Oh, the disappointment of cracking out the big Christmas tin of chocolates, only to find it seems decidedly smaller and contains about 20. But don’t let sugar cravings spoil your festive fun. Because when it comes to pigs in blankets, the opposite is true – with every Christmas, the sausage-y creations are getting bigger.
Marks and Spencer is the latest supermarket to add massive pigs in blankets to its festive repertoire – and for a fiver, you can now buy two, foot-long pork sausages wrapped in streaky bacon from the store.
Heinous, or pure genius? M&S meat product developer (what a job!), Sarah Loxton, said: “Pigs in blankets have always been my favourite part of a Christmas dinner and I know I’m not alone.
“This year we’ve pulled out all the stops – easy to portion, so you can have as much or as little as you want, or enjoy it as a festive hot dog with lashings of cranberry sauce.”
Stop the bus, festive hot dog?!
M&S isn’t the first to up its pigs and blankets game. As early as September, Asda announced it would be selling a foot-long pig in blanket. The retailer said it’s made from 500g of “succulent British Red Tractor pork” and “lovingly wrapped” with 100g of British dry-cured streaky bacon. It also costs a fiver, but unlike M&S, the packet only contains one piggy.
It is however, much thicker – almost more a meatloaf than a pig in blanket. That sausage to bacon ratio is off, surely?
Aldi has also joined the hype with... yep, you guessed it... another couple of foot-longs, at just £2.99 for two.
The “succulent, foot-long, fresh British pork sausages” are wrapped in smoked streaky bacon. They also seem to have the sausage to bacon ratio right – brownie points to Aldi.
Now, which to choose?