venta

Last night I was rummaging about in the cupboards wondering what else I could put into my vegetable bake to make it look more like a meal and less like something constructed out of things I'd found in the back of the fridge.

I unearthed a tin of spinach (in brine). Yes, I know that sounds vile, but I like spinach. And since the blood donor people sent me packing today with mutterings about low iron I figured it couldn't hurt.

Actually, I don't know quite what possessed me to buy it, because the picture on the tin is possibly the least appealing label I've ever seen.

Now would you, in your right mind, think "ooh, that looks yummy!" and buy anything with this label?

No, thought not. I particularly like the "look what you could have won" touch of including a basket of fresh spinach. Ironically, it did say "serving suggestion" on the label. I suppose they never claim that it's a good suggestion.

Really, the problem is that I'd never serve spinach by itself in a tureen. I'd put it in something else. But I suppose there is a limit to what you can put on labels - showing a vegetable bake with a dark green layer in it is probably held to be pushing the limits, since the poor ignorant public might think the tin contains the entire bake.

Do packets of lasagne habitually show entire lasagnes ? The one in my cupboard has no picture at all. Presumably the thinking is that if you're buying things which cannot be eaten in isolation, you know what you're doing and don't need pictorial guidance. Has anyone got any idea how much leeway there is in the "serving suggestion" guidelines ?

More importantly, can anyone find me a tin of spinach with a nicer label ? Not that I'll stop buying Tesco's - it tasted perfectly fine - I'm just curious.

Note for the mother: have you ever tried putting other things into Canadian Casserole ? Today's had one layer each of spinach and grated cheddar, sliced carrot and chopped portobello mushroom in addition to the usual. Oh, and some wholegrain mustard dobbed about the place. It worked quite well as a main dish.

Note for everyone else: Canadian Casserole is a vegetable side dish of some repute. Fill a casserole in the following manner: layer of thinly sliced potato, layer of thinly sliced onion, small blobs of butter/marg, sprinkling of seasoned flour, repeat until you nearly run out of dish. Finish with a layer of potato, pour some milk over it, put in the oven a couple of hours at Gas 3. Great with bacon chops.