India, Oct. 31 -- Do you use cookbooks? I have to say that I don't; which may explain why I am such a bad cook. My problem is that I lack the patience to follow a recipe. And all my cooking is pretty last minute, which means that by the time I decide to cook and start looking at a recipe I discover that I don't have half the ingredients, decide to improvise and end up making an entirely different dish.

For years, I have consoled myself with that old cliche about the difference between the French and the British. A Brit, it is said, finds a recipe, makes a list of all the ingredients required, and goes out and buys them before starting work in the kitchen. The French, on the other hand, go shopping, find fresh and interesting ingredients ...