Food: Half canned cooks

Reaching into the cupboard for a tin of chopped tomatoes or pulses, chilli beans or a packet of ready mix sauce, it's like the eyes of the world's most celebrated chefs are looking down on us, their heads shaking in shame, horrified we've chosen the easy option.

But the fact is, sometimes it is just plain necessary to cook with tinned foods. Our lives are not only busy, but our culinary capabilities are often limited, and when it comes to cash, most of us are conscious of how far our pennies will go.

So wipe away the guilt and welcome into your kitchen Doug Bell, owner of Lupe Pinto's deli in Tollcross, a man who insists it is more than alright to embrace a canned lifestyle - so much so he has just written a cookbook about it, The Half Canned Cooks.

"It's all about getting real, isn't it?" the 48-year-old says. "Too many everyday cooks are getting stressed out because celebrity chefs keep telling them they have to get the freshest, in-season local ingredients if they want to cook properly.

"That's nonsense. Fresh, local ingredients are great, of course,but you can produce authentic and exciting dishes using good quality meat and vegetables in conjunction with the cans, bottles and packs you find in delis and supermarkets."

It's not as if Doug doesn't know what he is talking about. Back in the 1980s he opened one of the first Mexican restaurants the city had ever seen, Pachuko Cantina on Grove Street, working there as a professional chef, using the expertise he had gathered from travelling the world to create spectacular, authentic dishes.

For the last 20 years, he has built something of a reputation for himself as master and commander of all things exotic and exciting in his Tollcross deli, where the shelves are lined with tins and packets of amazing ingredients imported from across the world, from artichoke hearts to tinned pumpkin, black turtle beans to asparagus spears, not to mention his liquor collection.

"I feel I am doing my bit to get people cooking - that's my goal," the father-of-one smiles. "Get people cooking and enjoying food. If you get it wrong, so what? I am sure you will stick a smile on your friends and family's faces either way.

"It just seems silly to me to feel you have to spend hours soaking pulses for example, when a tin of them is more than adequate. Also, there are some things you just cannot get fresh in this country, but they are imported in tins. Just use them and enjoy it."

As he chats enthusiastically about the huge range of produce available in his shop, customers come and go.

A Spanish couple arrives to buy a tin of authentic sieved tomatoes, while an elderly Chinese man makes a routine trip to collect a traditional pastry mix. Next through the door is a local resident, keen for some advice from Doug as to how to create the perfect Mexican dish.

"We often get students in on tight budgets too," says Doug. "I give them recipes for what they can make from scratch using the tinned and packet foods we have.

"Buying from an independent deli doesn't need to be expensive, not at all. For example, I have packets of imported red curry mixture for 1.20 each, containing 16 spices. Add that to meat or veg, with a can of coconut milk, and you have an authentic dish. This is what a lot of Asian cooks use as it saves you having to own a jar of every spice included.

"When it comes to seasonal food, the beauty of buying in cans is that you can have your favourite dishes all year round. Take asparagus for example. It is great in-season, but what if you really want it off season? The seasons cannot dictate what our stomachs want."

The Half Canned Cooks, 12, published by Scorpion Press Edinburgh, is available from Lupe Pinto's, 24 Leven Street, 0131-228 6241, www.lupepintos.com