The Mercury

NIFTY WAY TO USE WHAT’S IN THE PANTRY

THE LOCKDOWN has people eating, cleaning, eating, surfing, eating, binge-watching movies and, of course, eating.

In Week 2, most of us have either grown tired of or exhausted our supply of sweets, chips and savouries.

Still, we need to eat. But what? The absence of Nando’s, KFC and Steers has contribute­d to our distress.

And no beer. I have a nonnegotia­ble reserved spot just for beer in my fridge. This has been usurped by presidenti­al decree and replaced by loaves of bread, bread rolls and sour dough.

In desperatio­n I roped in the Bible, citing Matthew 4:4 to the good wife: “A man does not live by bread alone.” Her blithering response? “You are an awful Hindu. I don’t hold much hope for you as a Christian, either.” Busted.

I start thinking, maybe it’s time to fix my culinary skills. I fall into that category of folk who are deemed a health and a safety risk in the kitchen. I might burn the kitchen or damage pots and pans. Probably both. This is evidenced by the mess I leave while making tuna surprise each Sunday morning.

The lockdown has folk surfing for recipe suggestion­s.

I persevere and binge watch YouTube cooking shows while reading and curating recipes.

While these are helpful, the ease with which master chefs slice and dice ingredient­s had me finishing all the plasters in my house. Busted. Hungry. Now injured.

Further, the challenge is that many of the I-always-wanted-tomake-this-food demand that one item which is not available in your home. A trip to the store is possible. Yet you will feel guilty violating the curfew for a selfish fetish.

Stay home! Now what?

Enter Google Home recipe. Google Home is a perfect noncomplai­ning digital assistant for the kitchen. It has hands-free access for thumb-only chefs. It arrives with a timer and music to keep you entertaine­d. Minister Mkhize would be pleased – no hand sanitiser needed here.

And Google claims to have instructio­ns for “more than 5 million” meals through Google Assistant (and Google Home).

Users access recipes by speaking to Assistant by simply saying “Okay, Google, let’s make spaghetti.” You might also Google your favourite recipes. Select “Send to Google Home” and then say “Okay, Google, start cooking”.

Google Assistant will cleverly break the recipe down into manageable steps. You can repeat the last step if you forget or are uncertain (“Okay, Google, repeat”) or check further into the recipe “(Okay, Google, what’s step four?”).

Google Assistant curates recipes from favourite sites such as Bon Appetit, and Food Network.

This, while useful, is useless to me as I remain one ingredient short. Some of us use whatever is in the kitchen. It is an opportunit­y to clear the cupboard of the things you bought on the spur of the moment which your significan­t other ignores.

It is also a good time to use the items close to expiration date. What can you make with what you have?

The lockdown quells creativity so decision-making becomes cloudy. Help is needed and available. There is a wonderful option to indicate the ingredient­s you have in your pantry and state your preferred cooking style. Then this AI-driven service suggests things you could prepare.

Remember to add the spices you have as well otherwise this can reduce or increase your options by thousands. See websites such as SuperCook, Allrecipes, RecipeMatc­her and Snacksby. I like SuperCook, which has a delightful byline, “A dinner that met its match”.

Post-Covid-19 this will be useful for students in residence who have a few items and no money at the end of the month.

Here is my “Colinsatio­n” of the process: Use SuperCook (or an equivalent) to find options. Decide which options you wish to make. And launch Google assistant to help you make the product.

Bon Appétit.

Now please excuse me while I go searching for a beer-making app with bread, savouries and water.