Sunday, June 03, 2007

Food for thoughtless

Small Boo bought a cookbook the other day. It's called The Packed Lunch, and she's left it in the kitchen, possibly as a suggestion that I should extend the remit of my culinary skills, from the preparation of her morning decaf and Shredded Wheat, to the planning of her midday repast.

It's a big ask. Here's a sample concoction, for a hummus and cucumber sandwich (page 19).

"2 slices country loaf bread

1 tablespoon hummus

1/4 Lebanese cucumber, sliced thinly

Spread 1 slice of bread with hummus; top with cucumber and remaining bread.

Makes one sandwich."

14 comments:

bye bye bellulah said...

Read a book last year called Shopped that details food retailers categorisation of meal construction:consumer interaction.
I think your sandwich would be a level 3, planning, co-ordination and preparation involved. Only level 4 is more demanding.

Betty said...

My culinary skills are around the same level. Mind you, I'm not sure if I'd be able to get Lebanese cucumber at Aldi. Besides, what's the point of making a sandwich when you can buy a readymade one?

Anonymous said...

Taxing stuff. Right about where I need it pitched. It's very precise about what it wants you to have though - wouldn't cucumber from Stoke do, for example?

Valerie said...

I'm one of those folks that once or twice a year cooks a full, multi-course, insane Moroccan or Turkish (the two cuisines I have some clue about) meal, and the rest of the year has trouble with anything with more than 3 ingredients.

This one's three, so I could probably manage it. But don't even think I could deal with adding cilantro! Though it would make it taste ever so yummy.

On the other hand, left to my own devices I generally eat cereal and [rice] milk for every meal.

Valerie said...

Uh, I wasn't meaning to imply that "insane Moroccan" was a cuisine to itself. Though in my hands, perhaps it is. But I'm not actually Moroccan.

Tim F said...

What would level 4 entail, Bellulah? Tomato?

Can't get decent readymades in BKK, Betty. A Lebanese cucumber, incidentally, "is also known as the European or burpless cucumber". So that would probably encompass Stoke, Tenderhooligan.

Nah, leave it as it was, Valerie. Start a diplomatic incident with Morocco. Boycott leather-bound dictionaries and revival screenings of Casablanca.

Flirty Something said...

I hate those damn cookery books with their elaborate ingredients and complicated assembly.

Rog said...

It sounds bootiful anyway.

realdoc said...

I once had a meal in trendy Spitalfields eaterie St. John and one of the items on the menu consisted of a boiled egg (shell on), a raw carrot and a small dish of mayonnaise. I think they wer charging about £15 for that.

FirstNations said...

frozen burritos: natures most perfect food. just add microwave.

Billy said...

I managed to make guacamole yesterday. It was a bit lumpy.

orange anubis said...

Only a tablespoon? Stingy!

Anonymous said...

sorry - i'm confised. can you run through those instructions again, please?

llewtrah said...

Make sarnies? Surely there are places you can buy them ready-made, thus avoiding the complicated assembly stages.