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RETURN TO THE KITCHEN

Are you so accustomed to calling that delivery service that will bring your food right to your doorstep? Well, it's time you rediscover your kitchen.

We've rediscovered our kitchen. Not that it was lost; it's always been there, nestling snugly on the side of the house with a fine view of the washing line, conveniently close to the dining room and the family room, and full of cupboards bursting with unused appliances bought on a whim. It's just that we went through a brief phase where food preparation was regarded as a bit of a bore and rather too time-consuming. So the kitchen became the room where we boiled kettles for tea, stored canned food in preparation for a nuclear attack and occasionally heated things up. For anything more substantial, we went out.

As a dedicated foodie, I'm rather ashamed to come out of the closet (or should it be the pantry?) on this issue, but I take comfort knowing I am not alone. After a few glasses of wine to loosen their tongues, friends have reluctantly admitted they too have become culinary couch potatoes at certain periods of their lives, preferring to keep Mr Delivery's number close to the phone rather than cook a meal.

The problem with producing a decent meal is that it demands a fair amount of schlepping around to get the right ingredients, and the problem with schlepping is that it takes time and effort, so it's often easier to just go out to a restaurant.

I read a comment recently in The Spectator that suggested as you grow older you come to realise that the best meals are to be had in your own home. That rather depends on the quality of the home cooking and, to an extent, the fastidiousness of the diner. If blasting something in a microwave for eight minutes and then eating it off a tray on your lap while watching Sex and the City is your idea of gourmet heaven then you're probably beyond help. I also read that the English now spend only 20 minutes a day in the kitchen preparing food.

Our rediscovery of the kitchen was triggered by two things. The first was fairly simple. We decided to boot out the old electric stove and switch to gas. We came to this decision after the electricity failed us on Christmas morning last year, two hours before the family were due to arrive. Fearing that this could be a portent of the imminent collapse of society as we know it today, we had a gas stove installed within a week and will now be able to boil swimming pool water to drink when Armageddon eventually arrives. It's also cheaper to run and provides instantly adjustable heat. Besides, Jamie Oliver uses gas, so it's happy days all round.

The second, and much more significant, trigger was a visit to Italy last year. We usually buy food and drink as souvenirs when we travel, and we returned from Italy with all sorts of goodies from a stunning food shop we discovered in Bologna only to find that most of it, with the possible exception of the aged balsamic vinegar, is available locally. In fact, whenever we come home from an overseas trip thinking how marvellous it must be to live in Europe if you're into good food, we discover we have abundance on our own doorstep without realising it.

Johannesburg bakeries equal anything in Europe. For example, Fournos Bakery in Dunkeld West shopping centre has as delectable a selection of pastries and breads as you could hope to find in Paris.

Then there are the Europa delicatessens that have conveniently spread throughout the northern suburbs. For one of the best displayed selections, go to Sandton City (next to Woolworths). There you can buy a great variety of imported meats and cheeses, including the sublimely rich buffalo mozzarella at around R40 a pack. I couldn't even find this in a London cheese shop last month.

Thai food has now become tremendously popular, so it's encouraging to find that all the ingredients needed are available. Thrupps in Illovo now stock things like palm sugar, tamarind and many of the pungent ingredients that go into Thai food.

Apart from well-stocked supermarkets, we have good independent butchers, organic food shops, fresh fruit and veg shops, and specialist cheese shops virtually on our doorstep. A South African friend, now in London, recently commented that our choice of food is far wider than 10 years ago and was as good as, if not better than, anything available in her local shops. That's democracy for you.