Marks & Spencer Summer of Flavour Mini Chicken Kebabs with pomegranate, garlic and cumin

Yet another bright, flavoursome and exotic uplift of some plain old chicken in M&S' Summer of Flavour range. These petite little kebabs are tender little balls of minced chicken spritzed up with some spicy, earthy cumin and sharp refreshing pomegranate for a modern take on middle Eastern flavours.

The packaging is certainly bright, colourful and eye catching suggesting flavour, health and modernity. Like a lot of M&S products, this contained simple, natural ingredients that you understand and recognise. Opening the pack revealed four cute little kebabs of perfectly round balls on wooden skewers. There's not a lot in the pack but it does mean no waste and they would be great to take out on picnics.

Having previously enjoyed other Summer of Flavour products warmed up, I again decided to heat these in the microwave and used them for a proper meal with some brown rice and veg.

These were not as heavily aromatic and scented as some of the other bits in the range I've tried but they still smelt savoury and fragrant and were very inviting when warm.

The meat quality was great. It came off the skewers easily and cleanly and was tender, soft and succulent. They utterly melted in the mouth due to their smooth texture with no gritty bits and the cumin provided a real flavour impact.

They're not spicy but have a strong earthy taste that's interesting due to the use of lots of spices. The pomegranate didn't come through very strongly but I guess you wouldn't want these to be sweet. Nevertheless, a little bit more sharp fruitiness would be welcome.

Once again, I really enjoyed the exotic and modern take on standard deli items and this made a really nice, simple (if not cost effective) dinner.

Price: £2.50 but bought on a 3 for £6 deal
Available: Marks and Spencer

Pros: Beautifully succulent meat, simple and versatile uses, attractive, lovely earthy cumin flavour
Cons: Only 4 in a pack, pomegranate is too subtle

Store: 7/10