When you’re new to gluten and wheat free products finding the right one, i.e. the one you like the most can be quite daunting. Specially when these products no matter how good quality they might, they are very different that traditional gluten and wheat foods.
The reason why I wanted to start my gluten and wheat free reviews with Spaghetti, is because pasta has become a staple food in British society, and most of us eat pasta on a weekly basis if not more regular, so finding a good gluten and wheat substitute could be quite important.
For the Spaghetti review I will be doing a series of 3 videos where I will be reviewing 3 brands of gluten and wheat free pasta, from my least favourite to my favourite favourite. All three brands are widely available in supermarkets and health food shops.
So to start this review series I will be talking about Tesco’s FreeForm Gluten & Wheat Free Spaghetti.
I understand that the brand FreeForm doesn’t belong to Tesco, however, is the only place in the UK where I can find this brand, therefore I’m calling it Tesco’s FreeForm.
FreeForm Gluten & Wheat Free Spaghetti
Size
The Spaghetti are very thin I would say between the size of a Vermicelli and a traditional Spaghetti.
Lenght wise they are the same size of traditional Spaghetti, which is good because you can get more uses out of them
Colour
Because they are made using yellow maize flour they have a yellow colour, however, not as yellow as pasta made with 100% yellow maize flour.
Texture
Because they are industriously made pasta they have the standard smooth texture of any mass produced pasta.
Pasta having a smooth finish means sauces don’t stick as well as when the pasta has a rough texture like it happens with artisan trifolata al bronzo pasta.
If you would like to read more about what makes a good pasta, please have a look at my blog post What is Pasta and How is Made.
Cooking
For some reason this pasta has a lot of starch and you can see that when is first added to the boiling water that the water turns instantly white.
Because of the quantities of starch the pasta turns into a mush when cooked, even if you add oil to the water or after cooked, it seems like the starch is not washed off during the cooking process. This for me makes it an unsuitable product because the matter is even worse when you add the sauce as the pasta gets mushier with the moisture of the sauce.
By the time you finish cooking the dish you have a ball or pasta on the plate, which not only is unpleasant, but is also difficult to eat, in my opinion.
Also due to the thickness of the pasta it cooks very quickly, good if you’re in a hurry, but not so good if you cooked the pasta for an extra minute, and with such a thin pasta overcooking is very very easy indeed.
For me pasta should be eaten aldente, and trying to get this pasta aldente without overcooking means standing next to hob watching the pasta cook and trying every 3 to 4 minutes, not practical.
Price
I paid £1.40 for 500gr of Spagetti of course is a bit more expensive that standard wheat pasta but all gluten and wheat free products are more expensive than standard foods.
For the quality of the product I think the price is OK. Is the cheapest of all gluten and wheat free pastas and perhaps this reflects the quality.
My Final Opinion
For me personally I don’t like pasta that turns into a mush or pasta that needs “baby sitting” so it doesn’t overcook, so these two aspects for me are already a downside to the product, hence, is my least favourite.
Of course us gluten and wheat free dieters not always have many options and despite my above “analysis” of the product, should I need to buy pasta and can’t find anything else then I would buy these Spaghetti. However, should I had another option I would not buy this product.
Please note that I’m not paid by Tesco or FreeForm to review this products. What I wrote is my personal opinion and my experience of the product and bought the pack with my own money.
Hopefully this review has helped you if you are new to gluten and wheat free products or if you know someone that requires this diet.
Stay tune for my next review of my second favourite gluten and wheat free Spaghetti
