Mash is god tier! It is the king of comfort food! And it is now available via a chilled vending machine on a farm near Montrose, Angus.

NEW SCOTTISH PRODUCT - CREAMY MASH FROM UPPER DYSART LARDER

I adore soft creamy, non lumpy mash. I love making a large bowl of plain mash with lashings of butter and perhaps a dash of cream to accompany stews, or steak or sausages especially on a chilly night.

Upper Dysart Larder have now created hassle free fresh mash; a nourishing, guilt-free convenience vegetable side dish, grown, cooked and packed on their farm which will be available to buy direct from the farm’s “larder” but also in Aldi stores from Thursday 7th April.

With emphasis on the taste and texture of home cooking, the Upper Dysart Larder mash comes in seven flavours:

• Cheesy

• Chorizo

• Classic

• Wholegrain mustard

• Colcannon

• Haggis n mash

• Root veg

Sealed for freshness, without the need for preservatives, it cooks in under four minutes in the microwave and it even whistles when it is evenly warmed through and ready to eat. I love this!

So far I have sampled the Cheesy, the Colannon and the Classic mash; and I have to say they are simply superb! Often with presealed microwave ‘meals’ there is a fake taste, and more often than not, the food has a consistency of gloop and a complete and utter let down.

I tried the Colcannon one with broccoli and green beans, and sticky sweet pork ribs. Oh my, dee-lish-us! I loved the pieces of cabbage running through the mash; more as a background flavour whilst letting the mash really shine through. Superb accompaniment to pork ribs.

The mash retains its integrity and freshness and I was genuinely surprised at how good they taste. Once they whistle, and you remove them from the microwave, wait a minute then fluff them up with a fork, you’d never know that these weren’t homemade and you’d just spent 20 minutes putting the cooked potatoes through a ricer to gain that beautiful smooth consistency.

The Cheesy mash I enjoyed with pork sausage and blue cheese brussel sprouts - really upping the cheesiness. It was so good, I never had time to take a pic. (sorry!) and the classic mash, I tucked into with an extra bit of butter on top for my lunch.

I’m impressed. Not only with the ease at which you can heat and eat but also the flavours and the texture. This week I am moving onto the root veg mash and the wholegrain; but I can’t wait to work my way through the whole range.

A limited quantity of only the Cheesy Mash and the Mustard Mash will be available in Scottish Aldi stores from Thursday 7th April 2022; nut once they’re gone, they’re gone! But if you miss catching them in Aldi why not pop into the farm in Angus. It’s in a beautiful coastal setting, where you can enjoy a coffee and buy from Upper Dysart Larder’s farm vending machines.

Upper Dysart Farm. Lunan Bay, Montrose, Scotland