Caroline has gone on strike. At least, as far as cooking is concerned. Her case for downing spatulas is that she’s been cooking steak, chicken and bacon for my three sons and me for the best part of 25 years and, as a vegetarian, she’s had enough. Henceforth, she’s going to prepare vegetarian meals. If we’d like to share those with her she’s happy to make enough for all, but if we want something meaty we’re on our own.
Now, I wouldn’t mind the occasional nut cutlet and sweet potato – I can even stomach tofu and scrambled egg. But for Caroline, a ‘vegetarian meal’ consists of a fried egg on toast and some spinach leaves. It’s what my sons and I would call a ‘snack’ – and a pretty dreary one at that. We have plenty of snacks in the fridge in the form of mini pork pies, cold sausages and salami. So what Caroline’s industrial action means is that either I cook or we have to plump for a take-away. Neither is particularly straightforward.
The difficulty with cooking is that I have a very limited repertoire and my sons are now bored of the menu. I can do three things: chicken risotto, chicken biryani and chicken paella. Only the last is greeted with any enthusiasm these days, possibly because it includes chorizo. I guess I could learn some new dishes, but the attractive thing about all the above is that the prep time is only about ten minutes and once everything is simmering away you can leave it for 40 minutes and get on with something else.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in