Countdown Essentials – Sweet Chilli Mayonnaise

During lockdown level 4 here in Auckland, we are asked to stay at home in our bubble, leaving only for essential personal movements like shopping for essential items.

Luckily Countdown have labelled many of their products as ‘essential’ so you know what you are allowed to buy. Some of it seems a bit like luxury items to me, but what do I know? I am grateful that this mayonnaise has been deemed essential and if this sh1t is that important to the survival of Aucklanders in lockdown, then I am certainly going to give it a taste.

I usually try to avoid cheaper mayonnaise brands as I find some of them have an offensive, chemically aftertaste, like rancid vegetable oil. Come to think of it, that taste probably is rancid vegetable oil. None of any of the other ‘high end’ brands were labelled as essential so obviously I wasn’t allowed to buy any of them.

After arriving back to my bubble, I grabbed a spoon and twisted off the cap. This did taste a little like a cheaper grade mayonnaise and had the barest hint of that undesirable oily flavour that I mentioned earlier, but it was well masked by a surprising and welcome level of heat from the chilli. Yes, this actually had a mild little kick of spice to it and a peppery hot aftertaste. I am not sure if this is nice enough to eat straight from the jar with a spoon like I usually do, but in the name of a thorough review I also tried it on a cheese sandwich and that is definitely the way to go with this sh1t or perhaps dip a vegetable in it.

Also this is the first time I am going to use an officially tagline (printed on the packaging) in my review, but it is awesomely sh1tty and I want give it the attention it deserves:

Thai-talising & sweet – 6/10

**Update**

I have just discovered that Countdown named their store brand ‘Essentials’ years ago, quite obviously to take advantage of this lockdown situation that they couldn’t have possibly known was going to happen. Well played, Countdown, what an excellent market strategy, taking advantage of unforeseeable future events like that…