As I poured the curry powder into the saucepan of pasta and vegetables, I wondered whether I was simply tight with money or just crushingly unimaginative when it came to food. Ever since I began work as a trainee reporter on a weekly newspaper in central England - called the Rugby Advertiser - I have cooked for myself, and my culinary skills have not extended far beyond one dish. Just about every evening, I tip some pasta into a saucepan, add half a vegetable stock cube, chop up a carrot or two, maybe add some cabbage or cauliflower, and boil the mixture for a few minutes. Sometimes I might add an egg towards the end, while occasionally I substitute potato in place of pasta. I also add curry powder most days and often chunks of soya mince.
There are other minor variations, but that's about it. Apart from when I lived in Dubai, when I often ate out at cheap Indian or Pakistani restaurants, this simple dish of boiled vegetables has been my evening meal most days for the last 10 years or so. There is no more variety when it comes to lunch. Every day I prepare my own sandwiches of cheese, tomato, pepper and perhaps some peanuts. I reckon I eat sandwiches with these ingredients about nine days out of 10.
It must be fairly healthy food, so while my hairline has receded into oblivion, my waistline has refused to expand, remaining at 30 inches, even though plenty of my contemporaries have bulging stomachs and man breasts. But dedicated foodies would find the no-frills nature of my diet, and the complete lack of variety, tiresome in the extreme. On several occasions I have been given cookery books as birthday or Christmas presents, but I have to confess I don't think I have ever prepared a single meal from one of them.
Part of the reason I eat the same thing day after day is that I am simply not that interested in food. If it is reasonably good for you and is available in large quantities, that is enough for me. You certainly wouldn't find me asking to speak to the chef at a posh restaurant to find out how he or she prepared the dish I had just been served. I don't care and I never will, and I find preparing food a drag.
Another reason is a lack of imagination. Each time when I go to the supermarket, it is as though I am a robot that's been pre-programmed. I visit seven or eight sections of shelves, and nothing else. I am not sure I would know what to do with anything other than my regular purchases if by some miracle a novel item found its way into my shopping basket. My desire to be careful with money also partly informs my dietary choices. Buying food from a supermarket and cooking it yourself is not particularly expensive. It is an order of magnitude cheaper than going to a nice restaurant in a hotel, it is about half as much as going to a mid-range restaurant and it is no more expensive than buying a meal in an absolute rock-bottom place.
I don't think I spend much more than Dh100 on food each week. Lacking variety though it may be, my diet at least shows that you can eat healthily, with copious amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, on a modest budget. One of the most irritating aspects of the neverending discussions about inequality in my home country of the United Kingdom is the suggestion that people on low incomes do not have the money to eat well. It is an argument I have heard on several occasions, and it is one I have always found unconvincing. People almost suggest an empty wallet forces individuals to head to their nearest fast food restaurant.
As often as not, healthier food is cheaper. Vegetables, especially carrots and tomatoes that are grown in our region, cost next to nothing, at around Dh4 per kilogram. My own sandwiches are no more expensive than a burger and chips, and are considerably less disgusting to eat. Small cartons of fruit juice do not exactly break the bank, costing as little as Dh1, and they are certainly no pricier than cans of fizzy drinks that rot your teeth and deliver the same nutrients as a piece of cardboard.
Yet often in the UAE I see parents buying their children the worst kind of fast food, and each time I have been left flabbergasted that they could do this. So yes, I enjoy a healthy diet for minimal cost, and so can you. I have but one culinary indulgence - free-range eggs. They cost about Dh18 per carton of six, but that's a small price to pay for a clear conscience. dbardsley@thenational.ae