…as long as it’s not done by yourself. I don’t know where you live but here in Europe there’s packaged and pre-seasoned frozen vegetables on every supermarket shelf (and on far too many tables). I mean, I’m not surprised that children in Britain are raised with a “Field Fresh country mix” served by BirdsEye or with Tesco’s “Farmhouse mixed vegetables”. I’m pretty aware that the Germans prefer Iglo’s “Französische Pfanne” or a pseudo-hearty “Bauern-Pfanne” to chopping some greens themselves. But why would the French, living so close to Eden, offer themselves a prefab, ready-to-stir Selection du Jardin, like one of Iglo’s products is tagged here? Why would they pour in a Poêlée à la forestière that is sold in plastic bags at the food chain Picard?

Do-it-yourself food for beginners: home-made stir fry.

You might answer: because people are lazy and that’s a good point. But you know what? If it’s too much work to chop an onion, cut a pepper, a courgette and a pound of pork into pieces (and fry them) – then you could also consider the process of eating itself as being too annoying in the long run. All that chewing and fork-holding and sitting upright at a table, is it really fun? Why not stocking up on some astronaut food instead that you can just slurp in without any further trouble. You wouldn’t even have to wash any dishes; you just dump the empty bag in the bin. You might feel empty yourself afterwards. But that’ll be your business.