Which quiche egg-celled and which crumbled in the face of our rigorous taste test?

• The best supermarket extra-virgin olive oil

I learned to make quiche from one of the best chefs I know, Gill Meller, my old head chef at River Cottage HQ, about 20 years ago. His quiche is rich and creamy, with beautifully crumbly pastry, and my benchmark for these store-bought versions.

I tasted all of the quiches cooked according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Overall, the quality was lower than I’d hoped for, with many relying on ultra-processed ingredients, such as palm oil, emulsifiers and, often, caged-hen eggs. Free-range products didn’t always communicate this clearly on the packet, so it’s worth checking the ingredients list. Also, some described their pastry as “buttery” when they don’t contain any butter, and are instead made with vegetable shortening (palm and rapeseed oil). Encouragingly, however, a few gems emerged, with wonderfully simple ingredients, light and fluffy free-range custards, crisp all-butter pastry and generously filled.

A creative way to use up leftover gherkin brine that can be tweaked to suit your own tastebuds through experimental use of optional extras

Depending on country, region, household or restaurant, every cook makes tartare sauce in their own way. Inspired by Auguste Escoffier’s exceptionally simple tartare, I’ve given his recipe a zero-waste twist by using whole boiled eggs and swapping in pickle brine from a jar of gherkins or capers to replace the vinegar. Everything else is optional: tarragon, mustard, cayenne … add what you like or have in store.

Traditionally, tartare sauce is delicious with fish and chips, calamari or in a chicken sandwich, but I also like it tossed through potato salad with tinned sardines and radicchio. It’s also great as a dip with crudites and on top of a steaming jacket potato.