Marks & Spencer Celebrate Tastes of the British Isles

£4 for these classic pudding inspired sweets

M&S is one of the truly uber British brands that I would miss terribly if I ever moved to another country. Whilst they do offer worldwide tastes like sushi, Indian foods & Chinese delights, what they do really well is finding the absolute best of British farmers & producers products and bringing them to us at a great price. For example the famous Cornish Cruncher cheese, in its distinctive black packaging. Its an award winning cheese that Marks & Spencer discovered and now sell all over the UK.

This summer M&S launched their Tastes of the British Isles range, which covers almost every section of the Food Hall. They have curated speciality foods from every corner of the UK, including classic puddings, regional bakery items and a whistlestop tour of British cheese varieties. It's a range to be proud of, as it shows the world that Britain has such a wide selection of amazing foods and dishes, with tastes for every palette. 

Every few weeks M&S invite me along to Sprucefield to pick items to feature on here, so it seemed about time I shone a light on some of the Taste of the British Isles products.

First, the sweet treats. I know any time I want to bring a dessert along somewhere I always head to M&S. The quality of their cakes is far superior to other supermarkets. Saying that, I'm not a huge fan of their own brand chocolate. My Scottish pal Michael advised I bought the giant chocolate buttons, but sadly even those didn't do it for me. I do like their fancy little bars, like the lemon mousse or cappuccino flavour bars, and you can't deny that Percy Pig is the King of the Gummies.

I'm a sucker for a scone with cream and jam & in the fridge section I came across a scone pack that came with both jam & clotted cream. I also liked the look of these strawberry & cream infused scones. All I need is a big pot of tea with these and I'm set. 

Scone selection £3 : Pack of two scones £1.35

Whitby buns are doughnut shaped buns with a lemon curd filling. We had tried the berry version last time, so picked the lemon this time around.  

Buns £1.30 : Drink £1.30

I've never seen a blackcurrant Swiss roll before, but if it's from M&S it's bound to be delicious. The little stripe in the cake is very cute and the £2.50 price tag is brilliant value.

£2.50

I'm not a frequent yoghurt eater, but sometimes I just take a wee notion and have a yoghurt week! I love some of the unusual flavours here, treacle & clotted cream, rhubarb & custard, and as for the 'Sussex lemon pond pudding', well I'm not very sure what that is, but I'm sure it will taste great. There are further flavours in this range I haven't featured, and they are all on offer at £3 for five. 

West Country yoghurts 80p each or five for £3

Sometimes you want an after-dinner dessert but not something humongous, so these little tartlets are just the ticket. They are also available in a lemon meringue variety and cost £2.50 or are two for £4 mix and match with lots of other bakery items. 

I chose the Eccles cakes not for my own house, but for my Dad. He's been buying Eccles cakes from Marks and Spencer for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately as a child I was put off them for life by my Dad trying to discourage me from eating his supply, telling me they were called 'Flies' Graveyards'. So I can't eat raisins or sultanas to this day, funnily enough! 

£2.50 each or two for £4

The Tastes of the British Isles range also has a wide variety of savoury offerings. M&S stock more different types of Scotch Egg than I've seen anywhere else! After the success of the Cornish Cruncher cheese, they've expanded the products its a base for. I picked up this delicious Cornish Cruncher terrine, which will blow your socks off. 

Terrine £2.40 : Scotch Egg £2

The Marks & Spencer cheese aisle is a place of wonder for cheese lovers. If there is such a thing as a cheese enthusiast, then they'll love the range of British cheeses M&S currently has on offer. I picked a twist on the classic Cornish Cruncher, a block with balsamic onions though it. My absolute favourite cheese right now is the Blacksticks Blue variety. They also sell it in a soft spreadable cheese, and I've been known to demolish a tub of it within 24 hours, it's just too good! 

Juice £2 : Blacksticks Blue £2.20 : Cornish Cruncher £2.50

And look! Blacksticks Blue sausages! I'm not really sure how cheese infused sausages work, so if you want to see how they turn out, keep an eye on my Instagram as I'll show you how they turn out on there when I've cooked them.

Tastes of the British Isles sausage are £3.50

M&S are famed for their Lochmuir salmon, and these BBQ glazed fillets are perfect for late summer dinners. Served with a big green salad its a good option for healthy eating folks.

£5 or buy as part of a 3 for £10 deal

If you're feeling more like fish and chip shop style grub, they have a wide variety of different battered or breadcrumbed fish. You can buy family sized packs too.

£4.50 or 3 for £10 mix and match

Finally, also part of the three for £10 deal on meat and fish, how tasty does this gammon look with its ale chutney flavouring? Well done, M&S, always something new and wonderful to try.

£5 or three for £10

Pick Your Picnic From The Tastes of the British Isles

School ends next week & Smix and I have dozens of day trips already planned all over Northern Ireland, and even beyond. I'm sure there will be a picnic or six along the way. I called into Marks & Spencer at Sprucefield to pick up some new lunch items from their Tastes of the British Isles' range.

There is also a great big sale on, with up to 60% off. I got a t-shirt for myself for £2, and a Minecraft sweatshirt & t-shirt for £10 each for Michael. 

Straight in with the sandwiches, but this is no ordinary sandwich, this is an M&S sandwich! If you are buying for a family picnic, you'll be able to take advantage of the current 3 for 2 offer running on most of the lunch range. Then again if you're just buying for yourself, you could get three items, sandwich, crisps, drink or dessert for the price of two yourself. 

These mighty British sandwiches are £4, £3.80 and £3.50. 

If you're feeling a little more adventurous there are some protein rich, fancy salads with a classic British twist too, £3.50 each. 

Guilty secret time. I discovered the little three pack of sausage rolls last week one evening at my local M&S in Bloomfields. I had gone to pick up sushi, but they were all out. I chose the £2.00 pack of three different flavours of rolls and since I've repeat purchased three times! My daily sausage roll consumption is quite high right now! I just eat them cold and they are super tasty. So I'm excited about trying the massive Hog Roast Sausage Roll, which is also £2. I could tell myself only eating one sausage roll of an evening is healthier than three, even if the one roll is the size of my hand! 

Moving onto lunch snacks, British recipe inspired crisps are 3 for 2 also, or 70p each. There also a little jelly for £1.35

For your sweet tooth we have little takeaway bowls of fresh strawberries for £2, a must have in Wimbledon week, even if you are just watching it on tv. I also picked two rhubarb desserts to try, a trifle at £1.35 and a slice of cheesecake for £2. Have you noticed just how many products in M&S have rhubarb in them this summer? Drinks, cakes, everything. They must have bought a rhubarb farm they've used so much of the stuff. Luckily I adore it! 

Now I'm not entirely sure if I like gooseberries, but I was very drawn to the little meringues on top of this dessert. There is also a classic recipe Eton Mess variety and they are £1.50 each.

So here is my spread all together. All these items are on three for two, so you only pay for 2/3 of what's shown. I think this would make a great picnic lunch for the family, and everyone could try a little of each. Happy feasting!