembert for $5.99 — are also delicious, and no-one can tell the difference between these and any other cheese picked up on special from our local supermarket. So far, so good ...

A few of the entree platters. Source: NewsComAu

MAIN

After googling things like ‘How to tell if your oven is fan forced or conventional’ and ‘How to tell when your turkey is ready’, I am ready to start cooking. Nervous? Me too.

I’ve chosen a 2.6kg frozen turkey from Aldi’s Specially Selected range which sets me back $37, as well as a triple smoked half leg of ham from the same range at $9.99 a kilo. Thankfully for me the roasting instructions are clear, and the oven I’m using can fit both meats. The turkey, which I’ve defrosted, goes in first, followed by the ham.

While these are cooking, I throw together three salads, again only using ingredients from Aldi — a giant Greek salad (ingredients: green salad mix, baby cucumber, red onion, feta, truss tomatoes, balsamic); a crunchy fried noodle salad (ingredients all in a pre-made salad mix); and a haloumi salad (haloumi, baby spinach and olive oil). Of all the salads the most expensive ingredent is the marinated feta at $5.29, and the cheapest is the red onion at 74 cents, followed by the green salad mix at $1.79.

The haloumi salad in particular is divine, and the Greek salad is a solid choice too, although some of the tomatoes I’ve chosen are quite soft and don’t make it as far as the salad bowl. The dressing on the crunchy fried noodle salad is quite overpowering, and it’s probably my least favourite of the three.

While Aldi do stock fresh tiger prawns from WA, the store I shopped at didn’t have them. I choose about a kilo of pre-shelled prawns with garlic butter instead, which sell at $7.99 a kilo, and fry them in a pan. While they don’t look as appetising as a beautiful big bowl of full prawns on the table, they prove to be a bit of a crowd pleaser — the Aldi bread rolls I bought are being used to mop up leftover garlic butter, and that’s is always a good sign!

The good news is, the turkey and the ham emerge from the oven properly cooked, and look great on the table. While the turkey tastes good, the big winner is the triple smoked ham. It is absolutely delicious, and if this was all you could afford for Christmas lunch, your guests would go away VERY happy.

Lunch is served! We couldn’t fit it all on the table. Source: NewsComAu

DESSERT

We can barely move by this stage, but dessert has to be done — it’s Christmas! Fresh strawberries with double cream, truffles, fudge, and a box of chocolates aptly named ‘Dessert Selection’ all appear on the table. Throw all your preconvieced notions about cheap chocolate away right now — this chocolate is GOOD, it averages out at about $4 per box, and what we don’t eat, we pocket to take home.

We also sample the Specially Selected Mini Fruit Mince Pies, which at $4.99 for a pack of nine are well worth stocking up on. We try the Specially Selected Luxury Champagne Pudding, $12.99, as well, and while it made us feel very festive, it is veeeeery sweet, so be warned.

A planning fail meant that I forgot to buy milk to have with our plunger coffee. We decide to make affogatos instead using the Monarc Indulge Vanilla Opulence Ice Cream I bought for dessert for $4.49, and soon realise we’ve stumbled upon a taste sensation. Aldi ice-cream FTW!

Some of the desserts on offer. Source: NewsComAu

THE VERDICT

All in all, I am so impressed with Aldi’s Christmas fare. The food was tasty, it was easy to cook, there was heaps of variety and I only have minor complaints about their vegetables which, frankly, I often have with other big supermarkets. From the trolley to the table, I fed ten people a pretty substantial three course meal, with leftovers, for $200. We honestly ate like kings. I’d call that a Christmas Miracle.

The lunch table again. Yes, the bonbons are from Aldi! Source: NewsComAu

TOP FIVE:

If you had to choose, you can’t go past

— Specially Selected Premium Half Leg Ham, Triple Smoked, $9.99 per kg.

— Sliced Smoked Salmon, 200g, $5.99

— Specially Selected Mini Christmas Fruit Mince Pies, $4.99 for a pack of nine

— Monarc Indulge Vanilla Opulence Ice Cream, 1L $4.49

— Specially Selected Bush Pepper Cheddar and Pear Paste, $3.79 and $3.99.