Alfred Cooks.....

I have some friends who live in a tumbledown flat in Newtown (or at least did until the landlord decided that they were not paying enough to live in his house while it fell down around their cars - but thats another story) In the backyard is a garden and some chooks. All round are other tumbledown houses. On the fair flesh of Newtonian suburbia grown a number of boils, one of these is the hospital, sprawling, technological cancer, another is an unnamable takeaway chicken bar. In this fast food edifice people are fed on fast grown chicken, chips, coleslaw etc all nice and clean and sterile.

In my friends kitchen (which is not all that sterile, the stove not all that new) vegetables are carefully prepared for a meal: green peppers,

mushrooms, fresh tomatoes (sometimes you have to cut out some greebies), crisp garlic, celery, unions and fresh herbs. No rush here, such a meal is worth waiting for, talking, laughing over. People who try to Convince others that eating is comparable with oiling a machine (albiet a ration one) seem less than human and their abodes cold and sterile.

Here is a recipe for a nonfast fresh vegetable type food that Jill first suggested to me.

Green Peppers

Green peppers are cheap now, so make the most of them. They are really nice raw with cheese. The following recipe makes them into an attractive cooked vegetable than can be cooking while the rest of the meal is prepared.

Stuffed Green Peppers (For 4)

Take 4 green peppers, cut the tops off and carefully scoop out the seeds and pith. Set aside.

The stuffing can be varied considerably (eg meat or vegetarian) herbs too can be altered to give a change of flavour.

• Combine 250gm of browned mince

if available fresh chopped mint & dill seeds

Fill peppers about two-thirds full with stuffing and replace lids. Place peppers in baking dish with water to about 0.6cm cook for 1½ hours at 325°C.