Branston’s pickle, Colman’s mustard and Bisto gravy ..

Definitely mayonnaise.

Birds custard powder is nothing like it was years ago. I remember is being very yellow but now the colour is insipid and I don’t think it tastes the same either. Probably a change 8n recipe since many ingredients have been outlawed by Food Standards.

DH liked Branson pickle but I don’t buy it these days. There is, however, no substitute for Coleman’s Mustard. I use it for sauces and have tried other brands but nothing comes close. I also use their powdered mustard in cheese scones. There was always a tin on the pantry shelf when I was growing up. My mother used to make it up with water to provide the mustard we put on our Sunday roast beef.

And yes, mayonnaise. Never could stand salad cream.

I have just had a quick Google. Bisto and Birds are both owned by Premier Foods, a British company that also owns Mr Kipling, Ambrosia and Oxo. Branston is owned by Mizkan, a Japanese company and Colemans is owned by Unilever.

I don't suppose any of this matters as long as they taste the same.

I like Vegemite, which I believe is Australian.

I don’t think many people in the UK still prefer salad cream to mayonnaise either now, it’s kind of gone out of fashion?

I agree regarding Colmans mustard, I love Maille French mustard too, but it’s for different dishes. I’d really miss HP sauce if that was no longer available, and also Heinz tomato soup, which tastes unlike all the others.

Has to be Heinz tomato soup, and same for ketchup (children, not me!)

Coleman’s mustard, Hellman’s mayonnaise and PJ Tips (though I wouldn’t drink this for ages due to monkey ads and rumours of tea pickets being abused)

I’m afraid on the rare occasions we have custard it’s ready made from a rum, Ambrosia, also love Ambrosia creamed rice!

I'm usually mayonnaise but have to use salad cream for egg sandwiches 🥪

I've lived abroad for decades, like nanna8, but have !earned to live without many of those things. For example I still have a half bottle of Dettol which I've never used, although there is no equivalent here in Germany.

Branson pickle and Marmite I do use regularly and can order these through Amazon, who take care of the hassle of customs duty, or I get it when over in the UK, or friends bring them.

I have found tea here which suits my taste, so no longer bother with huge packs of PG Tips. Custard doesnt come into the equation as, as I have so often bemoaned, German DH has a horror of hot puddings.

Coleman's mustard was only served with roast beef when I was growing up, and I don t miss it, even when I do do a Sunday roast and we never had brown sauce with anything. My mother was a plain, albeit very good cook. We did have Salad Cream but surely no one uses that any more anyway!?!?!

Heinz Tomato Ketchup is still the ultimate superior in the ketchup category. The supermarket own-brands don't even come close and one supermarket in particular (beginning with 'S') has an own-brand that is exceptionally watery.

So it has to be Heinz.

I think familiar brands matter for comfort food, as part of the comfort is in remembering the taste in childhood.

Branston pickle on a cheese and ham toastie, Bisto (powder, not the horrible granules) and Ambrosia creamed rice all ‘hit the spot’ because we remember eating them when the world was simpler and there were people to look after us. I haven’t eaten tapioca pudding for years, but I’m sure it would transport me back to childhood, too.

I’m sure I read that Salad Cream was going to be discontinued, as not enough people still eat it.

Salad cream certainly hasn't gone out of fashion in our family we all, 3 generations prefer salad cream to mayonnaise, which is too rich and greasy for me. Tastes insipid when you eat it but my digestion can recognise oil when it reaches it.

There was a plan to discontinue Salad cream about 15 years ago but demand surged as did protests, so it stayed. There is no lack of it where we now live, nor in the very different area we lived in before we moved here.

I make my own apple chutney from all my surplus apples so Branston doesn't feature in my pantry.

Bisto (or own brand) - tick
Custard powder - tick
Ambrosia tinned rice - absolute 'no'. The real thing, homemade or do without
brown sauce - HP only - tick. DH loves it and like the late prime Minister, Harold Wilson, has it on almost anything without gravy. I loathe it, too many memories of school dinners and using it to mask the taste and texture of revolting food.

Heinz tomato soup.
No other brand does it for me.
Anything else, i will always try the cheaper alternative.

I always have Colman's mustard powder in the cupboard, because it makes such a difference to cheese dishes. I always have both mayonnaise and salad cream though - I like to add a bit of both when I make things like egg mayo or tuna mayo.

I don't use most of the items mentioned but a full English would not be complete without HP Sauce. I do use Marmite but these days it's the reduced salt version and only Twinings Assam tea will do for my morning brew.

I use any supermarkets yeast spread, and find them much better than marmite, as well as less than half the price.

I have also tried other brands of English mustard, but none of them beat Colmans in my opinion. Like Greyduster, I keep a tin of dried Colman’s mustard in the cupboard, too.
HP sauce, ✅
Birds custard powder ✅
Heinz tomato sauce ✅
Bistro gravy granules ✅

Tiptree tomato ketchup if far superior to Heinz.
Blancmange powder is difficult to get now and so is Cremona.
DH loves salad cream but I have just discovered avocado mayonnaise.

Came across R Whites Lemonade the other day, having not seen it for years. Thought it might be disappointing but no, zingy as I remembered.

I like salad cream, but use mayonnaise too. I’ve found Coleman’s milder than it used to be, so either use Dijon or a product that has mustard and horseradish in it.
Brown sauce and ketchup, yes, not fussed about desserts.
Never used bistro.

I prefer salad cream to mayonnaise.
I have had all the above mentioned in my cupboards but now just Heinz tomato ketchup.and Bisto.

I always mash up tinned tuna with a mixture of salad cream and mayonnaise, and it's delicious on a sandwich.

Branston pickle, HP sauce, any relish, but please no mayo! Horrid stuff!

And has to be Bisto. Don’t do custard. Am an ice cream or cream kind of girl.

MissAdventure

Heinz tomato soup.
No other brand does it for me.
Anything else, i will always try the cheaper alternative.

I agree with this.