Dips for chips

Food & Drink, Events and Entertainment
1
I was wandering around Coop in Sihl City looking for some dips to go with some nachos . . . guacamole, something involving sour cream, a tomato salsa.

They have fresh guacamole in their Betty Bossi range.

For the other dips though I couldn't find anything fresh. There were some horrible looking jars next to the Doritos and some unappetizing Old El Paso options, but that was it.

Does any supermarket or shop sell a good selection of dips?

(Yeah yeah, I know I can make my own . . . but dips are good when I'm feeling LAZY).

2
Yeah yeah.. I know you don't want to hear it but when it comes to guacamole, homemade is the only way to go. I've bought brand name guacamole dips both here and in the States and it's all disgusting compared to homemade. Besides, it's so easy to make yourself.

3
Not exactly "gourmet", but the old American standby used to be instant onion soup plus sour cream. Not quite ready-made, but not far off...

Variations on a theme: http://startcooking.com/blog/207/Oni...nd-Spinach-Dip

4
My recipe:

1 tub Philadelphia Cheese

1 pack of garlic Boursin cheese

1 small tub sour cream

1 clove garlic - crushed

squirt of fresh lemon juice

pinch paprika powder

Mix the above together in a bowl.

Cheers,

Nick

5
Thanks everyone.

I have PLENTY of recipes for dips already and I have been known to make them.

I am, though, unlikely to want to quickly make a dip when I'm very very hungover on a Sunday afternoon. Supermarket tubs can sit in the fridge for a week waiting for my weakness.

I should say that some of the non-fresh stuff you can get at El Mais is very good.

6
This actually raises a good point. We sometimes make humus which sits in the fridge for a day or so before it going stale.... is there anything I can add to preserve it for a few more days? (I've tried airtight containers)

7
A layer of olive oil?

8
would oil sit on top of it? if it does, that would be it !!

9
In the chilled section in Coop, they sell little pots of dips - garlic, tartar, plus other ones.

10
You wouldn't have an Italian shop nearby would you? In some shops they sell the most divine dips.

11
I use the Old El Paso in cooking, it isn't bad for a dip, especially if you've been without fresh for a while - or have suffered through those triangle tins from Chio or whomever that is. Hubby likes the triangles of salsa - tastes like glorified ketchup to me.

For guacamole, I'd go with the Betti Bossi but the Old El Paso again does alright in a pinch. As opposed to that, I know that Tibits (yes, the restaurant) has guac at least occasionally, maybe pop by there and snag a to-go container of it.

Also, take a peek at those little tubs of dip intended for fondue chinoise or whatever, the ones in the refrigerated section at Migros (I do not recall what brand) have proven useful for a variety of things. They have a "Mexican" dip which is kinda like taco sauce mixed with sour cream or mayo, it's pretty good, I use it as a dressing for taco salad. They also have some kind of herb / cucumber dip that I've used as a topper / mixer to help cool the fire of biryani chicken.

I think that although expensive, those refrigerated dips probably will be the closest to what you're looking for for those lazy hungover Sunday afternoons.

12
I like the Anna's best dips that you can get in Migros, near the meat section, refridgerated.

13

Yep, those are the ones I mean!

14
Manor (at least in Geneva) stocks what I find the best tasting shop-bought hoummus here plus baba ganoush and matboucha. All imported from Israel.

Guacamoli I always make at home. It is simply disgusting in any commercial variant. I know you have the recipe. I actually don't, I just mash avocadoes.

15
you could also make your own and freeze it. a quick zap in the microwave could then bring it back from frozen. no idea if it will taste better than the supermarket stuff - surely it couldn't taste worse?

i threw away the old el paso guacamole after tasting the first spoonful. was just not edible, IMO.

16

The microwave ovens of the world have not earned a place in my kitchen.

I take your point about freezing, but I'm not sure hungover-me would patient enough for even a sped up defrost! And you don't want warm dip do you?

17
the hungover-you needs someone to take care of you and feed it to you too !!!

18
Make guacamole and salsa fresh. It is quite easy, and you can

find the ingredients in almost every supermarket. It is much better

than the Swiss version of Old El Paso.

19
Fresh is always best but when I am in a pinch and just gotta have it now I usually crack open a jar of Pancho Villa Salsa Mexicana medium from Migros. Its good....

20
The only edible salsa I've found so far is the Maria Dolores brand, sold at Globus in Basel. Not fantastic like what you can get in California and pretty expensive, but definitely decent stuff.

Globus Basel also has guacamole in the refrigerated section. It's ok, especially if you add some chopped onions and a bit of lemon to freshen up the flavor.

But beware the Globus store-brand salsas they just came out with: while the Tortilla-Salsa Mojito is not bad (it's sweet though, so best for tex-mex dishes), what they call the regular Tortilla Salsa was inedible and tasted of pure vinegar -- I'd say it's way worse than the imported fake salsa from the US grocery stores (Old El Paso, etc.) that's pretty much ubiquitous at Swiss grocery stores. It was more expensive than the Maria Dolores salsas and I put it straight into the trash after one taste.