Charlie Bigham's defended following backlash to 'absolutely insane' price of new ready meals
People have defended Charlie Bigham's after the company received backlash over a new range of ready meals including one that cost nearly £30.
Premium ready meals company Charlie Bigham's recently released its 'Brasserie' range of ready meals.
Named after a more casual kind of French restaurant, the company explained that the brasserie range has been released as the price of eating out continues to rise.
The announcement was met with criticism from some who saw a £30 price tag for a ready meal - a fancy one that serves two for sure, but still a ready meal - as excessive.
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But in a new twist others have defended the brasserie range despite its high cost.
The brasserie range has a number of different options, with the most expensive being a beef wellington that costs £29.95, as well as a salmon wellington for £19.95, then coq au vin, duck confit, and venison bourguignon all priced at £16.95.
Compared to other ready meals it's certainly a much higher price, but some said they thought it was worth it.
Responding to the news on the FOODbible Facebook page, one person said: "£30 for a beef wellington to feed 2 is actually excellent value, the cost of the beef alone is probs around £15 if not a bit more for us to buy in a shop to start to make it."
Another wrote: "It’s a bit like being annoyed by restaurant prices. If it’s not for you just walk on and find something else. He is getting a lot of free publicity though."
Someone else said they didn't mind paying more if it meant getting a better product.
They replied: "No one's forcing them to buy it. Eat cheap sh*t if you want. I'll stick to better quality no matter what the price is."
A spokesperson for Charlie Bigham's told FOODBible: "Our Brasserie range is a collection of restaurant-quality dishes, handcrafted using only the finest restaurant-quality ingredients and the price is reflective of that."
Charlie Bigham's beef wellington is not the only one to draw attention this week, as Marks and Spencer has also announced a beef wellington as an option for its Christmas range this year.
After partnering with celebrity chef Tom Kerridge, the retailer confirmed that it is offering a premium pre-made beef wellington for Christmas including beef fillet and even truffles.
That's reflected in the cost of the M&S Christmas wellington, which weighs in at an eye-watering £195.
Beef wellington is a challenging dish to make, with the recipe featuring expensive ingredients.
A beef fillet is wrapped in a mushroom duxelles, parma ham, and sometimes crepes and even fois gras before being encased in pastry and baked.
It's a technically tricky dish to pull off because you have to make sure the pastry and the meat are both properly cooked without either burnt pastry and either raw or overcooked beef.
So while it would be cheaper to make yourself, you'd need to have some chops in the kitchen to pull it off.
Kit Roberts