Where to buy SA's heartiest minestrone soup

HOW WE CONDUCTED OUR TASTE TEST

We put out a call to readers to be part of the panel of tasters. Forty of them came together on a Saturday morning at the HTA Culinary School in Randburg, Johannesburg, to taste ready-made minestrone soups from three leading supermarkets.

Chef Kabelo Segone, assisted by chefs Lerato Maake, Levy Pelele and Refilwe Makatu, prepared the food as per package instructions.

The panel of tasters were presented with each of the products "naked" without any branding or packaging. The soups were judged on appearance, taste, texture, vegetable content and the quality of stock used.

Auditor Jade Craig was on hand to monitor the objectivity of the blind-tasting process, from removing the packaging to numbering the products, overseeing the preparation and adding up the score sheets.

THE RESULTS

FIRST PLACE: Pick n Pay Rustic minestrone soup

Price: R34.90 for 600g

Judges' comments:

• "The vegetables were diced to a good equal size. The spinach added a good green touch. Good balance of veggies to pasta, although it could be less sweet."
• "Great thickness. Great variety of vegetables but why add spinach?"
• "It needs more salt and pepper."    

SECOND PLACE: SPAR Freshline Minestrone soup

Price: R32.99 for 500g

Judges' comments:

• "Very tasty. Looks very tomato-y but actually was balanced."
• "Tasty, but way too many tomatoes."
• "Too acidic, too many carrots and way too much celery. Needs more pasta."
• "It lacks any real flavour and just tastes like salted canned tomatoes."
• "The taste wasn't great."

THIRD PLACE: Woolworths Fresh minestrone soup with bacon

Price: R39.99 for 600g

Judges' comments:

• "There is minimum bacon."
• "Not very tasty although the pasta is good - but there are not enough vegetables."
• "I found it to have a grainy texture and the pasta is too huge for the soup."
• "The flavour is bland, the pasta too big and I don't get the tomato flavour coming through."